Yachtsman Gerry Beard, of Sheildaig, has been telling Iain Maciver how he survived a massive wave 10 miles north of the Butt of Lewis which sent him sliding off the deck of his 35ft vessel, Meris, on Saturday.
He told how, a few days earlier, another gale put the yacht on her side as he sailed from Iceland to Loch Torridon. (Press arrow below to listen.)
You may hear what sounds like crackling on parts of this interview. That is actually the rain bouncing off the seamen’s mission superintendent’s car in which they were chatting.
Hi all, The planned start time of The Big Minch Swim is anticipated around midday on Monday, June 25th. Arrival time in Stornoway is anticipated to be around lunchtime/early afternoon on Wednesday, June 27th. Eilidh Whiteford. Stornoway RNLI press officer
For the first time in history a team of swimmers will attempt to cross one of the widest (and wildest) channels of water between two parts of the British coast to celebrate the 125th anniversary of the Stornoway Lifeboat with all proceeds to go to the RNLI.
Weather permitting, it will all happen in the next few days and the swim will start in Ullapool and finish in Stornoway. Adverse winds could mean a change in direction. The journey is 45 miles as the crow flies but after factoring in tides this will be more like 65 miles (102km). The team consists of nine swimmers: Colin Macleod, Rodney Jamieson, Laura Maynard, Chris Baker, Tariq Hussain, Scott Connor, Eilidh Whiteford, Mark Doug Maciver and Saul Hindson with support crew Murdanie Macdonald, Pj Maclachlan, Mark Stokes, Murdo Campbell, Alistair Glover, Eric Mackinnon and reserve swimmer Douglas Forbes.
They will swim in a relay formation each taking one-hour stints and expect to finish in around 50 hours. Living on a small island surrounded by some of the roughest waters in the UK, they couldn’t think of a better charity to support than the RNLI so please dig deep and donate as much as you can!
Latest info on the Big Minch Swim Facebook page here
Here is an interview I did earlier with team captain Saul Hindson and swimmer Colin Macleod. Press the wee arrow below to listen.
http://www.justgiving.com/thebigminchswim Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving – they’ll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they’ll send your money directly to the charity and make sure Gift Aid is reclaimed on every eligible donation by a UK taxpayer. So it’s the most efficient way to donate – they will raise more, whilst saving time and cutting costs for the charity.
A chartered surveyor from Edinburgh is thought to have become the first
person to tweet from Rockall when he wished the Queen a happy jubilee.
Adventurer Nick Hancock, 37, managed to get himself onto the remote
21-metre high North Atlantic islet for an hour on Friday before
worsening weather made him abandon his plan to stay on for the night.
I spoke to Nick after he got back.
Chris Duff reached the south part of the Faroes at 4.30am UK time on Sunday. He now intends to rest for a week before trying the 250-mile crossing from the Faroes to Iceland which could take eight days.
Chris Duff contacted Stornoway Coastguard this evening just before 7pm. He said that his boat Northern Reach was 17 miles south of Suðuroy, the southernmost tip of the Faroes. He was going well through 3ft waves in sunshine with good visibility.
So, all being well, Chris should reach in the early hours of tomorrow.
He left Port of Ness harbour on the Isle of Lewis at 6am on Wednesday after waiting for six weeks for the right weather. He may continue to Iceland. There is no record of anyone having sailed solo from Scotland to the Faroes or Iceland – not even the Vikings.
At 6pm on Friday, Chris Duff was more than halfway to the Faroes. He was at 60.13N 006.31.02W. Easterly winds had blown him slightly off his absolute course but he was confident it was not a serious problem.
Record-breaking sailor Chris Duff, who left the Isle of Lewis early on Wednesday morning, in his open boat Northern Reach was more than a third of the way to the Faroes at 6pm Thursday, according to coastguards. We are all keeping everything crossed for him.
