Holy Loch

Road journeys always cover boats in far more grime than usual. So, firstly, we needed to clean Jomima and then stock her with fresh food ready for heading to our base, for the next week, at Holy Loch. The journey to Holy Loch Marina, near the old US nuclear submarine base vacated over ten years ago, was uneventful. We carefully crossed the Clyde traffic

lanes at 90 degrees as instructed – but without another vessel in site. Holy Loch itself is stunning. It looks like a small estuary but is nearly 50m deep – which is why it was used by the US submarines. The marina is being converted from the old landing area used by the US marines. They had a permanent mother ship and dry dock moored off shore with nearly 3,000 men attending to the refurbishment of the subs when they came in for servicing.

Kip Marina

Ann had agreed to drive our car from Nottingham to Kip complete with the final items of packing and also the essential outboard engine for Jomima’s tender. This had been too heavy to load onto the boat while she was out of the water at Newark. Ann left at 8:30 am and had a good journey, apart from heavy Friday afternoon traffic in Glasgow, covered the 300 miles by 3:30 pm. That afternoon we were welcomed to Scotland by Margaret and Morrison, who are also members of the Broom Owners Club - with a boat very similar to Jomima. That evening Morrison had arranged what proved to be and excellent meal for us all at the local hotel. However, by 10.00 pm Ann was fading fast, after her long drive to Scotland, so we were not long out of bed.

Arrival at Inverkip

The Glasgow police will not let wide loads travel along the M8 through Glasgow until 10.00 am. So, unusually, the driver did not leave at his normal 6:00 am and we had a lie in and finally left at 8:00 am. The view from the very high cab of the truck was magnificent as we headed north up the M6, A74 and M74. The journey through Glasgow passed without encountering too much traffic as a result we were slightly early for the escort vehicle. After a brief spell in a lay-by I was handed a two way radio by the escort driver and asked to listen to instructions. We were then able to follow a white van, with flashing lights, through the centre of Greenock and all of the rest of the journey to Kip Marina.

After waiting for one hour for the crane to return a yacht to the water, after having had a new propeller fitted (I never did find out how he lost his last one), Jomima was lowered into the waters of the Firth of Clyde ready for the start of this year’s adventure.

Travelling to Scotland

After months of planning, Jomima was just about going to be ready for lifting onto a truck, for transporting to the west coast of Scotland, by Thursday 15^th May 2008. On the Tuesday before she was due to go I received a call to ask if we could be ready a day earlier because the truck was ahead of schedule and they could then bring a return load back

from Scotland on the Friday. The return load saves me having to pay for the truck to travel back from Scotland empty and therefore saves me money. So, after a busy 24 hours, we were ready for the off a day earlier than planned.

Jomima is nearly 4m wide and is therefore a “wide load”. This means that the driver needs a “second man” and an escort vehicle for the last few miles of the journey to Inverkip from Greenock near Glasgow. I had agreed to be second man so, once Jomima was loaded after lunch, we headed north up the A1 from Newark and then across the A66 to Penrith. The A66 is one of the highest roads in England so the views were great. At Penrith is a secure truck stop where we were able to stay the night with the driver sleeping in his cab and me sleeping high up on the back of the truck in Jomima.

Winter Storage

Boatyards can be fairly bleak places in the winter and Newark is no different. Most of the boats look dirty and neglected and Jomima is no different. However, spending a few months out of the water will have done her hull some good by allowing it to dry out after several years spent in sea water. We have also treated her to some new covers so, once we have cleaned her fibre glass hull and she shines again, she should look like new again.

We are already planning our 2008 cruise to Scotland - starting in May 2008 so watch this space.

Moored in Newark

This will be Jomima’s winter home. It is, of course, not winter yet but the time has come for us to attend to other things. We will still be taking her out on occasions, if the sun shines, for a trip up the river. However, the river Trent is usually at its best in the spring when the new ducklings hatch and the fishermen are constrained by the closed season. It is strange, most walkers, rowers, sailors and other users of the river always say hello and wave as we go past. Unfortunately, much as we have tried to be friendly and avoid disturbing their lines, the fishermen only respond with a glower.

That is all for now. If we make any interesting river journeys then I will provide an update. Now where shall we go next year?

Cruising Back by Truck

I had originally planned to take Jomima back to Newark on Trent, which is near our home and where we bought her from, via a cruise up the east coast of England and then down the river Trent from Hull. However that is a journey of about 400 miles by water and, even if the weather was perfect, would probably take at least 3 or 4 days. Unfortunately, based on our recent experiences, the weather would have been diabolical for two out of three days so it would probably have taken us two weeks! If you then factor in the cost of the diesel and moorings the other way back is more appealing i.e. by truck.

Jomima is 13 feet wide so a second man is required to help the driver. I had to get back to Newark myself anyway, so I became the second man. The day was planned to with an early start but the yacht that they had to lower in first, at Swanick Marina, went straight into the mud and would not move away from the crane. We therefore had to wait for the tide to come in sufficiently before Jomima could b safely loaded onto the purpose built trailer. I do admire the skill of the crane drivers when they manoeuvre 9 tons of boat and lower it precisely onto the supports on the trailer.

When we got underway it was great to watch the traffic from my lofty perch in the passenger seat of the truck. I rapidly began to appreciate the problems that truck drivers encounter as they steer such a wide and long load through the traffic. Suddenly lamp posts, pedestrian refuge signs and other tall objects become a hazard that have to be squeezed past. Main roads and motorways were relatively easy. However, as we got nearer to Newark, we negotiated a traffic island signalled left and swung out to make the turn. At that point a car then sped through the inside of us and nearly ended up under the port side of Jomima’s hull.

The last hazard was a low bridge and, after careful measurement, I was assured there would be two inches of clearance. As we swept under the bridge I listened for the crash of Jomima’s windscreen hitting metal and was greatly relieved when the hazard was passed without problems. Jomima was then unloaded and returned safely to the water.