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[Swansong]

Hello
I've been watching these fora for a while now and have decided to join you.
I flirted briefly with YBW but found it unwelcoming and not particularly informative whereas this forum seems to have quite a Scottish focus which suits me as I am thinking of buying a boat - I have a paddleboard at present but would like to be able to sail a bit and cannot afford much in the way of petrol to waste on outboard motors.
I've looked at a few boats and am currently bidding on ebay for a thing called a Caprice - I am the highest bidder at £25 with another few hours to go.
Would this be a decent starter boat for sailing in Scotland do you think?
Also I cannot really afford to go into a marina but obviously need to be somewhere near one so that I can pick food up and things like that. Do Marinas mind it if you anchor outside and then maybe paddleboard in to pick stuff up?
Also - there seems to be a lot of choice on YBW about which anchor you should get. Whish anchor would be best for anchoring outside a marina for long enough to get stuff and is the seabed in Scotland as difficult to anchor on as it seems to be in parts of England? Also are there restrictions about Seahorses? I've read a lot about Studland Bay - I don't really know where it is but it sounds a bit of a no-go zone.
Finally for now - If I wanted could I tie up to a fish farm overnight and do they allow you to catch the odd fish for supper?
thanks in advance of replies
Swansong
I notice not many of you give your real names so I am just following suit - is this a bit untrusting?
(Its Henry by the way)

[claymore]

Henry Swansong ?
Why am I smelling a rat..?

[Gardenshed]

Just needs advice on varnishing & looking after a teak deck and its a YBW hot-button bingo winner

[Swansong]

Well - I certainly misjudged things here
What a rude, inhospitable, cynical pair of responses.
I shan't be wasting any more of my time here.

[DaveS]

Hello
I've been watching these fora for a while now and have decided to join you.
I flirted briefly with YBW but found it unwelcoming and not particularly informative whereas this forum seems to have quite a Scottish focus which suits me as I am thinking of buying a boat - I have a paddleboard at present but would like to be able to sail a bit and cannot afford much in the way of petrol to waste on outboard motors.
I've looked at a few boats and am currently bidding on ebay for a thing called a Caprice - I am the highest bidder at £25 with another few hours to go.
Would this be a decent starter boat for sailing in Scotland do you think?
Also I cannot really afford to go into a marina but obviously need to be somewhere near one so that I can pick food up and things like that. Do Marinas mind it if you anchor outside and then maybe paddleboard in to pick stuff up?
Also - there seems to be a lot of choice on YBW about which anchor you should get. Whish anchor would be best for anchoring outside a marina for long enough to get stuff and is the seabed in Scotland as difficult to anchor on as it seems to be in parts of England? Also are there restrictions about Seahorses? I've read a lot about Studland Bay - I don't really know where it is but it sounds a bit of a no-go zone.
Finally for now - If I wanted could I tie up to a fish farm overnight and do they allow you to catch the odd fish for supper?
thanks in advance of replies
Swansong
I notice not many of you give your real names so I am just following suit - is this a bit untrusting?
(Its Henry by the way)

Welcome aboard.

My first proper cruise (a week spent more or less circumnavigating Mull) was in a Caprice, initially towed to somewhere on the N shore of L Sunart (near Strontian perhaps? Can't now remember) via the Corran Ferry. Beach launched (a mistake: even a wee cruiser on its road trailer cannot be persuaded to move in soft sand even by three then young and reasonably fit guys, each armed with an engineering degree, applying all available leverage and low cunning). Fortunately there was enough tide to eventually float us off the trailer. The Caprice was decidedly cosy below for three. Moving around was a bit like one of those puzzles where you move the space. The boat was capable of getting places, however. I remember a crises in Eigg where the ship's fork was lost overboard, but successfully recovered in the clear water using a wee three pointed grapnel fish hook before the crabs could appropriate it. This was shortly before an obliging sheep dog guided us to the Singing Sands. The excellent pub on Coll, Lunga in the Treshnish, and Staffa were visited, the latter involving a long floating line from anchored boat to the dinghy paddled into Fingal's Cave - not a good idea: the tide carried it downstream in a large bight and the tourist boat operators were not best pleased with us. Iona was interesting, with the Caprice beached at half tide in Marters' Bay, then rock dodging into Tinker's Hole was "interesting", as was the following day's departure in fog, avoiding the many rocks, then up the Sound of Mull to Puilldobhrain. I can't now remember how we recovered the car and trailer, but we eventually hauled out on the concrete ex-flying boat slip at Ganavan.

