How am I going to sail Milo without Ros? – Milo is a boat to be shared – everything requires at least two people: pulling up the main requires someone to feed in the runners at the masthead while the other operates the winch in the cockpit; someone to lay out the anchor and drop it when the other person at the helm navigates the boat to the right depth; picking up a mooring requires a careful approach by the helm while someone else operates the boat hook and hauls the mooring line aboard.  At the funeral I announced that I would continue to sail Milo round Britain but that I’d need crew to help me do this.  Since then I’ve had second thoughts.  Yes, get new crew to help me sail Milo to the Orkneys, which is what we were planning to do this year, but first repeat some of the trips Rosamund and I had already done together around the western island.  That way I would have the experience of having done the run before while I was breaking in new crew members who may not have any experience at all. In the meantime, start looking for a new boat that would be easier for me to sail single handed (furling main; electric anchor, joystick control coming into port – more cabins to put up guests) and use this new boat next year to go to the Orkneys and circumnavigate Britain in relative safely – minimising risk.

This is Glen Caladh Castle – Milo’s new mooring is below where it used to be situated – the castle is now a pile of rubble after being destroyed in a weekend by the Territorial Arm in an exercise in 1953.

A new mooring was laid for Milo on Tuesday, May 21, 2019 adjacent to the Queen Victoria Jetty near where Glen Caladh Castle used to be – outside Glen Caladh harbour about ¼ mile from Andrew’s cottage.  The mooring is a 10 tonne in anticipation of getting a bigger boat.  Meanwhile I have decided not to take Milo back to Lyme Regis.  Instead I have bought a Drascombe Lugger called Elvira for day sailing and fishing when I’m with the family at Eastcotte and to sail with the grandchildren and particularly teach Vyvyan who has not sailed before.

This is a Drascombe Lugger, very similar to and the same colouring as Elvira

The first crew have signed up –  my sister Pat from June 11-20^th will stay in the cottage and weather permitting do some sailing round the Firth of Clyde – and Daphne and Kate from our book group will join me from July 8-15^th to sail through the Crinan Canal to Colonsay.

Milo on her new mooring – 70 years ago you would have had Caladh Castle as a back-drop – the Victoria step and slipway can be seen behind the stern of Milo.  Queen Victoria visited Scotland in 1842 and visited a number of castles – her visit may have been then or later to commemorate their Golden Jubilee in 1897, when the coast roadway was built to Glen Caladh Castle (this is still an off-road track).

This is the notice-board about 200m away from Andrew and Rebecca’s cottage, Pheasantry, at the beginning of one of the woodland walks.  The map shows the new coast road high up the hill and the coast road built in 1897 to commemorated Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee.

The laying of the mooring – it happened so quickly when it went in – top left: the two railway wheels weighing one tonne plus a very heavy length of chain; centre: Neil Cunningham welding the shackles; bottom left: his assistant has cut the rope and the splash in the distance is where the mooring dropped; right: there was a great rushing noise and the mooring buoy and rope soon followed the weights, chain and rope.

After this I’ll centre myself round the Firth of Clyde while looking for a new boat that is more suitable for me to sail single handed.  I’m very happy for friends and colleagues to join me in this beautiful but quite wild location.