Respect for Scottish sailors

[Seajet]

I can only speak from personal experience gleaned during both low and high season...uber-managed, formulaic sailing.

With respect, that is just not correct; I've sailed the Solent, summer & winter, for 47 years and have never seen it as you describe.

Even the Round The island Race - and that IS a lot of boats - could never be described as uber-managed, 90% of the boats are a few people from a club out on old Fred's boat.

The only thing close to the type of sailing you describe are the Sunsail corporate charter jobs - when the company boss suddenly decides he's Captain Jack Aubrey; they are a serious pain, but one soon learns to spot their rigs, insignia, hulls and hull stickers - then they're easily avoided by miles.

Most of the time in the Solent, even at peak weekends, there are only say 2-6 cruisers or racers in sight going the same way as me, with a separation of 1/2 mile - several miles.

And lovely places to go, in a much better climate ( my father is Aberdonian and I've worked a lot in Scotland ) and no midges.

I agree with Dylan though, my late chum sailed from Dysart for a while and I joined him one week, I was very taken by the gorgeous local double enders, including one someone had grafted an E-Boat deck and rig onto - Fifes aren't too shabby either !

 

[Aja]

it was not the harbours tackle - it belongs to the forumite but he said that I was queue jumping unless I paid the full visitors rate

Plockton has excellent holding. If you are able to, it makes much more sense to anchor. I prefer to drop my hook on the start/finish line of the local sailing club. You tend to get an excellent view of the racing
Donald

 

[dylanwinter]

the project was already in financial trouble. I tried to save myself some money by basing myself on a mooring for three months - she was on the mooring for every other week. the other weeks I was out travelling and exploring.

If I go back I will only return with enough funds to keep the boat in marina. I was arriving hideosuly late at night after a 12 hour drive and leaving at four in the morning. Bloody stupid. Messing about in a well laden dinghy in the dark is how old sailors die.

I am prepared to make lots of sacrifices for this project . If I were to drown falling out of a dinghy my wife would not be best pleased.

 

[Seajet]

Dylan,

I'm sure you've considered all angles, but especially re finances the way I'd do it would probably be ' boat on cheap-er safe mooring, and get an economical estatae car / light van which you could rig out to get some sleep in on arrival before going near the tender, including on the journey up or down if required.

A sailing chum had a diesel astra van, it took an amazing amount of boaty gear and if lined with carpet or something would have space to sleep.

Just a thought; and I agree completely, I always say

' it's not rocks, gales or big waves that'll get you, it's fatigue; fatigue is the killer '

 

[dylanwinter]

Dylan,

I'm sure you've considered all angles, but especially re finances the way I'd do it would probably be ' boat on cheap-er safe mooring, and get an economical estatae car / light van which you could rig out to get some sleep in on arrival before going near the tender, including on the journey up or down if required.

A sailing chum had a diesel astra van, it took an amazing amount of boaty gear and if lined with carpet or something would have space to sleep.

Just a thought; and I agree completely, I always say

' it's not rocks, gales or big waves that'll get you, it's fatigue; fatigue is the killer '

to some extent that is the problem with what I have been doing.

I need to persuade people to help me keep making the films by getting them to pay for the entertainment they provide not for the achievement or logistics of a jowly old bloke sailing a shit boat around a small island.

I did some stupid dangerous things last summer - not in the reliable centaur but in the dinghy getting to and from it

thanks for your advice.... I have run out of money so no vans, no sailing in scotland until I can get some of those 98.5 per cent of refusniks to chip in - then I can buy the right gear and keep it in the right place so that I can make good films.

at the moment an albert hall full of people watch my films every day

as they file out past the lovely girls wearing bikinis and shaking buckets at them 98 in a 100 shove their hands deep in their pockets and walk on past. If I am to do a good job of filming in scotland I have to persaude just 5 per cent of them to chip in

scotland in the winter is a bloody serious place to sail. I have done two winters up there now - one in an unheated minstrel and the other in an unheated centair - me my gear and my camera rotted.

either the films can earn enough for a safe reliable boat that will keep me and the cameras dry that I can keep on a safe pontoon with power to charge the camera batteries or I have to stop

I cut too many corners last year

D

D

 

[Deleted member 36384]

A wise decision Dylan to stop. Maybe one day it will continue, as you say.

