Confessions of a SIB'oholic by The Gurnard

[Nick Hearne]

Love it, keep it coming

[The Gurnard]

My thanks again to everyone who is following my adventure..and hope you find it interesting



Perhaps it was because I had eaten too many beef burgers.. or perhaps it was because I had not had enough black gravy..(there are only six tins in a Tesco value pack) But I confess .. I didn’t sleep well that night.

When darkness fell.. the shipping channel came to life. Huge container ships clunked heavy metal hulls as they left Glasgow on the start of their long journeys south towards open seas. Several trawlers also thumped large inboard engines closer to shore.. dredging up prawns..or anything else that dared to live on the sea beds of the Clyde.



There was a full moon too.. but no werewolves appeared ..it never turned black.. like it often does in the country .. far from city lights.



My mind was racing .. listening to the tapes running in my head. I was thinking about the news from the start of the week. I dozed momentarily, and had visions of the first boat that I ever owned. It is not the yellow Seafly dinghy in the picture...that was my father’s boat. I had the little green tug boat. I also thought of my mother. As kids ..we were brought up with the sea in our blood.



I then thought of the meeting with mother at the start of the week. I visited her twice a week as she had not been keeping well. I heard her voice again in my head as she said ... I have to go into hospital again.. and this time.. I don’t think I will get out.

That was the reason I needed a fix of SIBing by going round Bute in June. It was my way of coming to terms with the thought that very soon I was going to be an adult orphan. I knew that within a month.. my parents would be little more than a bunch of photographs .. memories... and perhaps one day ..have a story to tell.



I was very glad to see the sunrise that morning ... I had started to accept the outcome of the bad news ... realise how precious a gift life really is... and I was also very thankful that I had inherited my parent’s love of small boats ... the sea... and the land around me.



To be continued ....

[Pikey Dave]

This should be serialised on radio4, superb.

[beerbelly]

far better than the sh!te on the telly

[Squid Boat]

I'm going to brake out a old Glenlivet 18 and revisit the images tonight.

Thanks

[kerny]

Originally Posted by Squid Boat

I'm going to brake out a old Glenlivet 18 and revisit the images tonight.

Thanks

Sounds good, I think I will do the same with a large Highland Park

Thank you again for sharing your sometimes poetic words and stunning pics on all your threads Gurnard.

[Barrowboy]

Gurnard, nothing I can add to what fellow 'nobbers have already said. You're a true wordsmith and extremely handy with a camera! I look forward to more of your evocative words and pictures...

ps: the pic of the camp fire with the gravy tins is superb.

[Seaflyer02]

Hooked, come on don't stop.................

[SteveHall]

Originally Posted by Pikey Dave

This should be serialised on radio4, superb.

Totally agree!


Sent from my iPhone using RIB Net

[Siochair]

So sorry to hear about your sad news and hope your little escape on the clyde helped you come to terms with it. Bad news aside I find your posts a particular highlight on here and always enjoy reading them.

[The Gurnard]

Hey.. many thanks everyone for your kind comments. I was a bit wary posting this type of stuff as it is not the normal Ribnet postings. Im pleased you enjoy it.

Radio would destroy it though.. its the photographs that tell the tale ..I only link each photo to the next .. with my prattle.

On with the show ....

With the dawn.. and my acceptance of the inevitable .. came a new day ... and a whole new mood. A far calmer mood.. with a softer light that edged everything with gold. Before continuing my adventure, I stood back to look at the big picture.

From a distance I looked back at Glencallum bay and the hills that I had clambered over.. looking for mythical beasts that existed only in my own imagination .. I accepted that my thoughts and fears of loosing my mother existed only in my imagination too. Her passing would be but a continuation... she would live on in my advenutures.. the sea ..and the land around me.





My mood warmed to that thought.. in the same way the rising sun started to warm the colder land. I turned my SIB northwards to continued my adventure. I was at peace with the world.. myself and the higher power that keeps me addicted to Sibbing.





I could now face civilisation again any wanted to get back to the city.. the company of others and of course.. my old mother. I slowly turned into Kilchattan Bay for a nosey around.. but saw no one .. then it dawned on me ..it was still 5am in the morning.





I waited until I was a couple of hundred yards off shore... then ... with a flick of my wrist.. the SIB was on cruise speed. I watched happily, as Kilchattan fell back to silence as the village grew smaller and smaller.





I confess ... I love the quiet rattle noise of the rooster tail wake as it folds back in on itself.. on a flat calm and sunny morning. I think It is the most relaxing sound in the world...even after a bucket full of black gravy.




It was such a beautiful morning that I could easily have been in heaven. The smooth sea reflected my calm mood.



Then the rooster tail rattle was disturbed by the harsh crackle of the VHF radio. The forecast was announced ... calm winds in the morning.. turning to force 5- 6 in the afternoon.

Yup..I was happy I was heading back to the city ...


To be continued....

[The Gurnard]

I confess .. I really enjoy going up the East coast of the Island of Bute. It is very different to the rocky and sparsely populated Islands off the West of Scotland, that I normally explore.

IMO .. Some of the villages have a very “English feel” to them. Some of the houses looked like buildings more suited to Stratford upon Avon.. with their black wooden beams on white washed walls. Certainly not the normal stone walled crofts of the north.



Other homes seemed to be built of money.. I doubt the owner of this mansion would ever wild camp in a Tesco Extra value tent in their leisure time.



Other buildings.. although they looked lovely.. proved to be a bit false on closer inspection.
I though this impressive round structure on a point at the start of Rothesay Bay must be a famous monument commemorating something important.



