3rd December 2007 - Grand Opening of Toilet Facility

Well the results of all our hard work are FANTASTIC !! The Toilet facilities (or Happy Rooms as the children now call them) are complete and are open for 'business' if you'll pardon the pun.

I have just returned from Thailand, as I was invited to formally open the new facilities and see how our money has been spent. I have to say that the quality of workmanship and finish is beyond my wildest expectations.

Not only did the money raised fully fund the design and build of these facilities - there was also enough money to build a path, a sala (reading room), a new wall and to landscape the area in front of the new toilets. In addition to this, the money paid for the school to be completely repainted inside and out and there was still enough money left over to purchase toys and play equipment for the children.

Andrew Smales was my travel companion and we were treated with great reverence and kindness during our short stay in Nongon village... It felt like the whole village was there for the opening, even 5 monks travelled from the local temple and blessed the school by chanting for over half an hour. Local dignitaries and educational chiefs also made a point of attending the ceremony and to everyone's surprise wanted to stay for the duration. Parents, grandparents and friends of the children all came to witness the opening and see the pupils dance and sing to celebrate the outcome of 'A Passage of Hope.'

That evening a party had been planned - I was told to expect 'quite a turnout' ... nothing could have prepared me for the 1000+ people that pitched up to celebrate 'A Passage of Hope' and the resultant improvements to the school. People came from Nongon and neighboring villages carrying their village name and singing and dancing as they made the journey to the school. Rock bands played and people danced on a stage that had been constructed for the event. Paper lanterns were lit and sent to the heavens, fireworks were set off in celebration. Rice whiskey and beer were drunk by all who attended and the party continued into the early hours long after we had left.

Words can not describe how thrilled I am with the outcome of our 'adventure' - I am extremely proud of what we endured and have ultimately achieved. This project would not have been conceived let alone completed without the support of my fellow crew mates and of course all our corporate sponsors and family/friends who kindly donated sponsorship funds.... This has been a fantastic example of what can be achieved with the goodwill and dedication of a few individuals in the UK - and goes to show what a huge difference can be made to the lives of poor children in countries less fortunate than our own.

I am now left with very mixed emotions - great joy that we have over achieved our objective... but also great sadness that the adventure is now over as 'A Passage of Hope' is committed to the history books.....

I am struggling to find the right words with which to conclude - perhaps....

" It is better to light a candle than curse the darkness. "

" Individual glory is insignificant when compared to achieving victory as a team."

Day 25 - Safe return for Stray Cat & her crew...

There was a restless atmosphere as crew emerged from their cabins this morning.... unsure if the forecast would be accurate and the stormy weather that was predicted for 'later' in the day in North Wales would stay north and allow us a trouble free homeward leg.

The crew readied Stray Cat for sea and I doubled checked our route and primed the navigational equipment... started the engines... final checks... ready to cast off... where's Brian ? " Oh, he's gone to the marina for a shower/wash. " I wouldn't have minded but he'd only asked me a few minutes earlier what time we were leaving... "08.00 hrs" I had clearly said. Whether Brian thought I meant UTC rather than British Summer Time or he had just underestimated the amount of time he needed for his ablutions... we will never know - as he casually stepped back on board suprised that we were all ready to depart.

We backed off our berth at 08.14 hrs, swung the CAT around (within her own length) and headed out into the main channel opposite Pembroke Dock. We were soon heading seaward at 17 knots passing the petrochemical infrastructure of Milford Haven towards the mouth of the Haven in driving rain. Due to an uncertain forecast and contradictory information on tidal streams around Skokholm Island (and in particularly Jack Sound) we headed out seaward of Skokholm via Broad Sound to avoid any potentially dangerous overfalls and strong tidal currents. As we rounded the south of Skokholm we shared the calm waters with one tall ship (with a small amount of sail) and a dozen or so puffins.

Encouraged by the sea state and reasonable visibility we headed directly north and navigated our way through Ramsey Sound and over the notorious 'Bitches' - behaving themselves today. St David's Head, with its lighthouse, was soon a distant memory as we headed Northeast hugging the coastline to Strumble Head. We made very good progress in an accommodating sea and soon the rain abated and we began to recognise some of the West Wales coastline - Aberystwyth, Aberdovey, Cadir Idris, Barmouth.

We found ourselves starting to reflect on the adventures this crew had experienced over the past few days. I mentioned how odd it felt knowing I would be in work the following day... Dave (our clumsy court jester) laughed out loud "...it will feel stange - you'll be the only one there... it's Saturday tomorrow!" Clearly pleased with his quip and waiting for the adulation of his crew members (having got one over the skipper) he was derided and taunted for not even knowing what day of the week it was.... (nice try Dave). Joking aside the crew for the last leg (Brian, Dave, Colin & Sarah) were a delight to have on board and did a marvellous job entertaining the rather jaded skipper. I never thought I'd see the day that Dad and one of his best friends would shout 'Hooray!' at the top of their voices each time the word 'beer' dropped into the conversation.

With just 6 nautical miles to the end of our adventure we were already musing over what the challenge would be next year... when the strong winds forecast for 'later' appeared out of nowhere. One minute we were cruising along without a care in the world congratulating ourselves on a timely departure from Milford and a trouble free passage, the next - a Force 6 gale from the East creating an uncomfortable short chop and spray. We spent the next 20 minutes ducking each time a wave hit the hulls and our respect for the the unexpected nature of the sea was reinforced.

We slowed on the approach to Pwllheli fairway and gave the crew time to hang fenders and raise the now obligatory ceremonial flags (of Ireland, N.Ireland, Scotland, England & Wales) before slipping back onto our permanent berth in Hafan Pwllheli. We opened a bottle of 'sparkling wine' and toasted ourselves and the combined achievements of all our crews...

We have visited 5 countries, stayed at 18 new ports or anchorages, covered 1615 nautical miles and hopefully raised substantial funds for Nongon Village School, Northern Thailand.


All that remains is for me to thank my 9 novice crew members, without them 'A Passage of Hope' would never have happened. I would also like to say - that I have never been to sea with such a competent, well drilled and courageous team of individuals... but I can't, it would be a lie.


Seriously, I would like to say, it has been an honour and a privilege to share this unique, once in a lifetime experience with you guys and you are all welcome to crew anytime you like in the future having served your apprenticeship and become honourary lifetime crew members of Stray Cat.....

Skipper Tim, signing off for the last time....

Holyhead Coastguard, this is motor vessel Stray Cat. I would like to close our traffic routing with you, we have safely arrived at Pwllheli, North Wales. Many thanks for your assistance... this is Stray Cat returning CH16.... out.

Day 24 - When will the weather make its mind up?

The end of another day. An early start from Lundy, well ok, it was 9 ish by the time we set off, but anyway! The weather was vastly different from that of the evening before and can only be described as windy, grey, drab, cold, drizzly and downright miserable. I could still manage being in shorts and bare feet as they were protected from the wind but on top was a T-shirt, mid weight fleece, windstopper mountain fleece and a Gore-Tex mountain jacket. Just enough to keep out the cold. Our course lead us to the end of Lundy and revealed another (previously unseen) working lighthouse. It wasn't long before we were losing sight of Lundy with only a heavy swell, gusts of wind and the odd seabird for company.

With nothing but each other for company and the rolling action of Stray Cat in the swell, a very pleasant surprise announced itself from the waters in front of us - more common dolphins - with quite a few completely clearing the water. The boat was going too quick for them in the heavy swell to enable them to swim in front of us but they played for a few minutes in the wake of the boat and then just as all marine life before them, they were gone, off to find some food no doubt.

We motored on at a steady 18-20 knots over ground and as we were approaching decision time - whether to run and hide in Milford Sound or make a break north for somewhere in Cardigan Bay - the weather made our decision that much easier! The swell got bigger and more erratic, the wind picked up and the rain came in.............HARD! Tim, Sarah and I, braved it out in full waterproofs all velcro'd up to the hilt with barely an inch of flesh open to the elements up at the top helm.............not nice! So Milford Sound it was. We passed lots of heavy shipping as we moved further towards Pembroke Dock and made the decision to moor up for a while in Neyland Marina near to the Cleddau Bridge. Typically, as we headed further into the Sound the weather seemed to get better, then better and then much better! Never mind, there's a pub that sells Guinness somewhere near...........hooray!

