Hecate – Storm before the calm

Storm before the calm: an active season for Hecate

Hecate Voyager 40 LOA 12.0 metres Crew the Trust family members and friends Dates May to September 2021

Tunnock’s supplies

2020 had been a strange season starting on 16 July with a trip from Dumbarton to Ardfern with brief stops at Davaar and Gigha. The reverse trip on 24 September was much the same except we stopped at Lamlash on a mooring for the night, and then went to Rhu Marina for a three day tidy before going back up-river to Dumbarton.

Early season trials and tribulations

What would 2021 bring as all our planned events had been cancelled in 2020? The Tunnock’s Flotilla was going to be our first outing on the Clyde and this was changed from the first May bank holiday to the last May holiday, so the family took Hecate for a short cruise on 21 May.

They spent just under a week going round Bute with some good stops on the way at the Holy Loch, Caladh, Portavadie and Glencallum Bay. The ship’s company was four adults, three children and two dogs and was eventful as the engines stopped on the second day after leaving Holy Loch. No fuel was getting to the engines and I had spent a great deal of time and effort over the winter sorting a fuel leak from the port tank, including getting the 250 litre tank out and cleaned.

It did not leak any water but it still leaked fuel so after much bad language we used the starboard tank only. This seemed to work well after launching but the crew were very relieved to be able to contact Scott from DDZ Marine on a Saturday. He was on his bike but agreed to meet the boat off Wemyss Bay. He was collected in the dinghy and proceeded to rig the spare fuel can as a temporary feed to the starboard engine, so allowing the cruise to proceed relatively uneventfully. Thank you, Scott.

The Tunnock’s Flotilla was a well organised event. Thanks to Geoff Crowley and the CCC helped by Sir Boyd Tunnock we raised £18,757, including Gift Aid, for the RNLI. Although it was a bit less than our target of £21,000, under the circumstances, with so many Covid difficulties making planning extremely tricky, it was a good result. Thanks to all who participated and donated plus all the marinas and clubs who were involved.

St Kilda Challenge

The next event was the St Kilda Challenge passage race starting from Rathlin Island and on up to St Kilda. There would be no shoreside events and the short race and cruise from Lochmaddy were cancelled. The fuel supply from the starboard tank had been checked and now supplied both engines.

Four ancient mariners, with combined ages of 303, left Rhu on 8 June and motored all day but hoisted sail after turning at Pladda and arrived in time for an excellent meal at the Harbour Bistro in Campbeltown.

I was hoping that we would fare better than our first attempt in June 2018 when we had to retire to Port Ellen with mal de mer in huge unpleasant waves and had been mightily relieved and happy to arrive in Port Ellen shaken and stirred. We now had an older and experienced, if aged, crew and arrived at Rathlin at 16:00 having left Campbeltown at 10:00 on a grey day with a 10 knot southerly.

There was no hospitality ashore at Rathlin but we collected our tracker and heard a gale warning for Hebrides but for Malin it was S or SW F3-5, occasionally F6 later, with sea smooth and occasional rain. Outlook S or SW F4-6 and F3 later. Sea slight to moderate. Occasional rain. We had noted the barometer had dropped from 1018 at Rhu to 1014 and on the morning of the race start was 1010 but there was little wind and the sea was smooth.

We crossed the start at 09:50 with Sheneval ahead and Contender just behind us. It turned into a lovely sunny sail with a beam reach as we headed north for the virtual waypoint south-west of Tiree. We had synchronised our watches and settled into a great sail for St Kilda with a calm sea. So different to the last attempt.

Those left behind at home were able to watch progress as the YB Tracker relayed the position of all entrants as we proceeded north-west to the virtual waypoint. However, the night was to replay the last attempt as we gradually reduced sail and seas built up. We can still see the race on YB Tracker and at 20:10 Contender had turned for Islay and we had reefed main and genoa and were considering the storm jib but decided to sail with just the reefed genoa.

We arrived at the virtual waypoint at 21:30 and were surfing wildly when a loud roar behind us saw a huge breaking wave slew the boat broadside and we were then engulfed and knocked over, with George flying across the cockpit and landing heavily on the winch. David in the bunk was showered with water as the boat slowly recovered and we regained control still surfing wildly along.

The four ancient mariners, before the storm

Retiral

Assessing our situation we decided to retire as the weather was not going to improve and we had an injured crewman with 100 miles north still to sail. At the time we headed east the windspeed was working intermittently and read 26 knots with gusts over 30.

