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2024 - Towards Muckle Flugga?

A place name that has always intrigued me, according to Wikipedia it comes from Old Norse, "Mikla Flugey", meaning "large steep-sided island".

Before the lighthouse was automated and the keepers moved away it was the most northerly inhabited place in UK but I think what got my attention was that it is only a couple of miles from RAF Saxa Vord, and in the early 1970s when I was in the RAF and working on air defence radar with experience on the installed T80 radar and other equipment at the site there was a danger that I could be posted there, for someone single, in their early 20s and doing a lot of sailing that was not something to look forward to, especially as the weather can be so bad that at various times two radar heads, one 75 foot long, have been blow away.

That should be between 2,200 and >= 3,000 nautical miles depending on the route so a worthy challenge for the year. The plan is weather dependant but I hope to leave in March (the tides will be good on the 16th - 18th, immediately after scrubbing) or early April (optimum dates c 1st or 15th but leaving over Easter does present some logistical problems) and to go west-about via Cape Wrath; I don't want another cold, difficult passage along the east coast in easterly winds that I experienced in 2021, probably getting weather bound for days in expensive marinas, it should also get me to Kirkwall, the Islands of north Orkney and then Shetland in June with long days and short nights. And on the way back I should miss the worst of the Scottish midges and have enough time to anti-foul the boat before another cruise to end the season.

Rounding Cape Wrath in 2020.

The route back will be decided later, east coast, back the way I came or through the Caledonian canal? Single handed the latter is possible but unlikely.

The other question is which way up the west coast? Going up the Irish sea it just depends on the wind but the next big thing on my bucket list is the west coast of Ireland and its tempting to go that way in case I'm not fit enough to do a round Ireland in 2025. On the other hand taking my time going around Ireland would be a a good mission for next year, perhaps in conjunction with the Jester Baltimore Challenge. I suspect I will still be pondering this when I get to Newlyn in April.

Once I get past the North Channel, or Malin Head if going round Ireland, there are a good number of places to visit or transit for the first time and others to revisit, including the sea of the Hebrides hoping for a repeat of the 2023 wildlife exhibition, The Sound of Barra (I would particularly like to see the beach airport there, I tried to fly there some years ago but the weather closed in and I got no further than Machrihanish (Campbletown) and had to turn back with a very low level flight back to Fife), The Shiant Islands and much more.

Some places on the West Coast I might visit as green anchors. In practical
terms some are going to be mutually exclusive on a one way trip, perhaps an
excuse for coming back west about if there is time. I have already visited
the anchorages shown as Red anchors  and marinas / harbours in Blue.

And some in Orkney and Shetland

Principle victualling stops are likely to include Newlyn, Ardglass or Bangor, Port Ellen (Islay) and / or Tobermory, Castle Bay (Barra), Stornoway, Kirkwall, Lerwick, Peterhead and Lowestoft. All of which should have Gaz and all, except Newlyn, have fuel on site or reasonably close at hand if needed.

Plan "A" failed before is started, now planning to leave at Easter.

To skip the preparation phase and a number of plan changes, click here for day 1.

Darn engines🤬🤬🤬🤬

I thought I would run the engine yesterday for the first time in a couple of months, a few minutes later the overheating alarm went off. 

There was water at the outlet from the water strainer, so I took the pump off then it's back. When the shaft was turned the impeller didn’t, the bonding between the rubber impeller and the metal centre had failed and it was easy to separate the two. 

The water pump looking from aft.

Visually in good condition except its now in
two pieces.

I change impellers annually in the spring with Yanmar branded ones so it has one seasons use. I suppose I should be grateful that it didn’t fail when I was rushing back to the Hamble from Hope Cove in August for a family emergency; I carry multiple spares and could have fixed it in an hour but it would have been quite stressful until I found the fault and dangerous if it had failed going through the Needles channel with little wind.

The assembly is getting a bit tatty where bolts bare on it and as I want to replace some of the pipe work, (including the bit shown above) and check the engine anodes I am leaving the engine drained of water for a while and have the unit at home for the clean up and repaint.

