Life on board - from David

This is David. 

I was going from Mediterranean sailing to join up with Martin in Ireland. In the bag went oilskins, boots, gloves and warm socks. Vincent was already waiting on board and had stocked up. I was delighted to see that we were in no danger of running out of important supplies such as cakes, biscuits and chocolate. 

Alexandria is sister ship to my own catamaran so I had enormous confidence in her abilities and was looking forward to returning to the Western Isles. Each of us had our own cabin and there was plenty of storage space and room to stretch out. The forecast was good and on the first day we set out to make the crossing from Ireland to Scotland. We were fortunate with the weather. If I was really picky a bit more wind from the right direction might have been good. However motoring in calm seas and fine weather is nothing to complain about. Martin drove us and the boat on with little rest but we made fantastic progress in the 5 days I was on board. The Scottish Islands are stunning and in good weather must easily be among the best sailing areas in the world. Not only is the scenery fantastic but there are plenty of anchorages and harbours and very few other boats. There are wonderful walks once on shore and every stop had somewhere where we could get a good meal. The only disappointment was the white bread and grated cheese for lunch on Canna, complimented by my first, and probably last, can of Irn Bru. We did meet the local rabbit catcher although he came from Hampshire, and we learned little about the 18 residents of the island as the man running the cafe said he didn’t get involved. It must be a lonely life. Elsewhere the food was substantial with little choice for anyone following a calorie controlled diet. When I did order a salad it came loaded with salad dressing and the waitress seemed surprised that I didn’t want a side order of chips. 

It was a pleasure being on the boat with Martin and Vincent. We certainly covered a wide range of topics in our conversations. And many thanks to Martin for doing all the hard work with navigating and planning. I will keep following the blog and Martin and all the crew a safe and satisfying journey. Good luck and best wishes

David