After looking at the chart I decided it would be best to head for Tobermory and by 22:00 we were setting course for the Passage of Tiree. The log is brief and scrawled 

at 02:00 ‘WAVES++ with Skerryvore light 4.5 mile north’. A light in the expected place is a great sight on a wet, wild and very windy night. Steering 70 with the course between 30 and 120 degrees and windspeed lost with position 56.18.5N and 6.56.6 at 01:20’.

The log and backup GPS had failed but the Raymarine chartplotter kept going with a flickering screen. The log at 08:00 read ‘Approaching Tobermory. Wild night at sea. Wind estimated at SW F5.’ At Tobermory on a pontoon at 08:40 our distance sailed from Rathlin was 124nm but the log had failed on several occasions.

The mast connections for instruments and lights were dried out and all worked again and we slept after booking dinner at the Western Isles Hotel as part of the recovery programme.

The following day was calm and sunny so we had a mini-cruise to Coll for a beer at the hotel and then on to Carsaig Bay Ulva for the night. The next day the anchor was lifted and we returned to Tobermory to refuel but were refused as the pump was shutting at 15:00 and it was 14:50 when we arrived.

So on for the night at Loch Aline with a glorious sail down the Sound of Mull. The following morning we returned to Ardfern via Cuan as we were too early for the tide at Luing. The tracker was returned to Contender who had also safely returned to Ardfern after the diversion to Islay. We could then review the race on the YB app and see that Golden Fox had retired to Barra after 23:00 but Intuition, Clockwork, Polished Manx 2 and Shenavall had continued north to St Kilda to complete the race.

The Tobermory Race

Our next trip was to combine the Tobermory Race start with the cruise to Vatersay led by Geoff Crowley to celebrate the 111 years since the CCC was born. We arrived at Ardfern on Sunday 18 July after celebrating Mike and Hazell’s golden wedding on their arrival in Scotland with our friends Roger and Annabel, all arriving in a posh new Volvo.

At Ardfern we had an excellent evening muster at Lucy’s, formerly Crafty Kitchen, with a superb seafood risotto with langoustines, and were delighted that some members of RHYC were able to join us, and help drink the wine given by their Commodore. The crew slept well but it was to be an early start with a 07:00 gun for the Tobermory Race from Loch Craignish.

Finty, our dog, was taken ashore at 06:00 after her breakfast and the buoy was laid at 06:30 and we anchored for the start line ready with flags, horn, VHF radio and clock. Not a breath of wind meant we hoisted AP and L and the fleet followed us up with the tide to Loch Don but there was no wind there despite the long motor.

I phoned Tobermory and they had no wind and thick fog with no visibility from one side of the harbour to the other. I then had a call from Freda Forbes on Micky Finn IV rounding Ardnamurchan motoring in thick fog. Could she and Mike come to the dinner at Western Isles Hotel that evening? I checked with the hotel and added to the guest list which had gone over the 60 mark already agreed. My thanks to Glenn Porter who sorted out all the bookings and payments online for the two musters at Ardfern and Tobermory.

We carried on motoring round Duart and then there was the suggestion of a slight north-west breeze. I called Tobermory and Freda and got reports of a new wind from the north-west and the fog was clearing in Tobermory Harbour. The fleet were called on Ch77 and a new start line in Duart Bay was laid.

The sun emerged and Class 3 started at 11:20, class 2 at 11:25 and Class 1 at 11:30 with a total of 14 starters plus two cruisers following. Everyone got a finish and even the slower boats got to Tobermory in time. The Western Isles did us proud and it was good to have had two musters ashore on the Sunday and Monday with a few RHYC members joining us. Tobermory Harbour had kindly reserved space for CCC boats on the pontoons, so berthing ahead of the walk up the hill had not been a problem.

Onwards to Vatersay

The following morning we left Tobermory at 11:30 with no wind and motored for Muck as Canna had declined to open the café for us. We were delighted to meet Kaparda in Gallanach Bay with Gavin Shanks and son Alastair plus family. We had a walk, reminding Finty that the sheep were not to be chased, to Port Mor in glorious sunshine and returned to eat aboard.

The following morning we departed at 08:00 after taking Finty ashore. It was delightful to see several otters on the reef as we motored out north. It was dull with poor visibility and the barometer was steady at 1022, so it was a motor across a flat Minch with the only excitement being a pod of dolphins with babies seen at 09:30 and bow riding for 15 minutes to the delight of all the crew.

At 15:35 we were tied up on a pontoon in Loch Boisdale where the staff were very helpful and friendly and the fuel was cheaper than Ardfern. The new facilities block was superb with the best showers we had all year at no added cost. In addition it was hot and sunny and the barometer had risen to 1024.

