{"id":1444,"date":"2022-09-21T23:02:31","date_gmt":"2022-09-21T22:02:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.socasailing.org.uk\/?p=1444"},"modified":"2022-10-13T07:10:42","modified_gmt":"2022-10-13T06:10:42","slug":"a-scottish-shrimper","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.socasailing.org.uk\/?p=1444","title":{"rendered":"A Scottish Shrimper"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"\"The September meeting, topic “A Scottish Shrimpe<\/strong>r<\/a>”  was held on the evening of the death of Queen Elizabeth II<\/a>, (Queen Elizabeth I of Scotland<\/a>)<\/em>.
There had been calls to cancel the meeting from some of the members but it was decided to proceed with the meeting and a toast was made in memory of the  Monarch and a few words said by the Commodore.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The meeting was well attended and was ready to start at the scheduled time of 7:30 but a few gremlins with the communication system between the computer and projector meant a delay to the start of 15 minutes.
A short description of the event is contained in the post.
International Shrimpers Week (ISW) Scotland June 2022<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The following description contains a few extra words and pictures that are not contained in
that post.<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Rally was organised by the International Shrimper Group<\/a> and consisted of over 30 Shrimper from various locations. The term International was justified as it not only included shrimpers from England, Scotland and Wales<\/strong> but also a Shrimper that had been towed all the way from the Netherlands<\/strong>.
\"\"<\/p>\n

The rally was based in the Forth of Clyde and surrounding Islands. Based at the Largs Yacht Haven<\/strong><\/a>, a Marina rated as one of the top two in Scotland, which  had very good facilities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"Largs is  famous for being the site of The Battle of Largs<\/b><\/a> (2 October 1263) which was a battle between the kingdoms of Norway and Scotland, on the Firth of Clyde near Largs, Scotland. Through it, Scotland achieved the end of 500 years of Norse Viking depredations. Victory was achieved with a crafty three-tiered strategy on the part of the young Scottish king, Alexander III: plodding diplomacy forced the campaign to bad weather months and a ferocious storm ravaged the Norwegian fleet, stripping it of many vessels and supplies and making the forces on the Scottish coast vulnerable to an attack that forced the Norwegians into a hasty retreat that was to end their 500-year history of invasion and left Scotland to consolidate its resources into building the nation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Day One<\/span><\/strong> of sailing consisted of a shakedown trial from Largs Yatch Haven<\/strong> to Little Cumbrea<\/strong> and Return. Skirting Hunterston Quay and Power Station<\/strong>, avoiding the Hunterston sands<\/strong>.
Winds were ideal for gentle sailing at WSW F2\/F3.
We logged 24Nm in total, mostly under sail, over a period of approximately 3 1<\/sup>\/2<\/sub> hours.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Shrimpers off Hunterston Power Station<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/p>\n


Day Two<\/span> <\/strong>was the first day of organised sailing with the whole flotilla taking part. The trip consisted of a journey around the Cumbrea islands<\/strong> from Largs<\/strong>. Winds were again fine for sailing, WSW F2\/F3<\/strong>.
Some of the fleet anchored at Millport<\/strong> for lunch but we had lunch whilst sailing around Little Cumbrea<\/strong>.
PS Waverley<\/strong> was sighted leaving Largs<\/strong> for the Isle of Bute.<\/strong> We traveled 30 Nm<\/strong> in total that day around both Great & Little Cumbrea,<\/strong> journey time for the trip was  ~ 6 1\/2 hours<\/strong>. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

\"\"<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Day Three<\/strong><\/span> was a more difficult sail from Largs<\/strong> to Port Bannatyne<\/strong> on the Isle of Bute<\/strong>. Winds were mainly westerly F2\/F3.  
We traveled for 24 Nm<\/strong> in total, having lunch whilst sailing. Lots of pictures were taken of the PS Waverley<\/strong> again.
Travel time was approximately  6 1\/3 hours<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Day Four<\/strong><\/span> sailing involved a not too early start. 9:30am,  after breakfast on board.  We traveled from the Isle of Bute<\/strong> to Tarbet <\/strong>on the Kintyre Peninsular<\/strong> through the Kyles of Bute<\/strong>,
This leg was a  highlight of the trip<\/span><\/em><\/strong>. <\/span>
Winds were SSW F1\/F2. The journey took  nearly 7 1<\/sup>\/2<\/sub> hours to travel the 30 Nm<\/strong> Including a stop for Lunch at the delightful Caladh Harbour<\/strong> in the Kyles of Bute<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
Lunch at Caladh Harbour<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Click on the following link for a YouTube video of the Shrimpers arriving at Tarbet.<\/strong>
Cornish Shrimper Owners Association rally 2022 arrive in Tarbert, Loch Fyne<\/b><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

Thursday Evening<\/span><\/strong> at Tarbet <\/strong>was Decision Time for all of the Shrimper Skippers with \"\" Very Strong Southerly<\/strong> Winds forecast for the next few days
(The<\/strong><\/em><\/span> wrong direction for the original planned route of the flotilla<\/em><\/strong>). <\/p>\n