We filled up with food and made the decision to stay the night, Tim received a phone call from the supplier of his covers (Stephen Ratsey Sail Makers of Milford Haven) who had seen Stray Cat entering the Sound after they had heard of the Passage of Hope. Tim informed him that the top cover needed fixing. "Bring it in!" An hour later and a new improved top cover is in place! Top service that!

Showers (of the warm soapy variety) were the order of the day for all but Brian who was going to have one in the morning. Tim then decides that as the weather is better, we'll make a break for Aberystwyth - covers off the Helm, seats back in place and Brian decides he needs a shower so off he runs to the shower block. Tim was then not so sure of the weather, it didn't look good out to sea, the tides were against us getting into Aberystwyth and it was a long haul to Pwllheli at this time of day. Decision made, we stay the night. Covers back on the helm, seats back downstairs and then the clouds clear, the wind drops and the sun comes out....................AARRRRGGGHHHH! The internet weather sites are about as much use as a cooler bag to an eskimo as they keep changing their weather predictions and here we are in Neyland Marina with fair weather and a long old haul back to North Wales tomorrow.

Dinner time soon, so from the crew of Stray Cat - Skipper Tim, Brian, Dave, S-C and myself, I'll say so long for now and see you soon............Charlie Bravo

Day 23 - Don't taint today's blue skies with tomorrow's grey clouds

The start of the fourth week saw a grey and dull morning in Padstow - we were unable to leave until later due to the harbour lock being closed until at least mid tide. Dave remarked that it was very impressive that they were working on the harbour wall on a Sunday, yes Dave it is, but then it is a Tuesday after all! A trip to the Spar to provision with Bacon etc.and then a walk to the award winning Choughs Bakery liberated four of Cornwalls finest pasties and a vegetarian option for Sarah of course. A brisk walk along the estuary for myself and Sarah was the order of the day followed by a visit for all of us to the Lobster Hatchery - very interesting - if you are into that sort of thing of course! Three pounds a visit for adults and Two pounds for seniors - Tim got away with paying for 2 seniors and 1 adult which Dave was not happy about, with him not actually being a 'senior', but at least Tim was a quid better off. There was also an incident with Gas (of the Calor variety) but I won't go into to great a detail about that as it involved sleight of hand!



The time to leave approached and we readied Stray Cat for departure, myself and Sarah were now like old hands and felt comfortable with the fenders and ropes. The rubbish was jettisoned into the wheelie bin and off we go. The moorings were slipped and Tim manouvred Stray Cat in the Harbour ready to leave (no mean feat may I add as the water is not exactly that deep and there is just about enough room to swing a cat...........boom boom). With emergency fenders ready we crawled from the harbour with just feet to spare from the scaffolding on the harbour wall and reached the outer harbour sans incident. Fuelling was next and we all started working as a team straight away with skipper Tim giving directions like an aged admiral in charge of his fleet. Another 285 litres on board and off we went, waving at the day trippers on the harbour wall, we were off to sea yet again - I was getting sick of this land lubbing lark, I felt like an old sea dog after just 3 days on the boat and the final bottle of Carlsberg Edge (a quite horrid concoction of weak lager and a vile citrusy washing up liquid) has gone - I drank it! Hooray!




We made quick progress towards our day's destination - Lundy - an island nature reserve just off the Devon coast in the Bristol Channel. Our skipper had promised us sightings of dolphins but they were conspicuous by their absence until he said that we would see them in the next ten minutes, we didn't believe him! Three or four minutes later a blow of water was spotted by myself off the port side (See, I told you that I was getting into this boating lark) and all of a sudden a pod of common (no, not ones wearing burberry baseball caps and Elizabeth Duke gold chains from Argos) Dolphins appeared, about ten to twelve in total. They surfed in front of the two hulls of the boat for about five minutes amazing us with their agility and enthusiasm, resembling four foot torpedoes leaping from the water they were a truly wonderful sight and just as quickly as they had arrived, they disappeared. An extremely spectacular experience.




A short while later, a truly sobering experience announced itself over the VHF radio, a DSC Mayday - a man overboard announcement relayed from earlier. Apparently there was a man over board in the vacinity of 51' 19.5" N 003'25.0" W (East Bristol Channel) The Coastguard only got to hear about it at around 13:30 and relayed the message at 16:30, there surely can't be much hope after that much time in the water. One can only hope that if they have gone to Davey Jones' locker then the experience was quick. We are still anchored at 18.20 hrs and they are still 'casualty working'.... doesn't look good - sobering? Oh yes!

So here we are, on a dodgy looking bouy in a desolate bay off Lundy, a truly beautiful island that has the characteristics of a Thai Island with emerald green grass on the steep slopes of it's flanks and the sun is shining once again in what can only be described as perfect surroundings. We plan to land on the Island a little later, and visit its supposed hostelry for some beer... hooray !!


We shall have to report back on that later....




Postscript: Have just returned from the island; a short tender ride to the beach and a tough 25 minute walk to the top of the island followed. Words cannot convey the beauty of this place, it rivals anywhere I have seen in the world in my few short years (well, ok 37 but who's counting!). Emerald green grass, blazing sunshine, a few hardy Ash trees, great stone buildings and a Tavern.......Hooray! Only 24 people live and work on the island and last week there were no visitors booked in so they had the week off and went back to the mainland! Yes, it's that sort of place. No cars, no roads and a fine of one of the Queens pounds if your mobile rings (yes, there is a mobile signal here) whilst in the Tavern, oh, and a five pound landing fee per person. A big crab salad was tucked into by 3 of the crew with Sarah going for the veggie chilli (of course) and Tim going for the Lobster salad. Starters were excellent but the mains were a little off the boil and Tim was a bit disappointed with his, but not the worst meal we've had by a long shot, and much fun was had watching Dave destroying the supersize crab claws (which no one else was able to do).


A short walk after dinner was the order of the day and we found the lighthouse on the other side of the island. An open lighthouse with no charge - now there's a novelty - if this was a lighthouse on the mainland it would be closed to the public due to health and safety or there would be a charge of five British pounds or something. After what seemed like an age we got to the top where all the glass and ironwork was still in place - now bearing in mind that this place was first built nearly two hundred years ago (1821), it is no mean feat that it is still standing. The sound of the wind whistled eerily through the gaps in the glass/ironwork....................and then the sun set on another day. I can only hope that this truly special place is not wrecked by the hordes of tourists that could destroy it's unique atmosphere that we feel truly privileged to have been able to visit!




Next stop Wales - Milford Haven or Fishguard/Goodwick................Cymru Am Byth!



Till tomorrow this is your host and messenger Charlie Bravo signing off. Toodle pip!

Day 22 - 'Dead Calm' after a 'Perfect Storm' in 'Open Water'

So, here we are on day 22 (Three whole weeks!). A night of heavy rain (four inches of rain in the tender) and no wind... 'the perfect storm' on St Marys, Scilly Isles left a heavy fog in the harbour as we awoke; this soon lifted as departure time arrived. The customs cruiser from the night before steamed away from the harbour just prior to our own departure and off we went for the final heading, North!

The sea state was 'dead calm', very unusual for this area according to our skipper, and we made good progress with a 2 knot tide pushing Stray Cat along at a steady 20 knots over ground. Out in 'open water', with no land in sight and an ominous presence of absolutely nothing, a lone puffin suddenly appeared. The little sea bird with a technicolour proboscis tried to take off and eventually succeeded with his little orange legs akimbo.....nice to finally see some marine life, albeit of the feathered variety.

