Katie L now in the garden

The ratio of driving to sailing has been completely out of balance over the past few weeks. I knew that as I attempted to do the Northern bits of this trip it was going to go a bit mad.... but as my dad used to say "this is the giddy limit"

The last time I sailed was 15th September when I sailed back across the Moray Firth after going to the top of the Cromarty Firth. I packed Katie L up, removed the rudder, stowed the sails and spars inside and left Katie L in the harbour there (£95 a month) while I headed home - 500 miles in the Micra

S1510046-banks

 

S1510063-heron

Then I drove down to Dorset and Falmouth to look at two Centaurs - 300 miles. I agreed to buy Lily M and then drive home 272 miles.

 

lily M

I then spent ten days getting the trailer ready and making plans for the coming winter.

 

SANYO DIGITAL CAMERA

SANYO DIGITAL CAMERA

SANYO DIGITAL CAMERA

SANYO DIGITAL CAMERA

SANYO DIGITAL CAMERA

SANYO DIGITAL CAMERA

SANYO DIGITAL CAMERA

SANYO DIGITAL CAMERA

SANYO DIGITAL CAMERA

SANYO DIGITAL CAMERA

Martin offered to come with me to pick Katie L up and I had planned to rent a van for the 1000 mile round trip but David (what a saint) offered me the use of his 4wd. I warned him that I planned to do a lot of miles but he said Laphroig would do in payment so I bought three bottles of the peaty stuff for him.

David lives in Wakefield so last Thursday ay drove the Micra 140 miles from here to Wakefield to pick up the tow vehicle

01 fair swap Sequence 040

Swapping a Micra for a Sorento has to be a good deal - David could not contain his excitement. The Micra has a sport button that gives it that speedy feel of an Austin Allegro.

Then it was 140 miles home and hitch up the trailer to see if the lights work.

02 ready to head northSequence 040003

I picked martin up at Aylesbury Thursday night and on Friday morning we drove the 500 miles to Nairn.

03 trailer in tow Sequence 044875

 

05 border Sequence 044930

The journey took us about 13 hours and in went the first of the three tanks of diesel

04 first tank fullSequence 043004

 

Saturday morning Martin and I went for a bike ride and then in the afternoon we recovered the boat - mangling the winch as we did so.

Sequence 047288

Sequence 045883

Sequence 047143

the winch was rated at 1.2 tonnes but obviously not strong enough

fortunately I had brought the 4 tonne come-along

we provided some entertainment for the locals but eventually the boat was on dry land and on the trailer. Then Martin and I spent a couple of hours making everything snug for the journey home

06 packing Sequence 040198

06 Sequence 040907

07 Sequence 043730

08 Sequence 043646

09 Sequence 043370

12 Sequence 043967

 

12 Sequence 043859

13 Sequence 043253

 

That evening we went for a walk along the fabulous beach at Nairn, had a curry and turned in for the night aboard Katie L on the trailer.

At first light we started the journey home

15 Sequence 045253

 

11 Sequence 041209

 

16 Sequence 045112

 

17 Sequence 042937

20 Sequence 044096

It was a fabulous sunrise and then we stopped for a real belly buster of a breakfast and headed south through the sunday traffic.

Another 500 miles and some more diesel.

Every time I stopped I felt the bearings to make sure that they were not running too hot - they were just pleasantly warm to the touch. David's Sorento did a magnificent job.

18 Sequence 043133

19 Sequence 045414

We got back to Botolph Claydon  Sunday evening at about nine and I finally got the boat into the garden by 9.30.

23 Sequence 046576

21 boT IN GrdenSequence 0412

22 gARDEN BOATSequence 0404

This morning I cleaned the truck and then drove it to Wakefield - 130 miles - to drop it back with David - and then drove the Micra back through the rain getting home again at about 8.00.

Thanks David and Martin - you are both great blokes

this is a bloody bonkers. 2000 miles driving since I last sailed.

Rough costs - Petrol and diesel - £250

Tyres, bearings and winch for trailer £170

Whisky for David £100

Food £60

This is about Dylan Winter's Blog.

27 Responses to “Katie L now in the garden”

  1. 5 October, 2015 at 10:32 pmJon S says:

    Mrs S is unhappy about our 35 minute drive to a reservoir in Derbyshire to sail our Wayfarer. I showed her this to put it into perspective-cue lots of eye rolling. Great job Dylan, David and Martin!

  2. 5 October, 2015 at 10:37 pmdylan winter says:

    the ratio will improve I hope

    D

    PS – feel free to use me as an example of how lucky she is

  3. 5 October, 2015 at 10:41 pmjohnny green says:

    Wow! What a Journey. My wife and I drove 80 miles from Torquay to Weymouth for 2 nights in B & B for a birthday treat, a few sherbets, doner kebab and 80 mile drive home. Both of us are completely cream crackered . I admire you, well done Katie L home safe and dry. The trip to Falmouth in the next week or so will seem like a doddle. I look forward to the next chapter in the KTL story.

  4. 5 October, 2015 at 10:44 pmdylan winter says:

    5 hours to the boat…. a mere trip around the block. I am really looking forward to this winter at Mylor

    https://www.mylor.com/

  5. 5 October, 2015 at 11:29 pm[email protected] says:

    Will you need to borrow the ‘truck’ again when you finally move house?}:-}

  6. 5 October, 2015 at 11:45 pmPaul Mullings says:

    Epic!

  7. 6 October, 2015 at 2:34 amGus says:

    Superb in every way. Great mates. Great engineering on that trailer and trolley; right down to the extension socket for the trailer light board (which even has a fog light !) Proper job. Keep on truckin’ and sailing. Looking forward to more adventures.