The next morning the sun was back and there was a breeze to take us to Castlebay on Barra but this died away after 30 minutes and it was the engine that got us there for dinner at the Kisimul Café which was excellent. The new pontoons were handy but nobody could advise on toilet and shower codes and nobody wanted our money despite phoning and using the VHF to call.

The following day was again windless but the barometer had dropped to 1017, so we motored to Mingulay and anchored in the bay and took Finty for

Drinks in Loch Boisdale a good walk up to the ruined house. It was very warm and the sun beat down on us. The three masted barque Tenacious was also anchored in the bay and taking crew ashore. There was a large tented encampment. The reason for this was apparent as we returned to Vatersay rounding Mingulay to the west and found several climbers dangling from ropes high up on the vertical cliffs. There were many puffins in the water and plenty of skuas.

We stayed anchored at Vatersay the next day in preparation for the BBQ and met several CCC boats led by Geoff Crowley on Contender. The village hall at the north end of the beach is a superb facility and has showers which visitors are welcome to use. We used a portable BBQ for our delicious steaks and noted sausages elsewhere. Finty took us for a walk on the west beach. Just as well we were staying all day after the wine and excellent lunch. The sun was baking us and we noted preparations for a big bonfire at the north end of the beach. The night was not quiet with the whole island celebrating with a huge party for a double christening.

Return to Ardfern

We awoke early to take Finty ashore, where the bonfire was still burning, departing for Tinker’s Hole at 07:00 and stopping for lunch and to take the dog ashore on Tiree at the Sound of Gunna. We motorsailed as the wind was only 8 knots NNW and were delighted that the dolphins again visited to escort us across the Minch and anchored in Tinker’s Hole in bright sun at 18:50.

I planned to pop round the corner in the morning to David Balfour’s Bay as it was Annabel’s birthday and visit the observatory to view Dubh Artach. We motored round but it was wet and misty and the barometer was steady at 1010 but there was no wind to blow the murk away. The visibility ashore was hopeless so a walk with the dog was feasible but not a walk up to the observatory to view the lighthouse. The motor back along the south coast of Mull was in a flat calm but very poor visibility. We had a dinner booked at Loch Melfort Hotel for the birthday celebrations but the tide at Cuan was not quite right for getting there on time.

A poor decision by me was to go against the tide at Cuan and hope we could get past Cleit Rock. Well, we did but it nearly pushed us onto the rocks on the north side. The otters fishing there had a surprise but we just got past them with both engines gunning against the fearsome tide. The things I do for a good dinner. The following morning it was thick fog and windless as we slipped the hotel mooring and motored to refuel at Ardfern and return our crew to the new Volvo for their trip back to England. We had covered 230 miles but had had very little sailing. However the lassies were delighted that the Minch gave no cause for any mal de mer.

Late season activities

The rest of the season was taken up with the Loch Spelve Muster which was a tremendous success thanks to Clive Reeves and Geoff Crowley bringing the food, apart from mussels, with the wine arriving on Hecate.

My youngest son then borrowed Hecate on August 20 for three days for a 40th birthday party for a group of gents of similar age. They proceeded to Loch Tarbert, Jura and, judging from the empty paracetamol packets found on board afterwards, had a very good time. The lads were lucky as they had great winds to take them through the Corryvreckan and down the west side of Jura. There are few comments recorded in the ship’s log and I have not requested any further details.

Back to the Clyde

The trip back round the Mull of Kintyre for the Closing Muster at Tarbert saw George return to active duties after his injuries sustained on the St Kilda Passage Race. We had a superb sail from Ardfern to Gigha and waited there until the tides were right at the Mull, leaving at 17:15 before a sail down with a close reach in a F4 seeing the lighthouse at 19:30.

After rounding in flat seas the wind died and we had to motor to Davaar to anchor at 23:45. We departed at 08:50 for Tarbert with an easterly wind of four knots and had to motorsail all the way. We wondered how the racers would get going at Rothesay and felt sorry for the race officer.

We arrived at 14:30 at Tarbert and prepared for an invasion for dinner after the tent party and welcomed Ian Nicholson and crew from St Bridget with Clive and Flora Reeves who had started the race on Taeping thanks to Glenn Porter who then returned them to Kip to drive round over the Rest.

Clive and Flora had brought the main course and George went to the Co-op to get strawberries and cream for pudding. A good evening was had and on Sunday morning it looked dodgy with a forecast of F5-7 from the S or SE. We motorsailed with storm jib and reefed main for Ardlamont and once inside the West Kyle managed a sail up to the Burnt Isles, but it was then a motor on to Toward before returning to Rhu under sail. A short sail up the Clyde to Dumbarton went without a hitch and Hecate was lifted out for a winter rest.

Patrick Trust