The sea remained calm as we pushed past Lands End and all of a sudden to the Port side a couple of Porpoise were espied. We attempted to get a closer view but our dear little porpoise decided that it was not to be and dived to unseen depths. Not to worry though, the sea remained 'dead calm' and ahead in the distance came a fabulous sight - the dorsal fin of a basking shark, then another, then another and then another up to at least 20 - we may need a bigger boat! With no land in sight and a 'dead calm' sea it was a fabulous to see these graceful creatures feeding on their phyto plankton feast. They twisted and turned serenely, right in front of the boat and seemed unperturbed by our presence - happy to keep on feeding with their mouths wide open displaying open gills.........and then they were gone.

We continued on our heading for another few hours past St Ives and Godrevy Lighthouse. The only other boat we saw was Molly G which we cruised past en route to Padstow. We approached Padstow at around 12:30pm where an overnight stop was planned. The approach into the harbour was severely hampered by some submerged scaffolding which worried our skipper but he skilfully piloted the Cat into the harbour without incident where Stray Cat is presently tethered to the harbour wall. Our arrival coincided nicely with the arrival of 2 new crew members and the very sad departure of Ian who has provided many hours of laughter with his wonderful one liners and unique outlook on life.

About an hour after arrival at Padstow the crew of Molly G came to speak to Tim saying how good Stray Cat looked as it passed. After a quick shower and a lobster lunch - it was time to say Goodbye to Ian and hello to Brian and Dave. This is now the crew until the conclusion of this voyage.

Dinner was enjoyed in Pucelli's restaurant as Margot's was fully booked for the entirety of June, along with many other restaurants! Pucelli's was more than acceptable with good food and some excellent Cornish strawberry wine and gratis entertainment provided by the latest addition to Padstow harbour - a scrumpy drinking, bare bellied, bearded, hanky wielding, willy waving, stick bashing vagrant!

A short walk along the headland with beautiful views of the estuary followed... and here we are ready to turn in for the night with just 3 days or so left until we arrive back in Pwllheli. It's going to be hard to go home as after just 3 days Stray Cat feels like home and it feels just so right to be navigating the inshore waters of our fabulous coastline.

Here's hoping for calm waters and blue skies for our planned passage to Lundy tomorrow.... Charlie Bravo (with a little help from Sarah & Tim)

Day 21 - Orange Boats, French Boats... a Scilly day !

Up early.... 06.30 hrs to complete chart work for the next 2 days. Scilly Isles today and Padstow tomorrow (weather permitted). Slipped our mooring in the Helford River before 09.00 hrs and slowly pushed out of the river in choppy seas (wind against tide). Not a great time to take a shower, but Ian didn't now this and who was I to enlighten him (ha,ha...tee,hee). (however - note from Ian - whilst taking a seated shower much of the boat movement did not prove a problem).

Once around Lizard Point (the most southerly part of mainland UK) we had the wind on our backs and we surfed towards the Isles of Scilly. We passed the ominously named Wolf Rock, a reminder that we were 1/2 way to the Isles (we were all somewhat disappointed that there was neither a picture of the aforementioned beast or a live specimen running wild on the island). Once past the Rock the sea changed colour to the most dramatic turquoise and the sun came out... marvelous. Colin was helming (using the wheel) and using nothing but the compass managed to steer an accurate course over 6 miles, only cross track erroring by 0.2nm - TOP JOB !

We saw land some 7 miles off and the air of expectation was very real.... none of the crew had visited the 'best bit of Britain' and this was about to change. As we entered St Mary's Sound we were again reminded of the perils of wind over tide and were glad when we reached the total calm of St Mary's Pool. We had arrived and we all heard the sound of the pub calling..... hoorray!

As we were picking up our swinging mooring... Ian (in his usual fashion) came up with another classic blonde moment....... ' Who paints their boat bloody orange?'... er, that'll be the life boat Ian !!! We are comfortably moored amongst boats from all over Europe. Having mentioned in passing that our nearest neighbour was French... Colin asked 'how do you know it's French?' ..... er, that'll be the french flag and the boatname 'Rosanne Veere'. Where did I get this crew from ? As a postscript it was interesting to note that the boat was actually from Holland, as noted by Ian (the apparent blonde on this current trip). Okay Ian.... but you did have to look the flag up on tinternet !!



Having taken the launch to town we sampled the offerings of the Mermaid Inn (great bar set into a rowing boat) & the Atlantic Inn (Ian is convinced it's is called the Lantern... nothing for it but to go back later and settle the argument once and for all) Having bought a BBQ and food.. yes, you guessed it - it's now pissing it down.

Nevermind we have our beer blankets on and we feel like we're on holiday.. hooray !


Watched the Grand Prix onboard and then took tender to the shore to find some food and liquid.

It will probably be an early night so we will sign off now.... same time tomorrow ?

Tim & crew.... xxx

Day 20 - That Must Be Venus!

A glorious day greeted us in Plymouth which filled us with anticipation for the final leg of this epic voyage. We motored out of the harbour following farewells to Shaun and hearty bacon sandwiches. The sun was beating down on us as we headed towards the marina at Falmouth, the sea was dead calm, with barely a ripple to trouble the twin hulls of this fine piece of maritime engineering. A few miles from Falmouth we came across a couple of young lads in need of a tow into the harbour after the motor on their dinghy gave up the ghost, it slowed us down on our entry to the harbour but if you can't help another human being in need then what the hell is the world coming to?

After jettisoning our 'cargo' a swift 285 litres of our countries finest red diesel was placed into the vast chasms that are the fuel tanks of Stray Cat and lunch was snaffled from Stavros for the very 'reasonable' (?) price of 19.50 for a few quids worth of sandwiches. A course was entered straight for Helford passage and after a false start with the first 'unserviced' swinging mooring, we found a secure mooring slightly upstream in which to place Stray Cat.

A few hours later we braved the tender with Ian fretting that he was going to be involved in a 'water incident' but we reached the shoreline with no problems and were able to sample the Guinness without incident!

Next came an emotionally charged incident that I can only liken to that of a national accident/event..... I am of course referring to the ceremonial placing of the new peregrine falcon on the flybridge of Stray Cat, which had arrived in Plymouth with us the night before. Velcro aplenty was placed onto the base of said falcon along with copious amounts of Helford Sand in its base. Tim placed the falcon atop the doodarfirkin that helps us on our way (It's a radar or something!) and suddenly everything in the world seemed right. The evils of the North Sea had been laid to rest and once again Stray Cat was being watched over by a guardian 'angel'.

Dinner at the local Yacht Club is best left unmentioned as 'The Committee' would probably not allow us to speak about this!

The sea fog that rolled in along the river earlier has enveloped us in a real pea souper that had Ian convinced he was looking at Venus as we pootled along in the tender.......of course, Venus turned out to be the light atop the very tall mast of a very big sail type boat and much hearty laughter was enjoyed by all.........well apart from Ian that is :O) Fortunately we had the foresight to take a handheld GPS with us to the shore - this facilitated our safe passage back to Stray Cat in the fog (good thinking, huh?).

Anyway time to sign off and we pray the fog clears so we can head for the Scilly Isles tomorrow and all that remains to say is hello to Gwyneth, Karen, Helen and Blodwyn..................well I did say I'd mention you after all! Ta-Ra!

G'night!
Charlie Bravo.

Day 19 - 'Alcohol free' Barbican (knot)...Tequila Sunset

Awoke to a beautifully warm, sunny and calm Dartmouth this morning. We had spent the night moored on the town quay, which was handy and safe. James (our local engineer) arrived at 08-30 hrs to secure the davits which (during last week's heavy seas) had worked themselves loose on the bathing platform.


We departed immediately he had finished and motored steadily out to sea... We took a slight detour today to visit Salcombe on the high tide and decided to fill our tanks at the floating fuel barge. We passed Hope Cove, Thurlestone and then made our way to Bigbury on Sea & Burgh Island. From there we followed the coast to the entrance to Plymouth Sound and made our way to Plymouth Yacht Haven on the Mountbatten side of the harbour. We were instructed to berth between another Lagoon Catamaran (sail) and a racing yacht, it was a bit of a tight squeeze - but Shaun & I are now well practiced.


