Petestack Blog

Yes, there’s a conscious reference here to Where day first began from last year and it’s all about both going west again and a sense of renewal after being so late to launch I might not have. And if I ironically once more skipped North Uist, which Calum Macdonald probably had in mind when he wrote the lyrics to Cearcal a’ Chuain, it’s still absolutely meaningful to me. But this story more or less starts with Tarifa and Norway, so let’s start there…
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Cearcal a’ chuain
Gu bràth bidh i a’ tionndadh
Leam gu machair geal an iar
Far an do thòisich an là.

[C Macdonald/R Macdonald, Cearcal a’ Chuain]

Yes, I’m always drawn west, but hadn’t been for a while, so wanted to get out there and cover some ground (water?) with Fly and did, logging some 330 sea miles over the ten days from Saturday 9 to Monday 18 August… (more…)

Three years ago we had a Facebook discussion about boarding/swimming ladders for Impalas and I finally got one sorted for Fly this year… (more…)

It’s quite simple; for podium places at Admiral’s Cup, you need boats with matching names, so Jolt 3/Jolt 6, Beau Geste/Beau Ideal, Django WR51/Django JPK etc. To win you also need sail numbers matching the lengths of your boats, so MON 52/MON 42. You heard it here first, thanks! ;-)

While the gaps between my blogs get bigger, I’m still here and, bar the increasing timescale, what I wrote just three blogs but nearly three years ago is remarkably similar to how I might have started this one: (more…)

Let’s start at the end and finish with the beginning today…

I’ve wanted to take Fly up Loch Etive for years, had the perfect combination of neap tides and fine conditions, but hadn’t considered the temporary platform: (more…)

Since Fly spent 2006–18 and 2020 ashore with just a short 2019 season afloat, there were two things I still hadn’t done with her since 2005 and just had to do this year, these being to fly a spinnaker (any spinnaker!) and spend one or more nights away at anchor. And it’s good to be able to report both these boxes now ticked… (more…)

At last, the belated update to July’s Retiring to Fly post I’ve been wanting to make but unable to do sooner for various reasons including teething problems getting the new sails fitted and ready to go… (more…)