Ilchester's First Trip as a Private Ship

Trevor Kent, the new owner of the Dive Tender Ilchester, invited me along as navigator on her delivery from Rosyth (across the Firth of Forth from Edinburgh, on the East Coast) to Holyhead (on the island of Anglesey, Wales). Trevor took the first and last photos in this series.

JLW at the wheel as we leave Rosyth Naval Yard, on our way to Holyhead, by way of the Caledonian Canal, Friday afternoon, March 26, 2004.

The Firth of Forth railroad bridge is one of the engineering marvels of the nineteenth century.

At the last minute, the powers that be decided to delay opening the Caledonian Canal for another week, so we came in to Wick Saturday after dark. Ilchester's 150 tons is dwarfed by the wind turbine wings behind her.

The harbour at Wick, Sunday morning.

Malcolm Bremmer, the Wick Harbourmaster, was very helpful. After telling us, "You don't need charts -- just keep the coast three miles off your port side and keep turning left", he lent us the charts we needed. As it turns out, there are few off-lying dangers, so we probably could have just followed his advice.

Duncansby Head, the northeast corner of mainland Scotland, Sunday afternoon. The lighthouse looks out on Pentland Firth, one of the nastiest stretches of tide in the world. Ilchester's crane points forward at Scapa Flow, the major Royal Navy base in World War Two.

Neist Light, on the northwest coast of Skye, Monday afternoon. The west coast of Scotland reminds me of our home cruising grounds of Maine, except that there's less fog in Scotland and the mountains are much taller. (The highest point on the USA East Coast is Cadillac Mountain, on Mt. Desert Island -- at 1,500 feet, it's roughly half the height of the mountains on Skye.)

Ilchester, safe on her temporary mooring at Holyhead, Wednesday morning. The last night, in the Irish Sea, was a bit uncomfortable, with gusts to 39 knots reported, and wind against tide for a significant portion of the crossing. Ilchester did just fine, although her crew might have wished for somewhat less boisterous conditions on her first trip.