The sailing log of Westlin Winds  2006

Red text is highlighted as sailing notes or advice to fellow mariners

Blue notes are mostly points of interest or historic data

Westlin Winds owners: Kenny and Barbara Higgins

2006 Sailing Log and informal diary

Westlin Winds will remain afloat for the winter and regular visits are planned weather permitting

December 31st 2005

Kenny & Barbara arrived at Kip. Joined by Derek on Ariel berthed alongside after a choppy 14 mile trip up from Largs. Peter and Vera "Clyde Saltire" joined us for a visit to Inverkip Hotel. We enjoyed a few drinks until early closing at 22:30. So back to Westlin Winds for a drink until 23:45 then Peter & Vera hosted us through the New year aboard Clyde Saltire. Then things livened up with the guitars in full swing to 05:00 when we called it a night. (Photos omitted to save any embarrassment)... Changed my mind here are a couple:

    Peter Murphy - Dark Loch Na Gar   Kenny & Peter - Auld Lang & Syne

January 1st 2006

After a long sleep in, we emerged for a short walk and relaxed for the rest of the afternoon. At 18:00 we sat down to Fresh Lobster, Fresh Salmon on board Westlin Winds then Derek hosted us with Champagne on board Ariel. We then retired to catch up on some sleep.

January 2nd 2006

Late Morning to Mid afternoon spent accompanying Derek back to Largs in a F5 with lumpy sea North of Great Cumbrae - Then we returned to Kip for another overnight stop-over. Travelled up to Gourock for a meal then back to Kip.

January 3rd 2006                                       

Barbara headed home for work the next day and Peter, Derek and Gordon joined Kenny on an afternoon trip to Rothesay leaving at 12:30 and berthing up in the inner harbour at 14:15. Conditions were cold at 1°C and a flat sea with F1. We had a quick visit to Black Bull, Argyll Arms and Rabbie Burns bar. After an enjoyable afternoon on the Island we returned to Westlin Winds leaving Rothesay at 17:20 and arriving back at 19:00. The trip back to Kip in the dark was very cold at Minus 2°C with a flat sea and close to F0 wind. It was a good night for star spotting and 3 bright shooting stars lit up the dark sky.

As we arrived back at Kip, the temperature had dropped to Minus 4°C and pontoons were now white with Frost or Black Ice. Parts of the Marina water surface were beginning to ice up. This is mainly due to the constant feed of fresh water from the Reservoir overflow river into the pontoon giving a layer of 1 to 2 feet of brackish fresh water. At 20:00 we popped over to Inverkip Hotel for a meal, treading warily on a pontoon of treacherous Black Ice. The return trip back to the boats was equally challenging.

January 7th 2006: Ken on board Westlin Winds to tidy up after the New Year celebrations.  Met up with fellow Legendier's Peter and T on "Sapphire" Legend 36 and David and Anna neighbours on a beautiful Hans Christensen. Said Happy New Year as Peter & T and friends on "Valhalla" Bavaria 36 headed off to spend a couple of chilly nights in the Kyles of Bute.

8th January 2006: After having stopped overnight and finding it too cold to wash the outside of the boat, I pottered about with chart updates. Helped David and Anna move Clyde Saltire forward to help clear the Hans Christensen's bow Sprit. Left for home around 15:00 on Sunday for a slow run back to Stirling.

15th January 2006: Sunday 14:20 Kenny & Barbara made a short visit to Westlin Winds in atrocious weather with heavy rain and blustery conditions. We popped a few items on board and adjusted all the warps to straighten the boat to Portside-on to the finger. Had a brief chat with the owner of Cherry Ripe (Rival 38) and was impressed listening to his experiences of two Atlantic crossings in the Rival. Nice to berthed along-side such a seasoned campaigner. We watched TV for a while with a coffee and heating on to dry out then headed home around 16:30.

20th January 2006: Visit to Kip to meet up with Derek and loan Westlin's Outboard for his trip with colleague Ross on Ariel around the Clyde harbours - weather permitting. Quick visit to Inverkip Hotel.

21 Jan 2006: Morning spent cleaning Westlin Winds with the pressure washer then quick trip to Largs to help set up Ariel for her trip - Back to Kip and the fish n chip shop. Later on Popped over to Clyde Saltire to say hello to Peter & Vera who had stopped over. Had a quick night cap with them then back to Westlin Winds.

22 Jan 2006: Further cleaning on Westlin Winds then received a call from Derek, Power problems at Largs have forced him to find Electricity elsewhere in the marina. I Popped down to lend a hand to shift Ariel in a gusty wind. Headed home late afternoon.

24 Jan 2006: Cant find our land legs so Kenny & Barbara back at Westlin Winds for a few days afloat. Meal on board and topped up diesel ready for a sail on Wednesday.

25th Jan 2006: Kenny and Barbara had a trip up the Kyles of Bute to Colintraive doing tests and chatting to Coastguard - buzzed by SAR Helicopter then a Tornado Jet which passed directly over our mast with a clearance of as little as 500 feet then back to Rothesay Harbour marina overnight. F2 Cloudy and a cold 3/4 °C. The harbour was busy with returning fishing boats and the swell of the ferry was uncomfortable until 22:00 when the last trip arrived.                                              Colintraive - still waters

26th Jan: Kenny and Barbara up sharp for a sail back to Kip in a gentle F2 and 3 degrees. Left Rothesay at 08:15 and arrived Kip at 09:55. Day spent on board and Barbara showed me how to re-arrange (Tidy) Westlin Winds.

27th Jan: Meeting on board Westlin Winds to discuss CraftAlert then stopping over for a Burns Night celebration on Clyde Saltire. Great Night attended by Kenny (Westlin Winds) Derek, (Ariel) Peter (Clyde Saltire) and Jim from Fife. Peter (Master chef) prepared Salmon Steaks and hosted a fine evening of music.

