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Clyde Fleet Tender 26 June – 03 July 2009

Tuesday

After what felt like a long uncomfortable night in “Midge Central” we cleaned up our homely conference room (remember that ship we had to climb up – it was still in the way and we didn’t fancy the climb down – or do I mean fall?) so we set off by bus to meet OMAGH at Dunoon where the crew had already prepared a fab breakfast for us. Once we had cleared away we set sail for Tarbert via Rothesay to collect some more supplies.

The Burnt Island narrows were indeed very narrow as there were only a couple of meters either side of the ship as we gingerly made our way through them. Safely through the narrows we continued into open water where fishing and clay pigeon shooting began. At first the fish didn’t seem interested in biting but after a while the mackerel started giving up and found themselves on our hooks and after many many misses, clays were now being shot.

Lunch was an eager affair because we were keen to get back to the shooting fishing thing. As the afternoon progressed and the duty watches rotated we were told to change into shorts and t-shirts (a puzzling order but...) so we stepped out onto the aft deck to be introduced to ship fire fighting – jet spray and spray jet nozzles and how to use them or was it just an excuse for Mr. Scorgie to ensure we had a wash today? We all enjoyed our shower – thanks sir! We hung up our wet kit and enjoyed drying in the sunshine as we went back to fishing and clay pigeon shooting. Josh and Henry killing, gutting and filleting every fish caught, I am not sure what Rupert was doing with the dead fish but he looked like he was having fun. Ollie caught 5 fish on a single cast, our supper was to be whatever we caught and something “extra” so this became a good incentive for us to up the ante and start catching more.

As we continued on our journey the duty watch had their turn at 'man over board' drills. Thankfully this didn’t involve throwing someone over the side! With 3 engines at our disposal and expert tuition we found the drills very rewarding. We berthed alongside Tarbert for the evening not far from TS Royalist and the BBQ was started – our fresh fish went down very well and the extras were burgers, sausages, baked potatoes and rolls – full to bursting we set off for the village hall – our accommodation for the night. Much better than Mozzie central last night; we had chairs to make beds with as well! After settling in and visiting the local corner shop for last minute sweets and drinks we had card games and stories and before we knew it, it is was 2330 and time for bed!! I never knew Mr. S was so laid back. Nighty night.

Marc Bertange

Wednesday...>

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