After washing the boat down, washing bed linen for our new (soon to arrive) crew and planning tomorrow's route - we took the water taxi to the Barbican and found a quaint old pub away from the bars and restaurants which have changed the 'olde worlde' charm that the Barbican once had... (sad)



Shaun & I flipped a coin to decide which restaurant to try and fate sent us to "Arribas" mexican restaurant .... which was 'bloody marvellous'.. I introduced Shaun to the art of slamming tequila and after three of the 'poisons' we sat to enjoy a very good meal. I had to ask the waiter to retrieve the sombrero which Shaun had become quite attached to... Due to slow service and a few 'desparados' we were a little late getting back to the marina (water taxi again) and my new crew members had already arrived !



We settled them in and Ian wrote his blog entry... now the boat is silent as they sleep and I can find time to complete my blog entry for today.... a beautiful day in a beautiful part of the world... Falmouth tomorrow as the forecast looks great !!


Night, night... Tim

Day 19 - (Part 1) The journey to the ends of the earth??

After careful logistical preparation I managed to pick up the other 2 passengers (Sarah & Colin) for the next leg, leaving at around 6.30pm and stopping off at Sainsbury's for essential supplies we began our marathon 4 hour 49 minute journey (according to Navman) to rendezvous with Tim and Shaun. A decent start slowed only at junction 9 on the M6 by 15 minutes gave us a good run to Bridgwater before disaster stuck - a 6 mile queue of traffic that took 45 minutes to get through!!! And when we reached the end of the hold up the reason for this teeth grindingly, knuckle whitening, maddeningly frustrating endless delay was (and I kid you not) a 20 acre field filled with 100 - 150 wheelie bins that had been decorated as cows. Yes the slow-witted Southern populace of our fine England had decided that slowing down to view faux fauna was far more important than allowing the natural flow of three lanes of cars normally allowed on a British motorway. Amazingly Naggy Nigel (the idiot voice on my satnav) had negleted to inform me of the man falling asleep at the wheel of his Lexus or the crazy braking caravan driver sliding across all 3 lanes of the motorway finally managed to bring us to Plymouth.



Tim had given me (what turned out to be sh*t) directions to find the marina in which he had perched Stray Cat for the night. Nigel (for the first time in his life) insisted that I follow his instructions to drive over what appeared to be a cliff, dutifully I slowed down and approached the sheer drop at a snail's pace. Astonishingly there was a sheep's trail cut into the vertical face that we could follow and at the end of what seemed like the Inca gold trail we discovered life ( I have seen Deliverance and let me tell you I WAS worried). Having discovered the Marina, we dutifully rang Tim to announce our arrival......no answer. So we dropped in to see the Harbour Master who informed us that indeed his boat was here but Tim was absent without leave. The 3 of us decided to try out the local hostelries (according to recent blogs the most likely place to find the Gray type beast) eventually through a highly intensive and expansive search and rescue program we found our pilot for the next few days. Please stay in touch for further updates on the New Adventures of Captain Timmy and The New Gay Crew.



Post you all again tomorrow, Ian.

Day 18 - Devon knows how they make it so dreamy !

Hi there, Shaun again... two reasons really, Tim is a little weary of staggering home from the pub every night and then having to sit down and think of something original to write...quite daunting after 18 days at sea...and secondly because it is my last night on the 'Cat'...boo hoo.

This morning we had an early start for a change...The bridge was up at 10.00 hrs and we were showered, shaved and ready to go. Wind and tides conspired to give us a trouble free departure as we bade fairwell to Weymouth... We passed a huge sea cat as we exited the mouth of the harbour and set course for Dartmouth. The sea was a little raucous early on, with some cheeky waves to keep us alert. I tested my sea-faring skills by manually piloting the CAT across the Portland Shelf overfalls, south of Portland Bill ... just like surfing, fantastic !

There was little sea traffic to be seen, most of the yachty's keeping a low profile due to the wind (I thought that was what sailing was all about!) We had a 'securite' warning from Portland Coastguard about the wreck of the container ship 'Naploli' and her discarded cargo, floating (half submerged) in the bay. It seems a long time ago that she floundered, but they are still battling to salvage the remains of the cargo.

Despite a very misty outlook towards Dartmouth, we finally saw land and the clouds suddenly parted to reveal a very hot sun and the weather was set for a beautiful day. We entered the mouth of the River Dart at approx 13.30 hrs. There were no berths large enough to take us in the 3 marinas in Dartmouth, so we moored mid-river on a floating pontoon. A very friendly and helpful harbour master came to our assistance and guided us in the right direction. So, safely moored, we set off upstream in the tender to explore some of Tim's boyhood haunts (the Ferry Inn @ Dittisham amongst them). This lovely little pub had views to die for and served a wicked Adnam's Broadside ale, quite apt really!!.. I have to say this place is fantastic !! (Can't understand why it has taken Tim thirty years to return!)...

We then returned to the CAT to greet Tim's Uncle Len and youthful companion Anne. Len, being from Shrewsbury originally, spent many a holiday with the Grays in the 70's and now lives in Kingsbridge (very close to Dartmouth) Having spent many a long hour untangling young Tim & Chris' fishing lines - he was at least owed a cup of tea onboard Stray Cat.

We must have been a little behind schedule on the way back from the pub (in tender), because Tim was pulled over by the harbour master and warned about his speeding (that's unusual isn't it children...)

Having said goodbye to Len and Anne we set off to explore the town itself. We had been given some good advice on the haunts to visit and so were looking forward to the delights of Dartmouth. We weren't disappointed... except, the best looking menu in the town was displayed in a window of a restaurant which only opens on Friday and Saturday! What a bummer. Talking of which, I didn't mention finding Tim in his berth with three other guys the other night, did I?... (good explanation, ask for full details...)

Finally from me, we thought the circus was in town tonight when we came across the wierdest lady you could imagine, gallantry prevents me from expanding on the situation. It has been a wonderful few days and well worth the effort for such a good cause. Keep logging on to see the final few days.

See yah, (able seaman) Shaun Holloway "Roger that!"

Day 17 - Don't let gribble worms eat your piles !!!

Interesting title .... Anyone who knows what a gribble worm looks like ... let us know. Apparently they are hungry buggers and have eaten the whole pier at Yarmouth ! It's alright though - they only want to raise £400,000 for a new one... what?????

Woke to poor visibily and wind..... enough about my myopia & flatulance. The weather was a bit overcast this morning and the wind was up (force 4 from the North East). The forecast was promising and we decided to set off for Weymouth, via Lymington (for fuel) - a short hop across the Solent. Fuelling was painless only £250 and 10 minutes - easy.

We set off from Lymington at a slow pace not wanting to arrive at St Alban's Head before slack water (overfalls.. yikes!) We passed the Needles at approx 13.30 hrs and pushed West. Due to artillery activity we had to re-route 2 miles offshore to avoid Lulworth Gunnery Ranges (actively firing today) The tide eventually turned and we got 2 knots for free and arrived at Lulworth Cove @ 15-00 hrs. Not as I remembered it from my childhood (smaller, less attactive and full of chavs!)



From here we cruised past Durdle Door and onto Weymouth. The Bridge across the River Wey only opens on the even hours during the day and we arrived with minutes to spare for the 16.00 hrs opening. Then..... ultimate humiliation..... another boat called 'Stray Cat' on our starboard side... What to do ? ignore it ... pretend it wasn't there... or as we did, shout "Great name, shame your boat is soooo small !!!!"




Having had all sorts of problems getting online tonight (over 1 hr to get started on blog) we will sign off now... we will let the photos do the talking....

Night,night, hope the gribble worms don't bite. Tim & Shaun xxxx

Day 16 - All Wight ?

A very, very sedate and relaxed day today..... We are ahead of schedule and there is no point arriving in Plymouth early (makes Brighton look nice)...

