RAMP SIDE TO PORTPATRICK - 14/07/2009

Real early start out of bed a 3am on the road to Barrow by 3.30 tide is in on arrival at 4.15 and the day light is just coming, boats loaded and Pat and I set off heading up to Port Patrick we are just off Peel Island where the tide runs strong and the water ramps up we were in swell and braking waves of 5 to 8 feet we battled our way through this for a mile or so but Pat was feeling very ill, at this point we made a decision to call the coast guard and inform them that we were returning back to port , they were as always very helpful and called our road crew and got them to head back to Barrow, we left the boats by the ferry slip as the tide was on its way out and kept moving them down to the channel while we had team discussions about a way forward, there was no way Pat could carry on today, time was passing by and we were going nowhere. Decision was made to get us up to Port Patrick Phill would jump in and take over, I insisted  a OK phone call had to be made to his wife Rachel before he got anywhere near Zapcat 2

We headed off only to fine 20 miles into the passage that Zapcat 2 had a cutting out problem we persevered with this as it would sometimes cover 5 to 10 miles before cutting and the re start was quick, the main problem was as with all of this trip it is a mind playing game, we cut across to the tip of the Isle of Man and then headed up to Port Patrick, on arrival i got my usual B-----ing for not calling Clyde Coast Guard on my arrival but my conversation with Liverpool was that I was requested by them to call them and to call Clyde on my departure in the morning, [you just never can win]

Engine problem fixed at the port but we still need to collect our new throttle cables before heading up to Oban. Next problem Phill has a bad back so we need a Plan B [about the 20th plan B in 10 days]

If anyone thinks this is a piece of cake think long and hard before taking on the challenge the planning and logistics are one thing you could possibly have some control over but the thing no one can control is the weather. More fun tomorrow.

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