After the repaint.

Tip

On a Yanmar check and if necessary replace the water pump belt regularly, the unit gets very close to the engine mount if worn and adjusted for the correct tension, this could be a particular problem if standard soft engine mounts are used as the engine will rock more. Fortunately I have the stiffer premium mounts.

Update 4 Jan 2024. With a brief break in the weather the engine got it's annual service yesterday along with a new drive belt for the water pump and new water hoses from the pump through to the anti-syphon valve and the exhaust elbow (the seacock to the water pump were replaced with the seacock in 2022), rerouted to hopefully avoid chafe. Everything working again. 

More winter work

The burn holes in the carpet has been bugging me for years, time to replace. Taking the cabin sole home to work on it led to cleaning the bilge to keep the smell down and whilst about it the fore and aft sections of the bilge needed a clean and a coat of paint (The main bilge was painted a couple of years ago), the teak faced boards over these sections were varnished not that long ago and don't need to be redone.

The aft section was easy having had a coat in 2022 when the
sea cock was replaced.

The section in the heads needed a bit more work on what was
almost certainly the original paint. Some wiring also needed
tying up - stick on pads don't seem to last long on a boat. I
added the rubber strips some time ago to stop the board rocking and
squeaking, a small section, lower left, now needing to be replaced.

The underside of the main section of the cockpit sole after what
was probably the first coat of paint in 45 years, but it had done well,
the board is in very good condition albeit with the centre bowed
down ¼" in places which may explain why the table has been
tricky to fit (the aft leg of the table goes over the block of wood).
Two coats of the excellent International "Danboline" bilge paint.

Two coats of varnish for the base of the table leg, two more to go.
Plus a cleaned up and lacquered ring lift. I'll be adding a second
 one to the forward section which will make it much easier to get up
and save pulling on the carpet.

I  replaced the carpet with carpet tiles; cheaper, easier to source, hard wearing and with some spares it will be possible to replace small sections if one gets damaged. It was also probably easier to cut them to shape than a single piece would have been.

Trial fit of the table base on the aft section.

Front and centre sections, waiting for the second lift ring, the
2 slide bolts that hold the centre section down and a tie down
 point will be refitted when the boards go back in the boat,
when the weather permits.

The aft section is screwed down, the middle section secured with
slider bolts. Also one of 3 tie down points for under table storage.
The electric bilge pump and the hose to the main pump are 
accessible  with the middle section lifted.

Job almost done, just needs the additional
lift ring.

Job done.

And a small job, a heat shield for the lamp which was starting to damage the headlining with heat and smoke. A piece of brass sheet left over from a job about 15 years ago, cut and bent to shape then lacquered. And it hides a join and looks better than before.

Memories, good and bad.

Back in late 1977 I joined Brian & Pam Saffrey-Cooper's crew running the front half of his Contention 30 "Buccaneer", that however was not the end game. That autumn there were meetings including one very long and late one at The Chequers Inn, Lymington, with Doug Peterson one of America's leading yacht designers, to finalise the design and layout of a new 1/2 tonner to be built for Brian (AKA "Hooter") by the Elephant Boatyard at Bursledon. Brian was a timber importer so she was built in the finest Western Red Cedar on Sitka Spruce and was very light but strong.

She was launched just before Easter, but a major problem cropped up in trying to find a name for her; Brian, who was rather superstitious and liked to have boat names ending in "eer" as in Buccaneer and his previous 1/2 tonner, a Norlin designed Scampi  "Racketeer" (not that good a name for a businessman!). The crunch came when a name had to be found to get the boat measured for her rating, they passed a pub called "The Green Dragon", green was Brian's lucky colour and already chosen for the hull colour so the name was decided.

Green Dragon on the way to winning our division
in the Round the Island race 1979. I am sitting out
waiting for the next sail change.

