What a day!

In order to get round the Mull of Kintyre with the most favourable tide we needed to be away from the anchorage at 08:30. This was not a problem as swell had started coming into the anchorage around 5 a.m and we were both wide awake. Scooby Doo left half an hour earlier and we could still see her as we motored west, and Good Craic was hauling up her anchor ass we left.

As we left Sanda, Alison was keen to get close in to the Mull but we could tell we already had the tide with us so we aimed to get close in by the time we got to the west end of Carskey Bay.

We got the main up but there wasn't much wind. Then we saw that Good Craic was just outside us and seemed to be broad reaching. So we throttled back and had a go. It was also an opportunity to try the boom end preventer suggested by Brian Duff. It worked OK but we need to make it more efficient.

Then the wind went ahead and both Good Craic and ourselves went back to motoring. Alison went down below gto write up yesterday's blog. 

After a while, I decided to peak up. There was a crack and the gaff came part down. The peak hardener line had parted. The top fiddle block ran up to the turning block and stuck, stopping the gaff falling all the way down.

Alison came up and I asked her to drop the main fully. The throat did not want to come down fully, and it was rough enough that she needed to put on her lifejacket and safety strop before going forward to pull it down. We only managed to get one sail tie on, but it held the sail in place for the moment.

We motored on. 

We have done this passage before and the forecast suggested would be similar this time. But we got much stronger winds today. At times the wind was so strong on the nose that I could hardly keep course. The bow was being blown and pushed by the waves really strongly.

And of course, wind on the nose meant wind over tide, with overalls.

The line of overfalls off the corner west of Sron Uamha was especially violent. We got through but it was very hard work. The sail worked loose and getting another sail tie on was a risky task. Luckily, the sea state was better on the other side.

Then we should have been able to turn and head out to Islay, but the sea was horrible. Alison said it would calm down about a mile further north. So we headed towards Macrahanish Bay.

We got have done this before and just as before, we got more favourable tide. We got up to well over 6 knots over the ground.

Alison was right. We could see the point where the confused seas between the inner and outer channels round the Mull resolved. Beyond that was cleaner water. We headed onto course to Port Ellen.

The rest of the trip was fast and uneventful. I spent some of the time getting rid of the suspect accessories wiring and running new. In Port Ellen, there was a dredger at work but there was enough room around it and space on the pontoons.

We slipped into a berth straight ahead, and next to Sgarbh, a lovely varnished gaff ketch MFV.

I stepped ashore with a bow line and then Alison shouted at me for help. I made the line off and went to catch hers. As I tied us on loosely, Alison said there was a smell of hot plastic and smoke and the chart plotter had turned off.

I got on board and started looking. There was smoke in the cockpit but it was coming from the engine compartment. I went below and opened the hatch. I could see flames!

We have a new fire extinguisher in the engine compartment. I pulled out the pin and gave a squirt. The flames went out. I gave one more squirt and worked out that the flames had come from the power cable to the socket we plug George into. But the main damage was to the heavy duty cable from the alternator to the battery switch.

Fire out, we finished getting tied up. I started getting the burned cable off. It went right under the engine and was bolted to the solenoid. When I tried to get the nut undone, the stud sheared.

I got the cable out, leaving a mousing line to help fit it's replacement, and then decided to call Islay Marine. They said someone could come along but might not be able to do anything. I disconnected everything around the battery side of things to make any diagnosis easier.

The engineer knew what he was doing. He said he could make us a new cable and we discussed the problem of the broken connector on the solenoid. We decided we could just about use the broken stud if we only had one cable to attach. He spotted that the old cable had a hole in the insulation in the middle and the copper was totally corroded. That would be enough to make it overheat.

He went off to to other work. The weather was quite nice now and Alison was prepared to go up the mast to fetch the fiddle block of the peak halyard hardener.

I hauled her up on the jib halyard and she got a rope tied on and I was able to pull the block down. I got a piece of the old dynema topsail halyard and ran it round the blocks but it wasn't quite long enough. But it can be sorted later.

Alison and I went to SeaSalt to get fish and chips. While we were there, the engineer stopped in his van. He'd already made us a new cable, plus another short length we could use to join the two cables together. He also gave us a nut that would fit the stub of the solenoid stub.

I went back to the boat while Alison waited for our suppers. I got the new short cable on the solenoid and bolted the new long cable and the cable to the start switch to it.

Then Alison arrived with the food. After food, and a cup of tea, I got the new cable fitted and connected everything back up again, except the burned cable for George and the solar panel connectors. I want to do something different for that. We tested things and we now have a working engine and working instruments and house electrics again. And, the electric bilge pump of course!

I need a beer.