Border Maid has left the RNYC

[KenMcCulloch]

Saturday 12th at 11 was the designated time for handover, so I met up with the former owner in the Car Park at RNYC and signed some bits of paper, collected various boxes of spare and surplus bits, and took possession. The first leg of the delivery was from Blyth to Amble in not much wind but a very lumpy sea, and entering Amble was about as exciting as I could have wanted with almost-breaking waves over the bar! The 3rd crew member joined us there on Sunday and we left at 1100 for an absolutely cracking sail up to the Farnes. We went outside because of the forecast Northerly. Just past Longstone in a stiffening breeze I decided to put a reef in; imagine the lads' surprise when the gooseneck sprang apart scattering components into the sea. Ah well. A chance to test the engine which did superbly well. A possible stop at Eyemouth was written out of the plan when we arrived of the town to see rather large swells hurling themselves into the bay, so no refuge there. As it got dark we found that the compass didn't have a light and the display in the Tridata was for all practical purposes unreadable, so it was back to Viking navigation techniques (ok well they didn't have the advantage of lighthouses and GPS). We arrived at her new home, Port Edgar at South Queensferry, at 0705 after a rather cold night with a long list of jobs. The first will be to clean the primary filter which was almost full of nasty grey sludge by the end of the trip, I reckon another 10 or 20 miles and we'd have had to do it at sea.

However, what a fantastic boat. She coped with some quite challenging conditions with total composure and I am completely delighted with her. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif