Ok bilge keels are good

But we are getting good at putting the legs on chuckle. Here in aberdour its lovely and quite sleepy harbour with a soft bottom which chuckle has just settled on to no bother, well some degree of preparation but now well practiced the crew almost do it alone (not at all)! We anchored at inchcolm island on the way rowed ashore visited the abby had a picknick swam and sailed giggle at speed back to chuckle for a cold solar shower. Loving it but now very tiered again. Quite day tomorrow planned. Sowing in the rain in morning followed by after noon on beach and quick sail to granton for dinner out (i must have been good).

The value of comfortable moorings

At port edgar the swell came in all the time the last two days and not until we are sat here at granton do we realise how exhausting it was yawling (rolling) about all the time. The waves were up and wind blow hard force 5-6 today so jen and f and f went for day out in edinburgh and i had great fun sailing the 6.5 Nm down hear in an hour goose winged most of it, the fastest i have seen chuckle go. Thankfully we can relax at calm mooring tonight.

Bad seamanship

We have been in port edgar to long jenny is fed up with it and would prefer to be anywhere including granton. So she and kids have gone for a day out in edinburgh and i am to deliver the boat to granton. Its blowing sw in direction of travel force 5 gusting 6, for me to get there in time to have tea cooked for our weary city folk i must leave to get in before the tide starts to flow full speed against the wind. Small jib on two reefs and i hope to cover the 6+Nm at hull speed in just over an hour. Should be interesting. Would have left sooner but have to wait for enough water to enter granton. All very convenient for city hoping fed up sailers but bad planning on seamanship front. Daddy will just have to put on his water proof shorts and grin and bear it!

What happened.

We arrived two nights ago now in port edgar marina and i suppose we feel the contrast between us and them. We being those that make do and mend and have fun with what we have and the industry of sailing as a leisure sport. Every thing here has been great the service and warm and friendly reception i guess its expensive and easy. Dad thought he would have some fun in a modern racing dingy and it might help jen freyja and fergus how to fine tune sails. We hire a wee boat fer fergus which he capsized and came in after half hour and jen and freyja did not like it so they came in. I should have put a rief in our sail and as it turned out a bung in the back. I had a whale of a time racing about trying to get the hang of a flighty boat in confined space and gusty winds disappointed i could not get it to plain but all the water in her would not have helped should have taken my by standing mums advice and got the girl in the office to run over the boat before we left. I was a bit surprised after being given all the gear no one was close to hand to answer or guild us to how it went together, rightly i suppose we should have paid for a lesson to know that.
Well we found a few things out i love chuckle and giggle and crusing in them and the fact that here we are something quite different in the sea of plastic boats and racers. And jenny does not like tippy boat keel boats is jen, fergus is keen and freyja is still ready for anything.

Camping in the cockpit

When you tired and you have a dog and two children mud bottomed drying harbours, windy anchorages, dirty dingies, ladderless walls and everything else that goes with mooring not on pontoons makes pontoons so attractive. We are here now at port edger the home of leisure sailing sail training and pontoon land its so easy to arrive check in and hopefully hire a racey dingy tomorrow to have a spash about with kids and consolidate some of there sailing skills. Saying that we have done some pritty impressive sailing to day well the kids have. Mum and dad were not allowed on the fore deck and before we reached for the spinnaker sheets it was flying all done by f and f.

Not all plain sailing

Its no good thinking its all plain sailing and having fun an old wooden boat needs care and attention. The bilge stoped working and then on investigating a smell of diesel we found a leak and lots of mess. What a carry on it was to fashion a temporary fix and find the problems super knackard now. Mooring was not easy either with everything else.

Largo bay

Our beautiful anchorage at largo bay was amazing except the wind got up and we were all awake through parts of the night complaining out loud that it was like sleeping in a washing machine with noise of the water rattling the clinkers and the swell rolling in side ways to make it only possible to lay stillish on your back.