Although we did not manage to achieve our goal of winning the 1/2 ton cup, either at Pool in 1978 or in Scheveningen in 1979 when we suffered rudder failure, or even to come out as top UK boat in those events, but we did win the selection trials from 50+ competitors in 1978 (which was an off year for the Admirals Cup) and finished 7th in the event from 50. Overall she was the most successful British 1/2 tonner in 1978, 1979 and 1980 (I did not sail on her in 1980 but returned to help Brian get his one tonner "Dragon" into the winning Admirals cup team in 1981). She won the division in RORC, Solent Points and British Level Rating Association series in all three years - believed to be a first. We also won the RORC yacht of the year award in 79.

My favourite headline from 1979. Bob was a little biased, he
crewed for Brian & Pam on Racketeer, I think his introduction
to offshore sailing after very successful campaigns in dinghies
and crewing for Reg White winning the Little America's cup
for "C Class" Catamarans.

Then about 5 years ago, after I got my own half tonner as a gift to myself on my second retirement, Green Dragon was run down on her mooring, this from Doug Peterson's office after I shared the picture on Facebook (neither Brian or Doug lived to see her demise):

Then to cap it all she sank and last year(?) these pics came out.:

Such a shame to see such a beautifully made boat end up like this.

Installing a holding tank - Design.

With the slope of the hull and the web
supporting the aft lower shroud fitting
there is not a lot of room behind the toilet
and none under. Securing a sometimes
heavy tank would also be difficult.

To be more environmentally friendly and to avoid some trips ashore for "comfort breaks", I have been toying with the idea of a black water holding tank for several years but its not easy because of space constraints. 

Older boats are not required to have holding tanks in most jurisdictions, regulations vary by country but generally waste can be discharged when more than 3 miles offshore, perhaps unsurprisingly (in 2023) there are no restrictions on discharging waste in UK coastal waters although many marinas and harbours have local regulations or by-laws banning discharges.

The space behind the toilet could take a tank but to be anywhere near a useful size it would have to be bespoke and therefore very expensive, it would also be difficult to fit to the sloping hull, difficult to plumb in and I would loose some small but handy storage space for toiletries and loo cleaner. 

Underneath what was the port berth in the forepeak or under the port berth in the saloon would both easily take a rubber tank but they are difficult to secure and I don't fancy a rubber tank full of sewage anywhere in the boat. Again solid tanks would have to be specially made and both options would require lots of expensive plumbing with diverter valves, pump, etc..

More realistically with the forepeak no longer having berths, a tank could be installed there on the port bulkhead next to the heads. 

If the tank bottom is high enough above the waterline and the pipe work reasonably short and not too bendy this could be emptied overboard by gravity and, with the appropriate fittings, optionally by pump out. 

Again space and cost are issues; an excellent vertical tank is made by "Tek-Tanks" it is made to order in standard sizes with inlets and outlets positioned to order. There are problems, space is at best barely adequate for the smallest 40 litre version, there might not be sufficient "head" for it to drain correctly, and the tank without hose tails is £389. A similar but much cruder design by Nuova Rade is only £159 but again it would be difficult to fit and drainage could be an issue. Both options could be made to work with a lot of plumbing and a pump to drain the tank as sea but it gets expensive and complicated.

Schematic of the planned installation.

I gave up on the project the last couple of winters but this year I found a 25 litre horizontally orientated tank by Vetus that is much shallower so gives more space for installation above and below and a better head for drainage, still £270 but unlike the other tanks that does included all the hose tails bar one.

The height for gravity drainage looks to be OK even if a couple of elbows are required, especially as the electric pump and Macerator does a better job of breaking up solids and paper than a manually operated toilet.

When offshore the seacock is left open and waste goes straight out, in sensitive areas the sea cock is closed and the waste accumulates in the holding tank later be released at sea or pumped out.

If in use the gravity drainage proves not to work there is room to install the new Henderson Mk5 pump I happen to have (its a long story) between the tank and the seacock. That would be a pain at sea requiring manual pump outs but it would work and I could add a diverter valve and additional pipe work.

The back up plan (see next post for an updated final version).

Outline plan for the bulkhead mount.

Most of the components are on order and should be here by early next week, the rest I'll get locally some after trial fits, and I'll start the installation when there is some decent weather to visit the boat.

Click here for day one of installation.