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A Guides holiday with a difference! |
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Picture two old-enough-to-know-better Guide leaders about to embark into the unknown. Some mad impulse drove them to offer to join a volunteer delivery crew taking the "Audrey," a 60 ft. ketch-rigged (2 masts, 5 sails) sailing barge, built in 1916, up to northern Scotland where she will spend the summer taking parties of disabled children and adults through the Great Glen (Caledonian Canal and Loch Ness) and round the Isle of Mull before returning to Hull in September.
Our official mission : to assess the possibility of using the "Audrey" for parties of Guides. The result : a wonderful break in very congenial company. For the story of our voyage, and our conclusions ........... read on ............. |
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Saturday : Montrose --- a commercial port, and the Audrey looks very small alongside those ships!! And do they REALLY expect us to climb down that ladder from the quayside?! |
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Dave doing his Captain Ahab impression at the wheel of the "Audrey." |
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Postcards we collected on the way - to view our photo album, |
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Sunday : Montrose to Stonehaven : head winds so engine all the way, and the Audrey rolls in seventeen different directions at the same time (or that's what it feels like!) We both feel very queasy and the voyage seems to last for ever (actually, only seven hours.) On arrival at Stonehaven it seems like half the town turns out to watch us come in - we are equally delighted to be in sheltered water! |
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Macduff |
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Monday : Stonehaven - Macduff : the wind has changed direction, the sun is shining, and we have found our sea-legs! Thirteen hours of glorious sailing, and the Audrey looks a magnificent sight under full sail. The men even let us take our turn at the wheel, only spoiling the moment (slightly) by pointing out that, at two miles off shore, we are unlikely to hit anything! As there are no icebergs in the area we are inclined to agree, but get pretty close to hitting the skipper instead! |
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The "Bow and Fiddle," Portknockie |
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Tuesday : Macduff - Portknockie - Buckie : fresh-smoked kippers bought in Macduff for breakfast, anchor in Sandend Bay for lunch (fresh crabs and smoked mackerel pate with salad) before we sail on for Portknockie, where it seems ALL the town turns out to greet the biggest vessel to enter the little harbour for years. Lovely little village, locked in a time-warp (even the postcards on sale are from another era!!) and then on to the slighly bigger fishing town of Buckie for the night. |
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Postcard bought at Portknockie Post Office in June 1999 - but when was the photo TAKEN? |
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Wednesday : Buckie to Burghead : dolphins and porpoises escort us out of harbour and the sun is still shining although the weather forecast is not too good. The wind drops and the mist rolls in as we enter Burghead harbour, home to a tiny prawn-fishing fleet. Once more we attract visitors, and the harbourmaster, with typical Scottish hospitality, greets us with a tray of fresh duck eggs. |
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Burghead from across the bay |
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Thursday : Burghead to Avoch : we wake to steady rain so we fortify ourselves with scrambled duck eggs before setting off across the Moray Firth. Scottish rain is wetter than any other rain anywhere else in the world and despite waterproofs it still seeps in everywhere, but we are cheered by a school of ten or more dolphins which escort us into Avoch harbour. |
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The prawn fishing fleet in Burghead harbour |
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Friday : Avoch to Inverness : Avoch (pronounced with a silent "v" and coming out rather like a cough,) is the only harbour where we are high and dry at low tide, so we spend a leisurely morning waiting for the tide to come back in before setting off (in pouring rain) for our final destination. It's too wet even for dolphins, so we get throroughly soaked waiting in vain for a sighting. At least we haven't had the storms that were forecast, and struck further south, but this rain is unbelievably WET! There is absoloutely no wind, so our plan to approach Inverness under sail is thwarted and we have to content ourselves with entering Clachnaharry Sea Lock, the start of the Caledonian Canal, on our engine. |
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Avoch and its harbour |
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During the long drive south, Kath and I discussed our experiences at length. We agreed that we had had a wonderful holiday and would like to share it with some of the girls. We are now trying to plan a sailing trip in the "Audrey" from Hull up the Yorkshire coast and back again, probably in the October half-term break. We would like to take a group of older Guides - Rangers and Young Leaders; there will be just ten places available so if any Guide in the senior section (14+) in East Yorkshire county is interested in joining us, please email for details. |
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BACK to home page |
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NEXT : some of our holiday snaps |
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