Leaving Footprint Behind

[Kyle]We emailed the Oban Marina the day before our haulout to remind them that we were coming at 8:00 the next morning. They wrote back and said come at 2:00 in the afternoon. That was fine. That gave me a little more time to get the rig all loosened up so that the mast unstepping could go quickly. Hauling out at 2:00 turned out to be the last and only thing that went as planned.

In the way that she always does, Maryanne emailed Oban Marina the day we found out Dunstaffnage would not be able to haul us out. She was very typically Maryanne in asking what facilities were available and outlining exactly what we needed. They could not have been more helpful or accommodating when they wrote back. Yes, yes, that would be fine. No, no, that’s no problem at all, etc. Since we could not plug into a UK shore power socket, they even offered to make us a cable that would convert UK shore power to 250 VAC so that we could run our UK purchased heaters and a dehumidifier.

Once we got hauled out, however, the lift operator seemed really surprised to hear that we were staying for the winter. We had arranged to be put in a sheltered location on foam blocks. We got neither. We asked about the mast unstepping and were told it would be some time later. Maryanne went in to ask about the power cord and was told alternately that they didn’t have parts and that it was illegal for them to build us one. They were adamant that they would never have told us they would build one. They also said the mast unstepping would be the next day. Maryanne further upset them by then requesting that it be done in the morning, as we were leaving for the winter in the afternoon. She ended up running back to the boat to let me have the bad news and grab some money before the next ferry left for town. (Oban Marina is actually on the island of Kerrera, across the harbour from Oban).

While she was gone, somebody came over to the boat to tell me that there was no way they could get to the mast tomorrow. They would do it sometime next week after we left.

We didn’t need the mast unstepped for its own sake. We needed the mast unstepped so that I could replace a sheave at the top of it and so that we could cover the boat – things that we can’t do if we’re not there. He kept saying it was no problem, they would do all of that stuff for us once they got the mast off. Their labor rate is something like £50/hr. I don’t think so.

This was all annoying enough in the usual boatyard way, but what really drove me nuts was that everybody we talked to kept saying things like, “Well, if you had given us any notice, we could have been prepared” and, “You just showed up here and suddenly, we find out there’s all of this work that you want done”. Suddenly? Notice? What the hell were they talking about? I checked the emails. We sent them notice two weeks, one week, and one day before. In their responses, they demonstrated a detailed understanding of everything that was to be done. Now they were acting like they had never heard of us before and that we had just dropped in on a whim.

I briefly considered the idea that they had us mixed up with someone else, that they were probably wondering whatever happened to that catamaran that was supposed to show up today for the winter while they dealt with us instead. Other things they said made me think not. In the end, it looks like the usual boatyard thing – once they’ve got you out of the water, they don’t have to care. What’re we going to do, leave and go somewhere else?

I told them we would do the mast in the spring, if at all, and then retightened everything up again. We made do with the covers as well as we could with the mast and the stays in the way. Maryanne was lucky enough to find the necessary electrical parts in town and built us a cord herself. High tolerance to electrocution is good for something, eh?

Beyond that, it was just a really stressful time. We were tracking mud all over the boat, which was a mess to begin with. There were endless little jobs to do. We had lost confidence in the yard, so we were even more nervous about leaving our little home in their care for so long. We tried to prepare Footprint with the idea that, even though help is technically available, we shouldn’t count on it. It was the same attitude we have when setting off on any offshore passage.

We managed to pack everything we were taking for the winter. Maryanne is starting off by flying a discount carrier from Glasgow to Manchester that has restrictions on the luggage weight allowed. Any extra and you’ll quickly double your ticket cost with extra fees. We rearranged and rearranged all of our stuff so that everything heavy was in my bag and hers would come in under the 20 pound limit. We got hers down to 19.4 lbs., mine was just a shade under 40. She decided to double check once again on the limit: It’s 20 kilos. That’s 44 lbs., not 20! By then, I was too tired to care and we left everything the way it was.

The yard wasn’t all disappointment. While we were there we did, at least, meet some lovely people, particularly Cate and Malcolm of Cirrus Cat, a beautifully kept Prout 31. They were so nice. We felt really awful about having to ignore them and get on with our jobs but time was running out on us. On the day we left, though, we managed everything done early enough to go and have a proper visit.

They have been cruising about a year. They started from London and went up the east coast until joining the Caledonian Canal southwest bound at Inverness and finally ending up in Oban, where they will also overwinter. They also have a blog. We checked it out briefly before we left. It is written beautifully.

Eventually, it came time to go. Once we shouldered our packs and climbed off the boat, it really hit us. We weren’t just hauled out, we were leaving. We took the ferry across to Oban, where we could still see Footprint, tiny and forlorn. It was tough to know that we would not be back again for so long. We couldn’t help but wonder what would then be in store for us.
Loaded up and ready to go
We got on the bus to Glasgow and had one last look at her as the bus turned up the hill out of town. Maryanne says she feels homeless. I’m used to spending half my life living out of luggage so it seems less strange to me. What feels strange is that the set that so much of our lives is played out on will be missing for a time, left to fend for herself through a long Scottish Winter.