Woke late and moseyed down to the shops in Cowes - provisions, some shorts (clothing not drink) for Shaun and some medicine for the skipper (scurvy has set in). We then went for an explore on the tender (rubber inflatable) up the River Medina @ Cowes... idea was to take some photos for the blog. Don't know whether we should blame the photographer (Shaun) or the assistant ( guess who ?) who clearly hadn't cleared the memory card. Lots of great photos just no memory to store them with !

Decided that the Isle of Wight was worth further investigation and we made passage to Yarmouth, our calling was seafood at Saltys (folk law reputation for good food) Before dinner we went exploring in the tender up the River Yar and Shaun mastered helming the little craft (not easy for an uncoordinated left hooker)

We had a table booked in our name at Saltys (literally they had written our name in chalk on the table) for 19.30 hrs - giving us just enough time for a cheeky ale before supper !

Fantastic food, good company, some ad-hoc sponsorship from total strangers and the weirdest of coincidences... A guy came over to ask what our 'shirts' were all about and asked if we wanted him to take a picture of us (see pic) Whilst chatting to us he mentioned he had just returned from an expedition to the North Pole. I asked speculatively -
" Was it the Polar Challenge ? " He seemed surprised that we had heard of it and affirmed that it was 'said' challenge... It turns out he completed the challenge with 2 good friends of mine from my Airpic days. Bevs and his team had completed the challenge and come third and had become close buddies with my ex-colleagues Martin Palethorpe and Stuart Lotherington. Very, very small World... see pictures at bottom of page.

Beautiful sunset as we left Saltys and we paused to take a few snaps (plenty of memory this time)...

We are planning a relaxed start in the morning - Lulworth Cove and Weymouth are our planned destinations.....

Bon nuit Tim & Shaun.

Day 15 - Riding a Virgin to Brighton

Hi all, new contributor today, Tim is a bit depressed and lacking inspiration following three days stuck in Brighton. I can't say I blame him, I feel much the same and I only spent a couple of hours in the place. I'm Shaun and will be on the Brighton to Plymouth leg before my more elderly colleagues from work take over.

I arrived on a Virgin from Birmingham around two this afternoon before walking the seemingly endless sea front up to the marina. Only Tim and I on this leg. Two guys together on a boat seems fairly normal in this part of the world.

Anyway, onto the events of the day. After a welcoming beer sat on the bow seat, we decided to fuel & set off to Cowes (Isle of White) at about 17-00 hrs. The forecast for tomorrow was pretty ropey, so it seemed the best thing to do. We covered the 47 nautical miles in next to no time at all. Lots of shipping in the Solent. We heard Queen Mary II hailing Solent Coastguard and within minutes her silhouette was clear on the horizon, she steamed within half a mile of us - boy is she big !! She looked huge from where I was sitting.

The sea state was fairly placid, as was my introduction to life on board Stray Cat. The Solent was busy with shipping and ferries and we were buzzed a couple of times by a large naval helicopter. Our course coincided with that of a container ship (Copenhagen Express) and we dutifully followed her for a mile or so, before passing her when safe to do so. The Portsmouth skyline to our starboard, with the large sail shaped building, was instantly recognisable and fairly impressive.

On safe arrival at Cowes Yacht Haven, I practised my new roping skills and within minutes we were off to the local hostelry to find a real ale and a Guinness. We followed this with good pub food and 'headed' back to the boat.... Headed being the operative word, as I tried to enter the main saloon without opening the glass sliding door.... ouch !!!!

All in all a pretty sedate start to my leg of 'A Passage of Hope'. I'm sure it will liven up a bit. Early to comment I know, but - I can't see what all the fuss was about (a few Yorkshire waves, that's all...)

Going to my 'scratcher' now..... Shaun

Day 14 - Seaside rendez vous....

Brighton isn't a pretty place, nor is it the cultural capital of the UK - but when the sun shines and you spend time with good friends it is a lovely place to be.

Mungo & Claire (new friends introduced to me by Andrew) arrived at the marina at about midday and gave me a very good reason to stop route planning and get some fresh air.... We drove to their new house (very close to the marina) and spent the afternoon eating, drinking and chatting in their sunny walled garden. I was introduced to Claire's dog 'me me' and we spent a few hours putting the world to rights...

We walked from the house back down to the marina, via a house frequented by Lewis Carroll and the tunnel which is purported as being his inspiration for the rabbit hole in Alice In Wonderland.

Stray Cat was the venue for a few afternoon drinks before we set off to find some food. We were intent on Thai food - but the restaurant wasn't open... we settled for a Chinese and set about putting the world to rights for a second time....

Tomorrow I am expecting Shaun to arrive and we will set off as soon as we can heading for either Cowes (if we leave tomorrow) or Weymouth (if we leave on Tuesday morning.)

Roll on tomorrow and the open sea....

Day 13 - Sunshine @ last...

Having spent the best part of the last fortnight wearing all the clothes I own, it was with suprise and relief that Brighton turned up the wick and gave us 25 degrees of unbroken sunshine and a clear blue skies today.... Where had I stowed my shorts? Didn't think I'd be needing them on this trip !

We had a slow start this morning, as we were late eating last night and subsequently very late writing the blog and uploading photos to the Photo Album (which you can check out @ the very bottom of the blog page). It was so late in fact - I didn't phone Carol and boy did I get some stick today... oh, yes.

Col and I did a rough calculation last night after several vodkas and we realised we had travelled over 1050 nautical miles since a week last Monday... that will explain the tiredness and irritability.

Very sad day today..... Farklin (Col) went home - boo hoo !! Colin has been with me from the start and has been a stalwart from Day 1... To use Colin's own terminology -" He's a real star !! ... he's really FANTASTIC "

I helped Colin to his taxi at about 14.00 hrs and set about tidying, cleaning and doing a few minor repairs to the boat, ready for our next crew... Shaun (Production Director, Dairi-Pak) is arriving on Monday to do the next few legs with me.... So I have some time to do washing, drying and provisioning before we leave on Tuesday.

Haven't left the marina today and unlikely to venture far tonight...

Hope you are all well, and enjoying our blog...

Same time tomorrow ?

Tim

Day 12 - East meets West....

Up at 7.00am eager to prepare for a long passage.... endeavouring to push onto Brighton from Lowestoft (some 157 Nm). Sent Farklin (Col) to get some provisions from the local shop... one hour later still no sign of him (stroke? mugged? or just confused?) Anyway it gave me time to fuel all 4 tanks and read the whole Almanac cover to cover !!!!

When eventually he arrived a little flushed and out of breath, he made no apology and went to stock the fridge. We slipped our lines and asked Lowestoft Harbour Authority for permission to leave once a container ship had passed the marina entrance. We were aware that fog was going to be a hazard and the radar was primed. As we left the marina we heard two sailors proclaiming 'bit of a pea-souper, might wait to see if it clears - before we decide whether to go or not...' - Poofters !

The fog didn't hinder our progress as there were no blips on the radar screen... too misty for the average yachty, but no problem for the CAT. We saw nothing (but each other) for nearly 3 hours until a large blob (huge in fact) appeared on the radar screen. I assigned an 'Elecronic Bearing Line' (EBL) and a 'Variable Range Marker' (VRM) to the target and noted it's range - just half a mile away. Before I could track the target to see if it was on a collision course with us - it was gone ! We hit the wake some 2 minutes later and summised it must have been the Ramsgate Fast Cat. Thank God we were wide awake and vigilant.... or we could have been writing this blog from Zebrugger !

Whether it was the relief of averting a CATaclismic collision or the fact that fog really does cloud the brain and disorientate.... Colin then professed to having seen a mermaid (wot?) " No really I saw it !" .... he protested. After rationalising the situation we concurred it was infact a seal (albeit it did have big eyelashes and vuluptous lips) although I find it hard to believe it was wearing a wig and giving him the come-on...