28th Jan: Derek and Kenny out on Westlin Winds were joined by Peter and Malcolm alongside on Clyde Saltire.

We had a fine motor trip to Holy Loch but sadly with no wind. Peter and Malcolm had to head back early. But still a fine day on flat water.

Derek and Kenny tied up and paid the £4.00 short stay fee and enjoyed a quick lunch in the local pub at the Marina entrance. The Clyde was flat calm as we made our way back watching the sunset illuminating all of the mountains with a red glow.

As we reached Kip on Low Tide with only 1.8 to 0.8 feet depth below the keel for most of the route in to the pontoon finger. We grounded for a few seconds on soft mud but managed to keep moving.

29th Jan: Cleaned the boat, topped up water then headed home. Can't believe how much time has been enjoyed on the water or on-board in deepest winter.

31st Jan: Back at Kip to pay the dreaded annual marina fees and time for a quick lunch before heading back to Stirling.

3rd Feb: At Kip Marina, Power went down at 20:00 so Eberspacher was well used

4th Feb: Power still down so moved boat across Marina to pick up temp pontoon with power. Major power failure and cabling needs renewal affected over 400 boats. Likely to be fixed during next week. A gusty SW Wind picked up to 18 - 20 knots as I moved Westlin Winds back to it's original berth. As wind was Port beam on, made a turn to port impossible, I used a gust to turn the boat 90° to starboard with the wind now on the aft end. I found it safer to reverse all the way out to the mouth of the Marina where I had space to turn into forward motion. Berthing aft on into the wind was straightforward enough with the Cockpit canopy cover filling with wind to slow me down.

Oh! for a Bow thruster - Marina Manoeuvres.

10th Feb: At Westlin Winds for a music Evening with Son Michael, Derek, Peter & Vera - enjoyable night running on to 3am. Hosted aboard Westlin Winds.

14th Feb: Kenny & Barbara at Westlin Winds to check warps ahead of forecast high winds. Kenny had meetings next morning with Jeff so stopped overnight. Quick trip to Inverkip Hotel then Bongio's for Pizza. Not much sleep due to F8 from SW/W which blew choppy waves into the Marina. Boat was lurching in the wind gusts wild enough to throw a bottle of Rioja clean off the table onto the floor. There was en exceptionally high tide with the main pontoon link bridge lying almost horizontal. Left for home at 15:00 15th in Hailstorm.

17th Feb: Kenny at Westlin overnight

18th Feb: Topped up with diesel and ventured out for a short sail in a chilly F3. As sometimes happens in Kip I entered the mouth of the marina and got all the way back to my pontoon in very little wind then just as I was perfectly lined up ready to reverse aft to Marina a nasty puff from the North East blew me away towards Cherry Ripe so I had to make another alignment - by luck a good Samaritan who noticed the wind and helped grab a couple of warps.

23 Feb Stayed overnight to be handy for event at Innovations Centre on Friday am.

24 Feb at M2M event then back to Westlin for 14:30 meeting with Jeff and Derek to do some test on GPS units.

25 Feb at Kip then down to Largs Marina with Derek and quick pint before heading back to Kip to enjoy the Scotland V England Rugby game on TV. 

26 Feb At Westlin had a good chat with Pete and Thira who have been busy with Sapphire (Legend 36) adding lots of goodies and gearing up for a long haul to the Med. Sapphire is looking quite stunning with her new Bimini and cockpit cushions. Watched Ireland V Wales then headed home at 17:00.

11 March Ken at Kip meeting Jeff and discussing their CraftAlert project along with Environmental update. Spent Friday night on board Westlin Winds.

12 March Tidying boat ready for next week

23 March Barbara, Kenny, Barry and friend Jessica from USA. Planned sail around the Kyles and perhaps Arran - Tarbert, was cancelled due to storm warnings so headed out only for a short trip from Marina. Came back around 17:20 just as gale warnings came true. Fairly blowy night but not much over F6.

24 March and a different kettle of fish - Weather was not good so Barbara headed off to Largs for the day with Barry and Jessica. Wind was picking up to a steady F7 then F8. Chart Plotter alarm went off around 16:30 with several readings of 42,43,44 Knots F9. Wind eased during the night to a F4/F5.

25th March Barbara returned with Barry and Jessica to Largs for some Souvenir hunting then headed home. Kenny met up with Neighbours Peter and Vera and visited the little pub in Skelmorlie then to Chinese Take away on the way back to Kip.

26th March Hard to imagine this weekend last year was Easter Sunday and had a great sail to Caladh Harbour with F1 and Temperatures of 12 - 14 degress Centigrade (7 degrees higher than today) Kenny headed home from Kip at 17:00.

31 March Kenny at Kip to meet Jeff and Derek

April and May were spent away from Westlin Winds other than weekend visits in the Marina to check boat. This was due to the commitment to sell the Stirling House on the market through April—June.

June 2006 On the weekend of 23/24, we had a memorable day sail to Caladh Harbour with Mum and Dad.

We were blessed with fair weather and the scenery was at its best. Mum and Dad had a turn at the wheel.

We stopped at Caladh for a bite to eat before having a leisurely sail back to Kip.

The House was sold in July and we moved out on 4th August. As we were tot due to move in to Inverkip until 15th September Kenny and Barbara had 5 weeks on Westlin Winds and Kenny Commuted to work.

The Log will continue into 2007 on the Westlin Winds Home Page

Higgins Family Home Page  :  Westlin Winds Home

Westlin Winds Log 2004   :  Westlin Winds Log 2005

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Page Author Kenny Higgins

Last revised: Dec 2006

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