However .. on closer inspection ..I found it was nothing more impressive than the town water treatment plant.



I do have a soft spot for the main town on Bute. I have enjoyed a few good nights in the bars of Rothesay. .. it is a bustling wee Toon in the summer.



I was hoping to see another old Lady..

before heading home to my dear old mom...

To be continued ....

[jambo]

Kerrycroy was built in the style of an English village for the workers of the Mount Stuart estate


Sent from my iPhone using RIB Net

[The Gurnard]

Thanks for that info Jambo..I need to visit the Mount Stuart Estate sometime..sadly.. I cant see the house from the water.. only the boat house


Im not ashamed to say that I was a little disappointed ... not to see my old lady friend in Rothesay. She normally hangs around the harbour area when in town.. but I fully realise she gets herself around a bit. She is a beautiful old girl.

Leaving town, I headed across Kames bay towards the entrance of Loch Striven and the narrow Kyles of Bute. I was on my way to visit the two Maids of Bute ..to ask after my friend.




Entering the Low Wake section of the narrow Kyles of Bute ..I dropped to a steady cruising speed. A fast displacement speed on my SIB causes more wake than staying on the plane. I presume the low wake enforcement is in place because larger boat’s wake can erode the shoreline.



Then I dropped to slow displacement speed as I entered the No Wake Zone in the Kyles. It starts at the ferry which feeds the Island traffic from Colintraive. It only makes sense to follow this speed limit as it gives plenty of time to work out if the ferry is going to cross in your path. I tend to think that Commercial Ferries care little about other vessels on the water.. and they always think they have right of way .. so I always give them a wide berth



The No Wake Zone continues through the narrowest section of the Kyles. The deep channel is marked by buoys. Again..I play safe and if there are other boats in the narrows..I give way regardless. I know which side to pass other boats.. but have found a lot of other boats don’t. Im not there to teach them or to argue.. so I play safe and wait until all are out the road.

The tide does not obey the No Wake Rule either as it can cause quite a wash on the buoys.. when it is running at springs.



The No Wake Zone then goes back to a Low Wake Zone at Buttock Point and it is here that you can see the Maids of Bute.

Legend has it that these garish painted stones were two local fisherwives that went to Buttock Point to wait their husbands come home from sea. They never came home and the wives waited that long.. they turned to stone. They certainly seemed stone deaf as they never answered when I asked if they had seen the old Lady I was looking for.



The wind started to ripple the water as I headed back to Tighnabruaich. Then my day was made when paddles started to beat the ripples on the water. The Old Lady I was hoping to see.. came into view.

Yup..she is the P.S. Waverley ..the last of the great sea going paddle steamers in the world.. and what a magnificent old girl she is.



I watched in silent admiration as she headed for the pier. I recalled many trips on these old paddle steamers of the Clyde ..accompanied by my mother and father. The Dutchess of Hamilton was another paddle steamer I remember being on ..but sadly ... she is long gone.



To be continued ...

[camelgas]

That old girl gets around a bit !!!! , as I always try to see her when she's in my neck of the woods (Bristol Chanel) .

[The Gurnard]

To end this tale.. I have attached a map of The Isle of Bute..showing the slipway that I used and where I camped. It is only 45 miles round the Island..so it can be done by boat trip in a few hours.. but its best to take longer and turn it into a real adventure :-D




This is a photo looking down the West Kyles of Bute.. towards Inchmarnock Island and the Hills of Arran beyond that.



This is a photo looking towards the narrow northern Kyles of Bute. It really is a lovely area to go boating in..but it is also a busy area because of this.



Shortly after watching the PS Waverly land at Tighnabruaich pier ..I landed at Kames slipway then made my way home.

I took my mother into hospital a couple of days later.. and she was right ... she never got home again.

A month later ..on the day after her 84th birthday.. she passed away as I held her hand.

It wasn’t a tragedy ..in fact it was a miracle. She was first diagnosed with breast cancer 35 years earlier. A year of surgery and chemotherapy back in 79 let her lead a normal and very happy life up until a year before she died. Both the treatment and palliative care she got from the NHS and the voluntary hospice service was 100% first class.

I would therefore like to dedicate this true tale ... not only to the memory of my mother.. but also to you .. the RIBNET community who gave time and / or donations to the MacMillan Charity appeal.

Selfless acts like the MacMillan RIB .. means the charity can help many people.. of all walks of life .. come to terms with cancer.


My thanks to you all .. and I know my mother would thank you all too



I must go down to the seas again, to the vagrant gypsy life,
To the gull's way and the whale's way, where the wind's like a whetted knife;
And all I ask is a merry yarn from a laughing fellow-rover,
And quiet sleep and a sweet dream when the long trick's over.

[jumpinjack]

Wow..... Powerful and beautiful ending

[gennaro]

Great thread that gave many smiles and also brought a tear or two

[kerny]

A lovely report and pics Gurnard and also sincere condolences on your mum's passing which I think that you handled with the utmost dignity to which I'm sure your that mum would have been proud of.

Maybe to much to ask but I bet an adventure of yours caught on film would be just AWESOME

[whisper]

Wow, what a great story and told so well

It's amazing how a boat trip can make you think about what's happened on the way there and what you're going to do about it on the way back.

So sorry to hear about your mother and I think that she would have been very proud of you too.

Your cruising ground is beautiful you have been very brave in refreshing your thoughts and being there for your mum.

Well done you

And thanks for the dedication to the forum