Back to the voyage... Fog really does disorientate... it was easy to convince ourselves we were infact going round in circles - you just have to trust the instruments and ignore your instincts. I said to Farklin (Col) we should be able to see the White Cliffs of Dover by now.... and as if on cue - through the mist they appeared. A fleeting glance of the Port of Dover and its Castle before our visibility was zero once more.

By the time we had reached Hastings the sun was beginning to burn through and we really believed we were approaching the South Coast of England.... Yippee !

At 18.16 BST we crossed the Greenwich Meridian 000' 00.00" and we officially entered the Western hemisphere. Nothing for it but a photo to prove our position (Royal Navy Style) and a large Gin & Tonic to celebrate our return to the Western World...

Arrived @ Brighton Marina just before 19.00 hrs and treated the CAT to a wash and polish...

Headed out to the modern monstousity that is Brighton Marina Complex for a couple of Guinnesses (Guinnie?) and a chinese (meal not person).

Time for bed said Zeberdee.... zzzz zzzz

Day 11 - ... what a difference a day makes .. la.la

First things first... engineer arrived to assess the steering damage and the source of the hydraulic fluid spillage. Not very conclusive... unable to assertain whether a new leak or the original leak some years ago that had been moved (disturbed) by the bouncing and banging of yesterday.


Quite sad to leave Grimsby... lovely little marina (funded and managed by the club members) and helpful harbour authority. Fueled just after 9-00am and headed straight for the lock and were 'penned' immediately out to the Humber Estuary. The lock was just big enough - as the gates closed the tender was touching the back gates and the bow had just a foot or so clearance of the front gates.

Would you 'adam and eve' it...... clear blue skies, an Inshore Water's Forecast that was accurate and slight sea conditions, yippee! We back-tracked along yesterday's inward route and two hours later we passed the place where we had turned around the previous day (what a lot of wasted time & fuel) Onward we motored at a steady 16 knots and enjoyed the flat seas and warm sunshine.

'Lazy Boy' ( a 40 foot mono-hulled cruiser) had departed the marina some hours before us but we passed them en-route, giving us a much needed lift after our abortive passage yesterday. The Norfolk coastline appeared to our right - flat but framed with beautiful golden sands. Wind farms appeared on the horizon like alien beings from an H.G.Wells novel. We could smell the land and our destination was in view - Lowestoft.

We radioed for permission to enter the harbour and were greeted with an East Anglian twang which reminded us how far South we now were.... more than half-way round the UK and at long last the weather is getting warmer !

Had time for a quick shower and a couple of swift pints before Dave Woods (Wavey Davey) arrived with his new girl to take us to dinner. A curry in the Red Rose Bangladeshy, where wierdly I bumped into a schoolfriend I had not seen since we were 12 - Lisa Dumbleton. I hope Lisa and her friend will visit the blog and perhaps even send a little sponsorship for our cause...

Relatively early night as Colin (Farklin.... wot?) has a cold, the blog needs to be posted and most importantly the skipper needs his 'scratcher'.

Night, night ... Dickie and Farklin xxx

Day 10 - all 6's & 7's

What a long day... Up at 5am to ensure we got the last bridge opening of the morning. Then had to wait 3 hours (moored along side a 6,500 tonne dredger) for the fuelling station to open. Took on 250 gallons of the red stuff and off we set. Good bye Whitby... hello cruel sea.

Col & I (the dynamic duo) were in high spirits as we passed Flamborough Head and Scarborough. Within 3 hours we had travelled 55 miles of the 155 planned... this was gonna be easy !! WRONG !! The North Sea dealt us it's normal hand of crap !! Force 3's & 4's soon turned to 6's and 7's and the sea took on a rather ominous character. 12 foot waves shook the the CAT by it's tail - 20 miles offshore and 35 miles passed Grimsby, there was nowhere to hide !

Following a set of three monsters, which pitched the boat 35 degrees front to back & ripped the seats off the bow rail and threw them over the top of the flybridge - we reached a point where a decision had to be made... we would not survive for much longer on our planned heading. After turning the boat downwind to steady her, some quick calculations and frantic surveying of charts offered only one safe course of action - turn back and motor Northwest back to the relative shelter of Grimsby. 35 miles in the wrong direction but potentially SAFE - I never thought I would be so pleased to see Grimsby.

On arrival we surveyed the damage to the boat... lost seats, missing falcon and most seriously - damaged hydraulic steering. There is red hydraulic fluid everywhere, so we are now stuck until we can find an engineer to repair the damage.

The only positives from today are that we raised £65 in the bar for A Passage of Hope, we will have no trouble getting to sleep and of course - we are still fit to fight another day...

Too tired to write much more... Tim & Colin xx

Day 9 - 'Jet' to Whitby it's bloody fangtastic...

Another day in gothic paradise (or is that hell?) I am learning a lot about this little shipbuilding and fishing port nestled at the mouth of the River Esk in North Yorkshire... This place is more Goth than Gotham City. With the constant drizzle, dark skies and the regular whistle of the steam trains from the North Yorkshire Moors Railway, Whitby could be the setting for any Tim Burton movie.

Whitby Abbey was founded in the seventh century on cliffs by the sea; its haunting remains can still be seen from the sea and are a testament to the Golden Age of Northumbria. The Abbey and its 199 steps down to the harbour were the inspiration for Bram Stoker using Whitby as the setting for his novel Dracula. There are plenty of reminders that Whitby is the place where Dracula came ashore all those years ago and there are plenty of museums dedicated to the neck-biting vampire. It is also a busy fishing and tourist town and if you’re a fan of Heartbeat (eh Bill?) you’ll probably recognise a lot of the places in Whitby as they quite often film parts of the programme here. The town itself is a former whaling port built at the mouth of the river Esk and rises steeply from the river on both banks.

Who's heard of Whitby Jet ? (no not the local basketball or american footbal team). All you old buggers will have - because your parents probably hankered after some of it, or may even have been fortunate enough to own some (usually in the form of jewellery or ornaments.) Whitby Jet is known the world over for its beautiful soft texture, dense black colour and very high polish. The Victorians were apparantly great 'mourners' and the black art of mourning was symbolised by the wearing of jet - usually in the form of broaches or pendants. There are two theories how jet was formed. The first is that jet is a form of carbon - a coal, not unlike lignite. The second, more widely accepted theory, is that in the days of the Saurians, the Dinosaur, Tyrannosaur and others, trees grew to great heights and the sap from some of them flowed down the trunks and filled hollows nearby. Covered by earth, leaves and other natural debris, these seams of sap hardened over millions of years until they were exposed as jet or amber.

The Cook Museum recalls the life and times of Captain Cook, the explorer who lived here from 1746 to 1749. There are a few slot machine arcades, but nothing too tacky. The end of this walkway opens out onto the jetty, which curves out to sea to protect the harbour from the elements. On the top of the cliffs there is the famous Whitby landmark of two whalebones made into an arch.

I am now running the risk of sounding like that flowery shirted, white suited, Lawrence Llywelyn 'big cuffs, girlie hair' Bowen. But with no boating again today, I feel compelled to give you my impressions of Whitby and what has made this place so popular over the years.

I shall sign off now as my brother Chris is due to arrive any second to take me for fish and chips... (last of the big spenders). Very kind of him to pop-over as I have been companionless for 24 hours now... Forecast is improving tomorrow... here's hoping. Speak soon.... Tim

Day 8 - Blow the wind southerly...

How frustrating, to be holed up due to gales in the North Sea? Due to Force 7 & 8 gales we have had to abandon any plans to get underway today. Tomorrow is looking like an impossibilty also. Nothing for it but to secure the boat and wait... and wait...

Sad to see my crew leave today (not sure if they abandoned ship or whether it was a mutiny ?!) - Dave Pedley & Andrew Smales have run out of time and have headed back home for work tomorrow. It has been great having them aboard - Dave has been a great help with navigation and helming, whilst Andrew has been a constant reminder for the rest of us to 'eat and sleep' !!!