  8. 6 October, 2015 at 4:30 amGary says:

    Over here in the New World we would be in a lot of trouble if we have any type of trailer in use without two safety chains in use. The chains are securely attached – either welded or bolted to the tongue and they cross over them selves below the hitch and connect to the hitch on the vehicle. The chains are their so if the ball comes loose the trailer tongue will fall on the chains, not on the road. The ball and the coupler must be the same size as well. The idea is for the trailer to remain behind and attached to the tow vehicle.

  9. 6 October, 2015 at 6:28 amHugh says:

    We drive 1000 miles each way from Illinois to Cape Hatteras in North Carolina for kitesurfing, a week each time, three times a year. I usually do the drive alone, often through the night. 15 hours is my record so far. Great kitesurfing compared to Illinois, and I will head out there again this Friday, hoping for strong winds and big waves. My other kitesurfing trip each year is to Cape Town for a month, but that takes 30 hours of traveling and four flights. Madness, but it is an addictive sport. I started when I was 50, ten years ago. Loved the film where you showed some locals enjoying it.

  10. 6 October, 2015 at 8:17 amdylan winter says:

    that is utter madness….

    those blokes in the Walton backwaters were wonderful blokes – crewed on sailing barges at weekends as well.

    D

  11. 6 October, 2015 at 8:19 amdylan winter says:

    you are supposed to have the overrun cable attached – so that the brakes come on if the trailer falls off

    your chains seem more sensible to me

    strange how laws change from place to place

  12. 6 October, 2015 at 8:21 amdylan winter says:

    fookin mad I reckon

    not I have to strip the boat, stow the masts in the garage, jack the trailer up onto blocks, take off the wheels…..

    this is all beginning to look like work –

  13. 6 October, 2015 at 8:25 amdylan winter says:

    is that an offer….

    although I think I am going to have to buy one of these

    http://www.christiantena.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/motor/vag/passat/passest6.gif

  14. 6 October, 2015 at 8:25 amPeter Truelove says:

    ” Looking forward to this winter at Mylor “. So that’s confirmed is it. Good decision, Jill will be pleased and it is a lovely spot. We all look forward to some West Country winter cruising from the comfort of our armchairs. P.

  15. 6 October, 2015 at 8:32 amPhil Sitch says:

    The problem with chains is if a large / heavy trailer overturns it drags the tow vehicle with it. Chains are usual on an unbaked trailer ( which is limited in weight). A Breakaway cable will apply the brakes on the trailer before the weak link breaks so the trailer is not attached. If the trailer overturns the breakaway cable will not pull the tow vehicle over. This system does work.

  16. 6 October, 2015 at 9:05 amdylan winter says:

    I can imagine that just losing the trailer is safer for the driver of the vehicle – but a trailer skidding down the road does not sound good. However, none of this happened and the boat is safely in the garden so I can put those horror stories behind me

  17. 6 October, 2015 at 9:05 amdylan winter says:

    I have sent the £900 email

  18. 6 October, 2015 at 9:49 amjoe says:

    Trailer sailing…ha ha

  19. 6 October, 2015 at 10:14 amAlastair says:

    Are you sure about the rating of your winch? You haven’t slipped a decimal place have you (0.12 tons)?

    My trailer winch looks to be at least two sizes bigger than yours and is rated at 940kg.

  20. 6 October, 2015 at 11:24 amdylan winter says:

    aha

    you are onto something

    bit of a duffer me

    this was the advert

    http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/110820670841?_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

    so it was a 1200lb winch rather than a 1200kg winch

  21. 6 October, 2015 at 10:25 pmGlenn Webster says:

    Hi D
    Just done a 950 mile run to Poland…….long long way! And I have got to come back next Sunday…..gonna have a night in Colditz on the way back….then home – if they let me out? Better take some tunnelling kit!
    Just had a look where they think they have found this Nazi gold train inside a mountain, area cordoned off and patrolled by military at the moment, wonder if something is there??

  22. 6 October, 2015 at 10:48 pmRon G says:

    “At first light we started the journey home”….. First light will be at about mid-morning by now! I reckon you’re trying to hide that you slept in and could have been back for tea. Should have had a spicier curry, that would’ve got you…er…moving… a bit earlier.
    Well done for remembering a back up for the mini-winch. Always handy.

  23. 6 October, 2015 at 11:24 pmdylan winter says:

    naaaa

    about 6.45 I reckon

  24. 6 October, 2015 at 11:25 pmdylan winter says:

    Aha…. but were you towing a boat

  25. 7 October, 2015 at 6:00 pmBud says:

    We had a Catalina C250 Waterballast on a trailer that flipped. The boat came off the trailer, the chains kept the trailer attached to the van.

    I can not imagine anyone in the US pulling a boat w/o safety chains.

    But regulations vary from country to country.

  26. 8 October, 2015 at 11:34 amRiley Morgan says:

    I read your post about ruining your new winch whilst on my boat. I have just put a new winch on my trailer and was confidently thinking my retrieval will be problem free. Then , stupid me, did not wind my keel up fully. I bent the new winch badly before I realised my error. Luckily I just got the boat on, but now need another new winch !
    Lesson learnt.

  27. 3 September, 2019 at 8:13 amJ says:

    Hi! May I know what’s the hitch you’re using for your vehicle? Is it the same with Draw-Tite hitch class III boat trailer hitch ball mount? I’m planning to get that one but I’m also open for recommendations.

Leave a Reply