There were three o<\/em>ptions<\/span><\/strong> being considered.<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Return To Largs<\/strong> early tomorrow Morning, (Motoring most of Way)<\/li>\n
  2. Stay at Tarbe<\/strong>t until weather improved<\/li>\n
  3. Travel North and Shelter in Crinan Canel<\/strong> until weather improved.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    The flotilla effectively split into three smaller groups with some shrimpers opting for each of the three options. We selected option 1 and planned to leave for Largs<\/strong> at 8:00am the next day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \"\"
    <\/i><\/b>Day 5<\/span><\/strong> Tarbet<\/strong> to Largs<\/strong>  We left Tarbet Harbour<\/strong> at 8 o’clock in the morning after a light breakfast. We proceeded across lower Loch Fyne<\/strong>, motoring into a strong headwind. After about an hour of motoring we got to a point just south of  Ardamont Point<\/strong> we then decided to take advantage of the shelter provided by the  Kyles of Bute<\/strong> and decided to travel around the north of the Isle of Bute<\/strong> for our return to Largs. <\/strong>With the wind now behind us we sailed (jib only) up the  western Kyles of Bute <\/strong>at about 3 to 4 Knots. Whilst traveling along the Kyles<\/strong> we saw some unusual vessels, one unusual example is shown below.<\/p>\n

    \"\"<\/p>\n

    The winds for most of the way were southerly at  F4\/F5. The trip from Tarbet<\/strong> to Largs<\/strong> was logged at  30 Nm<\/strong> in total  and took about 7 1<\/sup>\/2<\/sub> hours.<\/p>\n\n\n

    \n
    \"\"
    Approaching Largs for the last time.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

    For the next few days sailing was impossible due to very strong winds so we resorted to land based activities. On the first day we took the ferry as a foot passenger from Wemyss Bay<\/strong> to Rothesay<\/strong> with the intention of taking a bus to Mount Stuart House<\/a>, <\/strong>A 19th-century mansion with extravagant interiors and expansive landscaped and wild gardens that had been recommended to us by a fellow Shrimper who had visited it earlier in the week. First stop however was to the famous Victorian toilets in Rothesay<\/strong>.<\/span><\/p>\n

    \"\"

    Restored Victorian Toilets at Rothesay Harbour<\/p><\/div>\n\n\n\n

    \"\"
    Mount Stuart<\/strong> :- A 19th-century mansion with extravagant interiors and expansive landscaped and wild gardens. Built with the funds made mining the Welsh Black Gold<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    \"\"
    Some of the extravagant internal decoration at Mount Stuart<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

    The next day we decided to have a trip on the PS Waverly<\/strong><\/a> around the Isle of Bute.
    \"\"<\/strong>However the weather was too bad for the paddle steamer to follow its original route as as well. We had decided to catch Waverly at Largs, <\/strong>but it was impossible for her to berth there so we had to make a mad rush to Greenock<\/strong> to catch it there, arriving with a few minutes to spare. 
    Of course the first thing we had to do onboard was to pay a visit to the engine room.<\/p>\n

    http:\/\/www.socasailing.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Waverley-Engine-Room.mp4<\/a><\/video><\/div>\n\n\n\n

    The paddle steamer struggled in the strong winds on route to Rothesay<\/strong> on the Isle of Bute, <\/strong>where some of the passengers disembarked to visit the town,
    We continued to the Kyles of Bute<\/strong> but had to turn back before we reached the end due the weather. The return trip then returned to Rothesay<\/strong> to pick up passengers and then onto to Greenock<\/strong> where she berthed with difficulty due to the offshore wind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \"\"
    Waverley at Greenock<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

    An Excursion on the Waverley is something everyone must do if given the chance.<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    SOCA is currently trying to organise a trip to travel on the PS Waverley in October. Click link here for more details<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    With the weather not predicted to be any good for safe sailing for at least another 2 to  4 days we decided it was  time to return south. We left early on Monday morning retracing the route that we had followed on the way up to the Forth of Clyde<\/strong> a week earlier. This brought to an end  a very enjoyable sailing holiday in Scotland<\/strong> with the Shrimper community.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    The September meeting, topic “A Scottish Shrimper”  was held on the evening of the death of Queen Elizabeth II, (Queen Elizabeth I of Scotland).There had been calls to cancel the meeting from some of the members but it was decided … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1541,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[17,14],"class_list":["post-1444","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sailing","tag-17","tag-sailing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.socasailing.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1444","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.socasailing.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.socasailing.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.socasailing.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.socasailing.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1444"}],"version-history":[{"count":68,"href":"https:\/\/www.socasailing.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1444\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1719,"href":"https:\/\/www.socasailing.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1444\/revisions\/1719"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.socasailing.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1541"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.socasailing.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1444"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.socasailing.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1444"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.socasailing.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1444"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}