Colin has had to shoot back to Oswestry as his dog is not well.... I hope the vets can work their magic and I look forward to the return of my most loyal and trusted crewmate !!

Whitby is a lovely Yorkshire seaside resort, which retains a huge amount of historical charm. Count Dracula rated it very highly and every Goth in the country has it on their 'Places to visit before you die' list - so who am I to argue ?

Again very disappointing not to have clocked up any miles today, but reading the weather and making decisions on when to 'make way' and when to 'run and hide' is part of the challenge of boating in the UK....

Hope you are all enjoying the blog and I will speak to you all tomorrow....

Looking forward to seeing you at the Safe Return Party @ Oswestry Cricket Club on 29th June !! Tim

Day 7 - Heading nowhere

Andrew again. Tim is fully enjoying our enforced day off, which for him is well earned, and due back shortly after a hearty meal and drinks. Thankfully we made it the mere 20 miles round to Whitby this morning, setting off at 6.30am having taken turns to ensure the boat was safely moored against the shipping wall throughout the night. A much more salubrious place than Hartlepool. Rather beautiful actually. Doesn't Stray Cat look great from this angle. Who'd have thought that Yorkshire could look like the Adriatic? Actually, that IS the Adriatic, and that ISN'T Stray Cat. Well we couldn't disappoint you with another grey rain and wind filled picture could we. Besides, the combination of no shore power and failing cameras and 'phones has made the photographic task a bit difficult. Must try harder! Mr Kodak we ain't, despite all the electronics we have on board.

Very VERY windy here, and glad to have found shelter in a nice little marina. At 09.42 UTC Humber Coastguard posted an All Ships 'Securite' ... Humber severe Force 9 soon. The weather shows no sign of abating, and it is unlikely we will leave this place "this place" tomorrow. The locals are walking round in virtual gale force winds this evening in shirt sleeves and blouses, and we are cold in our full weather gear. This begs the question - who is the toughest of them all? Definitely the inhabitants of Whitby.

So all in all, a lazy day. Watched the Grand Prix in a pub and must bide our time to make an exit into the sea as soon as the gales have gone. Again, it's not glamorous, but it is a adventure. But we all have itchy feet to get back out to sea again. Not before time though. We'll sign in tomorow, and keep you updated.

Still, on the plus side, Tim has had time to shower to his heart's content, and no longer smells like a goat. And this crew member is about to crawl under his duvet for a very very long time indeed. Goodnight all. Don't worry about us. It's a tough life living on only seafood and Guinness, but we'll cope...

Day 6 - heading south

Where do I start ? Left Peterhead (North East Scotland) @ 9.30 having taken on approx 250 gallons of diesel. Fully fuelled and blessed with a blue sky and calm seas we turned the corner of Scotland and headed due south on a course of 180 degrees. We were making good progress and our destination of Amble, Northumberland seemed well within our reach. So much so we decided to try and save another day (as poor weather was forecast for the following day) by pressing on to Whitby, Yorkshire... we had plenty of fuel, daylight and confidence to tackle the North Sea.

We were encouraged by the Inshore Waters forecast which promised light winds from the south and slight to moderate sea conditions. What is it with the bloody Met Office....? all those satellites, computers and gadgets and they can't tell the difference between calm conditions and a Force 6 with 10 foot waves ? We are surely due a formal apology from the Met Office (along with the residents of Sevenoaks) as we found ourselves 25 miles offshore in the most challenging of seas. Well past Amble and some 20 nautical miles short of our target - Whitby.

As the conditions worsened and the seas started to pound Stray Cat at 2 second intervals, I asked Dave my navigator and relief helmsman to look for a safe haven to cut and run to..... the only place with unlimited access in the vacinity was Hartlepool. A quick telephone call to confirm they had room for us, followed by a radio call to Humber Coastguard to change our 'traffic`routing' and we altered course for the beautiful coastal town of Hartlepool (yuck!!)

Our day was about to get worse, on arrival at Hartlepool Marina they informed us that the harbour entrance was only 19 feet wide. No matter how we tried we would not get Stray Cat's fat arse into the entrance. As the Jennifer Lopez of the boating world we have a massive 21 foot beam... no way !!

The only place they could recommend was in the commercial dock next to a 100 foot container ship and downwind of a petrol refinery. No pontoon, no shorepower, just a concrete and timber wall with a rusty ladder. And here we are now.... taking turns to do 3hr watches so that we don't destroy ourselves bouncing of the dockside....

I hope you're all enjoying a good night's sleep and hopefully we'll still be afloat tomorrow to continue our blog. This is the crew of Stray Cat signing off for today....

Day 5 - flying low

It falls upon me, Andrew, the latest crew member to write today's blog entry. Arriving last night, I was greeted by a somewhat bedraggled and soaking wet group of beaten men. In Tim's own words "I smell like a goat". Having already negotiated half of the Caledonian Canal in horizontal rain, the weather abated and we set off this morning from Fort Augustus at the western end of Loch Ness. Blessed with sunshine at last, we negotiated the final few locks to exit into the North Sea. Despite the sunshine, and relatively calm sea conditions it certainly lived up to its viciously cold reputation. Having said that, I had arrived endowed with clothing more appropriate for a tropical climate than biting wind and the occasional shower. Have been wearing six T-shirts , a fleece and heavyweight jacket all day, but still feel like I've been lying naked in a chest freezer for several hours . Mid afternoon, we saw a Navy Sea king helicopter approach us. "RAF Rescue to Stray Cat. We are on exercise. Can we put a man on board?" Readily and excitedly agreeing, we were approached by what can only be described as a flying detached house. At one point it was no more than 30 to 50 ft directly above us, and the noise and down draft were astonishing. After following us at what felt like arms length for a mile or two, the tender boat was nearly ripped from its fittings by this flying goliath, so we had to politely decline their kind offer to crash onto the boat and watch them peel off into the sunshine. The rest of the journey has been blessed with sunlight, but biting wind and cold. We now find ourselves in a sleepy, but sheltered harbour in Peterhead. Weather reports look favourable for perhaps the next 36hrs, so we intend to push on to Amble in Northumberland tomorrow, some 160 miles from here. The moral of today's trip? Never eat yesterday's leftover Frutti Del Mare seafood pizza cold. Not exactly gourmet food, and possibly more likely to prove our undoing than the sea.

Day 4 - Dead deer and drizzle...

Great night's sleep in Corpach Basin inside the first lock of the Caledonian Canal. Due to take on fuel at 9.00am - but due to a dead dear floating in the lock and an unhelpful Yachty who berthed infront of the fuel pump.... no fuel til 11.00am. filled all four tanks and emptied the British Waterways fuel reserve ! 900 litres of red deisel (fox piss as it is known by the French)

When at last underway, we had one lock to Negotiate before heading to the foot of Neptune's Staircase (8 locks rising 80ft) The flight of locks took about 1 hour 20min to climb before setting off north east towards Loch Lochy. The speed limit on the canal sections is just 6 knots - so progress seemed very slow in comparison with earlier in the week. Once on Loch Lochy we opened the engines up and within minutes we were at the end of it... By this time we were all soaked and very cold. A real shame that due to the low cloud and rain we didn't see Ben Nevis or much above 200 ft.

Loch Oich was beautiful and at long last the rain ceased and the cloud began to lift... what a beautiful stretch of water. We are now safety berthed at Fort Augustus for the night. At 9.30am we will be first through the locks to enter Loch Ness. Can't guarantee to get a picture of Nessie but we'll do our best !!

Same time tomorrow.. ?

Day 3 - Salt water to fresh...

Spent the morning recovering from the excesses of last night. What compels sane people to drink double whiskies all night when in Scotland ?
Decided a walk was a good idea and set off on foot to explore the Island of Kerrera... windy and wet but fantastically unspoilt - no roads, just a track from one end of the island to the other.