I know that respect does not pay the bills, but there is a lot of respect for your work, the quality of film and narrative is a pleasure to experience. Thanks for the effort, thanks for the entertainment.

 

[dylanwinter]

A wise decision Dylan to stop. Maybe one day it will continue, as you say.

I know that respect does not pay the bills, but there is a lot of respect for your work, the quality of film and narrative is a pleasure to experience. Thanks for the effort, thanks for the entertainment.

thanks for that

on message (for Eleanor) with thanks for the entertainment rather than the the acheivement - which does not amount to a bag of beans.

As I walked away from the Centaur for the last time I pushed my trolly past boat after boat at Kip - there were not many worse than mine - and non that had sailed as much as mine this past year.

I still have energy, enthusiam, fitness, health and film making skills. Just no boat suitable for scotland in the autumn, winter and spring.

all I have to do to start again is persaude people that they like the films enough to pay for them##right now 2017 looks like being a wasted year.

I will sail up and down the deben but I will be bored to death by the end of May.

 

[Kelpie]

Expanding on Seajet's suggestion, could the Minstrel double up as a caravan? Or would you go mad(der) cooped up in such a tight space, whether afloat or not? Just trying to think of ways to get sailing further from home. Is there any need to pick up exactly where you left off? Why not do a stint in Wales, for example?

I'm sure you've been through all of this though

 

[dylanwinter]

Expanding on Seajet's suggestion, could the Minstrel double up as a caravan? Or would you go mad(der) cooped up in such a tight space, whether afloat or not? Just trying to think of ways to get sailing further from home. Is there any need to pick up exactly where you left off? Why not do a stint in Wales, for example?

I'm sure you've been through all of this though

I spent a a winter in the trailer sailer in scotland - we are 61 and the expensive cameras rotted and packed up

just not viable in scotland on the west coast in the winter with 120 inches of rain

I also have no cash flow - I have the money from selling my reliable big but cold boat. But I cannot fritter it away on making films people do not pay for.

the trailer sailer needs an outboard to replace the one that was nicked an the trailer needs 1K spent on it

I have to focus on the the 6,000 youtubersd

eleanor says that I am wasting my time on the forums talking to the same 200 old men -

but I like you guys and you come up with great ideas and suggestion

she said I need to focus on the youtube refusniks and earning enough money to do a decent job of scotland rather than finding ways of making more films that people do not pay for.

she even says the only reason to have a website is as a place to put the paypal button that youtube refuses to allow me to put on the films - because they want the money -

they need it

I am now working exclusively for google - for free

 

[jonrarit]

I would just like to tip my hat to the Scottish sailors you are dead lucky that you sail in what is argueably - weather aside - the finest sailing ground in the world.

Many thanks for the kind words Dylan, Having sailed the West Coast all my life, it is very easy to become complacent to the wonderful cruising ground on our doorstep and reminders from visiting yachtsmen such as your good self make us sit back and take stock of what we have and so often take for granted.

A few pictures from the our 2015 west coast cruise .... apparently is was even by our standards a very wet season that one .......really?

Jonathan

 

[dylanwinter]

thats the ticket - bloody wonderful place

deep regrets that I will not be there this summer

waste of a year of fitness

 

[dimdav]

thats the ticket - bloody wonderful place

No its not, can you not see the hint of ragged rocks just beneath the surface and waiting to rip the bottom off your boat in those pics? Then theres the cost of diesel that you'll need to spend fortunes on to motor when theres no wind. Speaking of wind when there's none that's midge time.

No Scotland is not a nice place to sail its horrible and you should all stick to safer and more civilised southern waters.

