Round Britain Diary

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By now you will know that Jurgen likes to get things right and before our trip he had already carried out an upgrade on the e-tec's water pump and also swapped out all the injectors importing them from America at a massive cost. We were also carrying of lots of spare parts including injectors.

Jurgen had raised the height of the engine before the cruise and had been running a 4 blade prop which was changed over to a 3 blade in Northern Ireland to further test the difference and to work out the best fuel economy. A slight difference over 1,600 NM could mean £££'s

So for the first time in Loch Ness we really did give the boat a good high speed test and we saw the results of what I would call a racing set up...

The e-tec run's on high efficiency at low revs and it was great to see the figures at a trawling speed but it was now time to burn some fuel

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pa3n...ature=youtu.be

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Double post

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We head over to see the castle ruins on the banks of Loch Ness but we really need to get on, we have covered very little ground and have a long way to go and if we don't make the last lock by 5pm then we are stuck in the canal for another night...

Copied from the internet....

URQUHART CASTLE

The magnificently situated Urquhart Castle, on the banks of Loch Ness, remains an impressive stronghold despite its ruinous state.

Once one of Scotland’s largest castles, Urquhart’s remains include a tower house that commands splendid views of the famous loch and Great Glen.

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Facebook post by Mrs G:

All ribs should be in Inverness tonight - just two more locks to go. Apparently, it's "pissing it down" with rain at the moment!
So, they are definitely a day behind schedule. The Targas are somewhere behind, determined to catch up.

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Facebook post by Hew (Sea Salt):

Passing through the Fort Augustus locks

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The Targa's have almost caught up now but we have two locks to go and it's nearly 5pm

We radio ahead to the lock keepers and persuade them to stay on, keep the hydraulic lock equipment running and let us through the last two locks...

We arrive at the last lock at 5:15pm, we have not broken any speed limits but still we are read the riot act on how to leave the last lock:

The lock keeper who is now late home informs us that "This is NOT Wacky Races!" but then gives us loads of information about navigating to Inverness and local knowledge is always good.

We had entered the canal as a group of boats going round Britain together and due to the very social aspect of working through the locks and the team work required, we had really got to know each other well and we left the canal as a Round Britain Team

We arrived in Inverness, the rain stopped and the sun came out.

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Facebook post by Mrs G:

Ribs are in Inverness, arriving in bright sunshine and heavy rain! Aiming for lunch at Peterhead tomorrow and Arbroath for the night.

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Facebook post by Team Finn:

Inverness Marina- not raining.

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I went to see the harbour master to pay our birthing fees and I asked him if we were going to get stuck for a hotel is there anywhere we can get our heads down? He tells me that we can use the drying room as it has access direct to the outside via a locked door with a key code entry.

I'm getting quite good at being homeless

After a shower we Me and Jurgen are off into Inverness on foot with our Land support team that has now arrived for the next few legs

I walk past a chinese child sat in a puddle splashing his hands in the water and for a split second I didn't think that I was in the UK!

We found a steakhouse and I ordered the special which was a Steak, sat on a potato rosti, a haggis on top with a whisky sauce.

(Moderators, please note shape of plate and lack of veg)

My dinner is the best of the trip I think it was called the loch Ness Monster???

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Back in the drying room I'm sat on the floor on my sleeping bag and I count my brand new pants and socks that I bought in Northern Ireland. I'm looking after Jurgen's underwear that has been washed and now in the dryer...

I've got enough clean, dry underwear for the rest of the trip and I decide to phone home to share my victorious news

Mrs W bursts straight into tears! Being one day behind has really hit her hard and she sobs and sobs saying over and over again "It's just so hard without you Alex, it's just so hard without you."

This is the longest time that I have ever spent apart from my wife since the day we met. It's not that she's not doing well with the kids, she just misses her husband. And now, I have the biggest lump in my throat...

She's been watching the weather forecast and it's not looking good. She's also worried about my safety and where I am sleeping! I promise to take more care.

For me this adventure is very much a dream come true, but for her and for others on the trip they probably think I'm mad...

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End of day 8 (this is the planned route that took two days to complete)

[Nick Hearne]

Originally Posted by whisper

End of day 8 (this is the planned route that took two days to complete)

2 days!! You might as well have gone round the top!

Loving the read by the way Alex, keep it coming

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Day 9: 1st August 2014

Facebook post by Trevor G:

Planning to leave Inverness in 2 groups. Duma, Kalish and Scramble at 7.30 and Black Hawk, Finn and Blue Ray at 8.30.
Should be in Peterhead for lunch and a splash of fuel and then on to Arbroath for early evening. Should be high tide as we get to Arbroath so hopefully no problem getting in. Hope the Targas will join us their later on.

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Jurgen slept in Black Hawk and in the morning we were off to a truck stop around the corner for yet another cooked breakfast

After all, we were giving the others an hour head start

Facebook post by me:

Kick the tires and light the fires !!!

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So we are now running two groups, as it worked out there were three in each group:

Group 1

Duma - Shearwater Cutter 150hp
Kalish - 6m Humber 175hp
Scrambled - 6m Ribeye 150hp

Group 2

Black Hawk - 7.2m Osprey Vipermax 250hp
Finn - 7.4 Redbay 250hp
Blue Ray - 8.6m Shearwater Cabin 275hp

Both groups were well matched and an hour was about right given we were traveling 165 nautical miles today...

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The sea is flat calm, again the sky gives us it's daily display of awesomeness and it starts to rain which makes and eeri sound on the waters surface.

We are at trawling speed as we reach for our Geckos and Jurgen points out our fuel figures.

Note, it's in KM as Jurgen is German...

[JamesF]

For me this adventure is very much a dream come true, but for her and for others on the trip they probably think I'm mad...

But in a good way, surely !?

I'd love to do what you've done at some point. And dreamt about it on and off for about the last ten years or so. Maybe in another ten...

Thanks for posting all this. Really enjoying following it.

Edit: that's less than 0.6 L/nmi!

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More seals!!!

We spot loads of seals on the beach so we go over to investigate. It turns out that they are also interested by our rather large black boat!

We need to get on as the other group are way in front!

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Facebook post by Team Finn:

[Maximus]

Nice Pic's and story Mate....Brightens up these Dark Nights!..keep em coming