Back on board, we waited for the wind to drop and set off at a steady pace (keeping pace with the wind which was from behind) We only had 30 miles to cover today, so the pace was relaxed as the most beautiful scenary opened up in front of us. As we made our way NNE up the Sound of Jura, we begain to understand the geography of the Western Isles and Lochs of Scotland. At the northern tip of Jura we passed the notorious Gulf of Corryvreckan, a very narrow stream of water rushing into the Sound from the Atlantic squeezed between Jura and the tiny island of Scarba. The volume of water rushing through the Gulf creates a whirlpool some 60 metres in diameter which has claimed many a boat inrecent history.

As we cruised up Loch Linnhe the feeling of solitude was very real, we saw no other boats all afternoon and were suprised and dissapointed to arrive at Fort William just short of 3 hrs after leaving Karrera.

A short leg, but surely the most beautiful of the trip so far !

Day 2 - Pushing North

Force 9 overnight, felt decidedly unsafe lashed to plastic pontoons in Port Ellen. Waves breaking over pontoons, throwing boat around like a cork. Needless to say -'night watchman's sleep' - wind died at 5-00am (time to sleep).... 8-00am knock on hull - 'Do we need diesel ?' .... yes but need sleep more !

Arranged for fuel bowser to arrive at 3-00pm at quayside... giving us a few hours to visit the LAGAVULIN distillery on Islay.... Donnie (ex-manager of distillery and RIB skipper) invited us to take a ride with him to the Distillery.... top banana, top bloke, top tour - BUT too many tasters !!!! Phoned Dad (Brian) to wish him a Happy Birthday... present to follow, unless we drink it !!!!

Left Islay @ 4pm after refuel and picked our way up the Sound of Jura towards the notorious Gulf of Corryvreckan (very large whirlpool). Sea state was 'confused' to say the least, but great to be tossed around - so close to land !!!!

Arrived Island of Kerrera @ 8-00pm... just in time to catch launch to Oban. Four pints and few whiskies later back on launch to Stray Cat for a long awaited and well earnt SLEEP.... (12 hours please)..... Ooops forgot BLOG.. sleep can wait !!!

Speak soon...... comments please !

Day 1 - Beat the storm...

Departed Pwllheli @ 8.30am after bacon sandwiches.... made good progress to Bardsey Island to get our first view of the Irish Sea. Not calm but do-able!

Set course for Carlingford, Ireland and pushed on at 20 knots. Made good progress into a head sea and decided to try and make up some lost time - by pressing on to our second day destination (Glenarm, N. Ireland) a calculated risk but supported by Inland Waters Forecast from Belfast Coastguard.

The Irish Sea showed a glimpse of it's intentions - but we pressed on in moderate seas. The forecast for later today and tomorrow was of concern. A dilemna - make for safety in N. Ireland and risk being holed up for a couple of days whilst the depression passed or endeavour to navigate the North Channel into Scottish Waters (potentially making up more time and averting the likelihood of a two day wait for the front to pass)

The North Channel seemed passive at the outset, but soon developed a cheeky complexion.... Passing Ailsa Craig & the Mull of Kintyre bolstered our spirits as we visited the waters of our fourth country (in one day).

After 11 hours of diligent perserverence and a little good fortune we arrived (rather wet and tired) at Port Ellen, Isle of Islay, Scotland (having beaten the storm by a matter of minutes)

At present, whilst writing this blog we are bouncing around in the full force of a Force 9 Gale, happy in the knowledge that we have made 3 days progress on our first day....

Nothing to do but sample the numerous whiskies on offer .....

Signing off now..... same time tomorrow ?!?

Tim, Colin & Snotman xxxx

GALES IN IRISH SEA DELAY DEPARTURE

Due to Gale Force winds in the Irish Sea our departure has been delayed. We were hoping to depart Pwllheli, North Wales today - however 'Mother Nature' had other ideas !

The sea state in the Irish Sea for the next 2 days is going to be rough (15-25ft waves) so we will wait until the crossing is possible. I am hopeful that this will be on Sunday or Monday. Our progress will undoubtably be slow, but once we are across we should be able to hug the east coast of Ireland and have a more comfortable pasasage. We will be updating the blog every day from now on... so put it in your favorites or even set it as your Home Page for the next few weeks.

The adventure is about to begin - Rule Britannia !

About the Cause - Primary School, Nongon, Thailand

Nongon is a small village community of approx 350 homes , located 23 miles North of Chiang Mai, Thailand's 2nd largest city. Most inhabitants are engaged in farming, growing rice , vegetables and fruit. Wages are poor , ranging from 50p to 3 pounds a day, depending on the nature of the work.

Although basic healthcare is free , there is virtually no income support, so living standards are low. Education up to high school is free and compulsory. The primary school in Nongon has 60 or so pupils , girls and boys aged between 4 and 12 years .The school is poorly supported by the government, who pay the teachers salaries only.

Local well-wishers, some with better off relatives, offer financial support for food and other running costs. The local authority provides free daily milk and a rich American philanthropist subsidises the salaries of an IT and a nursery teacher, both of whom are super-numery. Parents buy books by monthly installment of 20-30 pence at a time. Those who can't afford this are helped with whatever funds are left in the school kitty.

A recent drive by concerned villagers and a retired UK citizen (my friend Malcolm) and his wife (Marilyn) have successfully raised funds to buy much needed personal computers, build a new canteen, repave the perimeter road and tile the floors on the ground floor. This work, much of which has been made possible with money donated by British citizens (and the Rotary Club of Oswestry & Borderland) , has significantly improved the conditions for the children , many of whom are keen to receive an education to enable them to better support their parents in later life.

The teachers are loyal and hardworking. In 2006 the school beat 130 other teams from Chiang Mai district in an English speaking and comprehension competition , and earned a silver award in the 2007 event, against much better funded schools.
Three years ago no one spoke English in Nongon school; but with Malcolm as an unpaid volunteer they now have a 'real' English teacher....

Much more remains to be done, the most pressing need being the construction of a new toilet and washing block. The existing block would be difficult to describe here. Let's just say it isn't " dignified ". This is where the 'Passage of Hope' will be helping..... Please, please, please be generous to this worthy cause.

Passage of Hope - Info Meeting

Info Meeting @ Cricket club was well attended last night... in addition to the 15 attendees I received apologies from Greg Parker, Tony Harrison, Bill Tapley, Mungo Amyatt-Leir, Dave Pedley and Chris Hall.

The Passage of Hope is now taking shape. I have completed the crew make-up for each leg and I will be contacting each crew member to confirm. Without exception I believe every request has been accomodated.

Polo shirts are being ordered today and sponsorship continues to arrive...

Please, please, please make every effort to sell your HOPE wristbands (as I won't be refunding any unsold bands.) If you can think of any family members, friends or work contacts who run their own businesses - then please appeal to their charitable nature and tap them for some event sponsorship - £50 to a business is not a great deal of money but will go a long way in Northern Thailand.

I am looking at potential dates for the Safe Return Party, and having talked to a few people following last nights meeting, there is a concensus that family and friends Dinner @ the Cricket Club would be a good idea. The evening will be ticket only and will include - photos & film from the trip, funny stories, table games, live music, fund raising and a charity auction. Please be on the look out for donations for the auction.

Speak soon CREW ...... Tim

It's Official - We're going.....

Well, the boat is serviced and the most likely spare parts to be needed are onboard. The route planning is about 50% complete and the scale of the challenge is now very apparent.

We have a meeting on Thursday 22nd March @ Oswestry Cricket Club (7-30pm) for all those people interested in crewing any part of the 'passage'.

It is most important for all those interested to understand that this is a charity EVENT and not a holiday. Raising sponsorship money is what it is all about. To this end I have decided that a donation from each crew member to our charity of 50p per nautical mile will help cover fuel costs and help maximise the funds raised.

We have 200 charity wrist bands for the 'Passage of Hope' and I am expecting all of them to be sold prior to departure (£5 each) These bands were bought from Oxfam and the proceeds will go to help our event.

Any corporate/private sponsorship will be gratefully received and cheques should be made payable to - Rotary Club of Oswestry Borderland.

Tim