 

[dylanwinter]

it is really odd

whenever I post a film or make a comment about how lovely scotland is the same thing happens

scottish blokes always say the same thing

someone joins the thread with a fek off you foreigners comment

I think it is supposed to be light hearted but underneath is the same sentiment

bit sad really

D

 

[dimdav]

it is really odd

whenever I post a film or make a comment about how lovely scotland is the same thing happens

the way scottish blokes always say the same thing happens

someone joins the thread with a fek off you foreigners comment

I think it is supposed to be light hearted but underneath is the same sentiment

bit sad really

D

Cheers Dylan!

It's always completely tongue in cheek from any of the Scottish mob. We love visitors, just not too many of them to ruin what we have

Anyway if I didn't want you up here I certainly wouldn't have suggested DRB at Rosneath for harmony a few years ago.

I hope you're back up here soon. I'm planning on heading down the same road of sweating assets to get an enclosed motor sailer so there'll be no more lifts in the 911 to get back to your car when next we meet, then again by that time getting in and out of the thing might prove a bit taxing for an oldie

 

[stevie69p]

It's all just lighthearted craic...

 

[fergie_mac66]

thanks for that

on message (for Eleanor) with thanks for the entertainment rather than the the acheivement - which does not amount to a bag of beans.

As I walked away from the Centaur for the last time I pushed my trolly past boat after boat at Kip - there were not many worse than mine - and non that had sailed as much as mine this past year.

I still have energy, enthusiam, fitness, health and film making skills. Just no boat suitable for scotland in the autumn, winter and spring.

all I have to do to start again is persaude people that they like the films enough to pay for them##right now 2017 looks like being a wasted year.

I will sail up and down the deben but I will be bored to death by the end of May.

Buttley

 

[fergie_mac66]

I spent a a winter in the trailer sailer in scotland - we are 61 and the expensive cameras rotted and packed up

just not viable in scotland on the west coast in the winter with 120 inches of rain

I also have no cash flow - I have the money from selling my reliable big but cold boat. But I cannot fritter it away on making films people do not pay for.

the trailer sailer needs an outboard to replace the one that was nicked an the trailer needs 1K spent on it

I have to focus on the the 6,000 youtubersd

eleanor says that I am wasting my time on the forums talking to the same 200 old men -

but I like you guys and you come up with great ideas and suggestion

she said I need to focus on the youtube refusniks and earning enough money to do a decent job of scotland rather than finding ways of making more films that people do not pay for.

she even says the only reason to have a website is as a place to put the paypal button that youtube refuses to allow me to put on the films - because they want the money -

they need it

I am now working exclusively for google - for free

All this stuff about pay pal. Have you stopped doing dvds? . I bought the dvds upto series 4 15£ each .Iwas Very happy with that format.
There are quite a quite a few out there without decent access to internet.

 

[dylanwinter]

gone the way of the 8 track - they now look pretty soupy on a decent tv used to eating HD streamed from the web

 

[pagoda]

thanks for that

on message (for Eleanor) with thanks for the entertainment rather than the the acheivement - which does not amount to a bag of beans.

As I walked away from the Centaur for the last time I pushed my trolly past boat after boat at Kip - there were not many worse than mine - and non that had sailed as much as mine this past year.

I still have energy, enthusiam, fitness, health and film making skills. Just no boat suitable for scotland in the autumn, winter and spring.

all I have to do to start again is persaude people that they like the films enough to pay for them##right now 2017 looks like being a wasted year.

I will sail up and down the deben but I will be bored to death by the end of May.

This is a little OTT even for Scottish (Shetland) winter sailing, but inspiring nevertheless

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lOMNtwHWyCQ

 

[steveeasy]

gone the way of the 8 track - they now look pretty soupy on a decent tv used to eating HD streamed from the web

People do indeed still buy DVDS, People like to collect them. they feel as if they are actually getting something. we run music tests, each person brings a CD. Of course a cost exists in providing them. Why not launch a box set ?. I don't think everyone does do HD streaming.

Steveeasy