I won't get into discussion of anchors other than to advise that you start with what comes with the boat, and only replace it as and when you feel the need based on your anchoring experience. You might get lucky and occasionally be able to use your plan of anchoring outside a marina to collect stores, but it would be unwise to rely on it, so (unless you have crew, which you don't mention) there will be a requirement to come alongside a pontoon single-handed for water, stores, and fuel (you don't mention whether the boat is being sold with a petrol outboard, but that would be normal for a wee boat, unless you wish to be purist and scull when there is no wind). Using a marina will involve payment. Of course there are many places where anchoring off and paddling ashore is perfectly feasible, free, and, in days before marinas, was in fact the only option: "water from burn" was a common pilotage note. I have no personal experience of SUPs, but suspect an inflatable dinghy is probably more practical for a wee boat. The only area I know in Scotland where anchorage is banned is in most of Loch Creran, but the most sheltered anchorages are OK.

You do not mention where you propose to keep your boat. That is a major consideration. While a wee boat can be trailed, giving a huge choice of sailing areas, rigging and de-rigging does take time and effort. The latter can be considerably reduced by rigging an A frame to assist with raising and lowering the mast. You do not mention whether your prospective boat comes with a trailer. If it doesn't, how do you propose to move it? The alternative is to find a summer berth and trail the boat home for the winter to reduce cost. From what you say a summer pontoon berth is probably beyond your budget, but moorings are an alternative and some even come with an arrangement whereby your boat can, on request, be temporarily moored to a pontoon when you wish. Oh, and lastly, I would strongly advise against tying up to a fish farm. You are unlikely to be made welcome, even more so if they suspect you are trying to steal their fish.

[Aja]

Henry Swansong ?
Why am I smelling a rat..?

Something slightly whiffy in the Straits?

[claymore]

£25 for any boat sounds like a shedful of snags.
Don't do it.
Hope you found that friendly enough Henry.

[wully]

Well - I certainly misjudged things here
What a rude, inhospitable, cynical pair of responses.
I shan't be wasting any more of my time here.

Good plan… Claymore does mellow a bit if you apply alcohol internally - to yourself firstly.

[claymore]

[marisca]

I'm afraid my cynical old mind reacted in a like manner to Claymore's upon reading the OP. However, while trying hard not to don PPE before removing rust from the garden railings, I thought I would peruse TOP to see if the same username would appear. There is indeed a "swansong" among the denizens - joined in Dec 2004, posted twice and was last seen in Mar 2017 but was daft enough to leave his email address stewartgibb@langcourt.freeserve.co.uk with the info that he lived in Helensburgh, worked in Glasgow and owned a Westerley Fulmar.
Could this be the same ? In which case it is a bit of a come down to a £25 Caprice though I admire anyone that can balance successfully on a paddleboard.
Please can we have a follow up? Was the bid successful on eBay? Where was/is the boat based?
We are a helpful, caring lot on here (well some of us, anyway) and have, I was going to say a "wealth" of experience but one thing boat ownership does is to diminish ones liquid assets, both monetary and spiritual.

[BlowingOldBoots]

I think you should delete the details of that person. Its bad show, no need to post it here in my view.

To be frank, the OP could have been welcomed and the query answered. If it transpired they were a troll, then it could have been managed. It feels as if the OP was judged instantly and condemned.

Bluemoment is all but dead as a forum anyway.

[marisca]

I think you should delete the details of that person. Its bad show, no need to post it here in my view.

Freeserve email accounts no longer exist and have not done so since 2017 when the very last few were deactivated. My "bad show" was somewhat tempered by knowledge that the address was defunct. As for the associated name - it may be the same person who, if it is, has been less than honest on at least one of the fora, or someone may know them and can advise that their nom de clavier has been purloined.

[Nick]

.
Shane Acton sailed round the world in a Caprice.

I have to say, the post has a certain 'J Wheel' feel to it . . .