BLUEMOMENT

Are you really convinced that £1k+ ( by the time you've sourced the wiring, windlass, etc.) is the best way of resolving your problem? Well not absolutely convinced and very much open to alternatives. How I actually did my back in was, having lifted the anchor out of the locker, I had to pass it fo...

I had a look on the Hunter site and the last picture in the Hunter 31 gallery shows an anchor locker complete with windlass. The amount of rode shown might be good for what the English call the "East Coast". Why not give Hunter a ring? I've spoken to Hunters and to another Channel 31 owne...

Nobody got anything to tell me about windlasses then?

One unwelcome thing I brought back from my recent Scottish cruise was a bad back brought on by manually deploying my 14Kg Kobra anchor, not just the hauling in but the lifting out of the locker and onto the bow roller. So I've decided two things: I'm going to carry the anchor permanently on the bow ...

"Does it float?" no I shouldn't think so, not for long anyway, but neither do the purpose made extending ones.

Our boathook is made from a paint roller extension pole from Wickes with a nylon boathook fitting screwed to the end. The outer tube is GRP and the inner is aluminium alloy, it's very strong & light and extends to about 8 foot so we can use it as a whisker pole off the mast. Here's the link http...

We're now back home in sunny Glasson (it seems so after Scotland!). En route we visited Puilladobhrain, Craobh, Ardfern, Craighouse, Port Ellen, Campbeltown, Portpatrick, Whithorn, Little Ross, Whitehaven & Piel Island. We've saved Claymore's N. Irish suggestions for another time. We passed thro...

Thanks everyone for your suggestions. I'll visit as many of them as I can.

I've been into Puilladobhrain, very snug and pretty but a bit crowded when I was there and not much swinging room. I was hoping there might be some nice anchorages among Luing, Scarba, Colonsay, Jura, Islay etc. I visited Gigha on a previous cruise.

A few weeks ago we sailed up from our home port of Glasson Dock via Whitehaven, Isle of Whithorn, Portpatrick, Troon, Rothesay, Kyles of Bute, East Loch Tarbert and the Crinan canal. We've left the boat at Oban and will soon be returning to her to complete our cruise by returning home outside the Mu...

Thanks for that Alan but I'm OK splicing laid rope, Boy Scout training and all that. My instructions for octoplat are here and I didn't find them over helpfull, and very blue: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9_Eu_k16Z88 Try this link for eye splicing octoplait http://www.sw-marine.co.uk/acatalog/8_S...

I think 10 metres of 7 or 8 mm chain and 50 metres of 12 mm octoplait will be fine. I only have this length of chain myself as my boat is rather fine forward and I don't want too much weight in the bows. Main drawback is that your boat will tend to wander around at anchor more than would be the case...

"Interesting to see what the end of season critique contains." What does it contain? Are they any good?