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Definitely feel spoiled to be able to explore such an amazing place

In the end it was a pretty easy easy passage I think the hardest thing was taking the leap of faith and heading our on the trip given my nervousness about the engine.

It was certainly a great experience and feeling to get round solo on Hattrick. We took Skylar to Gigha when we went round in Salty you can check out the video she certainly had an epic time running around in the shallow water.

On this trip round, not very. The last one we did at night was also perfectly calm with favorable wind and calm. However we went through the "danger zone" of Dres Point and in the pitch black hit an eight foot standing wave that we didn't see coming. It was so steep it submerged the outboard engine on the back. If we had hit it side on or the engine had stopped at that point we could have lost the boat and maybe ourselves. The Mull isn't something to fear but it also isn't something to take lightly so my nervousness going into it was justified but I am glad I didn't succumb to it as in the end it was a very easy passage and well worth it to unlock the west coast.

Feel for you with how last year played out for us, hope 2025 makes up for it, see you on the seas someday

An over abundance of caution and not being in a rush mainly. Also not wanting to be close in when still a little unsure of my engine. I would say the conditions were so good that at least looking from a distance I probably could have gone straight through the bad zone without any issue. Druimyeion Bay is where I go next, I agree good anchorage with loads of space.

I agree with @Pabloblue about the inner passage around the mok, it is doable as close in as 20-30 metres from shore in places. I solo,d from anchorage in sanda bay around mok to giha 2021. The tide turns favourable for the inner passage an hour earlier than the outer passage. The "bad zone is approx a mile out, and between the two tidal streams. Thanks for sharing your voyage.👍

The first part of the trip has certainly been pretty drama filled on the engine front but thankfully things do settle down from here on

Yeah fuel is the usual culprit but I don't think it is the problem here. No spoilers but this is thankfully the end of the engine dramas for the most part, my best guess is that the engine stop rack/cable stuck in the off position and then worked loose as I tried to get it started. If it was a fuel issue I wouldn't expect the engine to run so flawlesly the rest of the time.

In the whole I really like the boat and am really happy with her. The engine is a pain but tbh after this incident I didn't have any other issues all summer so can't complain too much.

Yeah I think you may have hit the nail on the head here. The fuel rack being stuck in the off position makes sense as the engine runs perfectly when its running which makes a fuel issue less likely. I think it stuck and as I was turning it over it worked itself back to the run poistion and then started. Obvioulsy no way to know unless it happens again, but will certainly be the first thing I check if I have any other problems.

@ Hi, you can see the fuel rack position with the engine running by removing an access plug at the rear of the engine. The plug is about a1 I inch diameter. It’s at a level just below the two injector pumps. The pumps have a pin that sits in the rack. Moving the rack moves the pump pin which in turn turns fuel pressure on and off. Effectively the throttle cable is indirectly connected to the fuel rack if you gently push in or pull out the engine will either accelerate or stop. It only moves about a 1 cm in total. While I hear your concern and frustration and lack of confidence in the engine once you know how it ticks its fantastically simple with no electronic trickery that you can never fathom. My VP had had the injector pumps removed at some time and when refitted the pin was not correctly positioned in the rack and bent it causing it to bind. I assume you are familiar with the cold start procedure pulling the stop lever while at the full throttle position. This effectively allows more fuel by advancing the rack for a cold start.

@@SteveParker-e8r Thanks steve, thats really useful info and context, I have the old engine still so will probably take a look at it on that one to help me understand it. Also yes know about the cold start method, ironically I've never had to use it as the engine.... usualy.... starts fine

@ Brilliant so you can take from that compression is good, only other thing left is fuel and as long as pumps are all ok there’s nothing else to go wrong.

Yeah its easy to look back from the comfort and home and feel I shouldn't have got so worked up but this was my first solo trip and its intimidating enough without finding yourself drifting with no propulsion so I think I shoudl give myself a break. The winds are certainly weird in the lochs I guess thats the trade off though, more shelter but less consistent winds. Thanks for checking out the video, hope you follow along with the rest of the journey.

Next episode will be the Mull, doesn't turn out exactly as hoped but fortunately not quite as dramatic a day as this one.

Yeah looking back it was a fairly entertaining day, had the engine issue not happened I think it wouldnt have been a stressful day. Not sure what my plans for the engine are, on this day I was certain come winter I would throw it over board and get something else but tbh after this it ran flawlessly for the rest of the season so feeling a lot better about it. I would like to get someone to look at it, have struggled to get any recomendations for people locally who are good with these older engines but will ask around more this winter. I agree with the whatever it costs will be worth it, peace of mind on the engine would be priceless but if the money isn't in your account how much you need it is pretty irrelavant. Will keep pluggin on one way or another though.

Yeah did all the fliters and lines but I think its more likely to do with the fuel/stop rack getting stuck as it runs flawlesly for the rest of the season after this.

Yeah looked into it again, they are technically free with a requested donation of £20, I would want to chip in if I was going to use their gear but as it turned out anchoring worked out fine

That will be the next episode, was a bit stressful thankfully, no spoilers, but the drama of the last few videos does start to settle so we can start enjoying the beautiful cruising of the west coast.

@ look forward to that

Would like one but it would be a pretty big job to modify the deck to fit one. Also I heard that these windlass makers will only give you one in exchange for money so will have to carry on with my morning routine of hauling on the chain 😂

I was certainly missing Salty on those days, in general though the new boat is going well, we had some rougher crossings later in the trip and I was glad to be on a bigger heavier boat for those.

Yes I am aware that its set up wrong and will be for some time to come I am afraid as it wasn't until later in the season that I figure it out, at least partially.

Appreciate the love man, would be great but not sure its on the cards, but we like making the videos anyway. When I am months into winter and work sitting down and reminising over the memories while I edit is realy nice, certainly beats a photo album.

You literally blew my mind with that comment, have always wondered why there was a weird square moulding in the seat, but its to accomadate the air vent, so obvious now you said it. I might need to adjust the new benches I made last year to accomadate but that certainly going on the list of jobs for the winter. I have been scratching my head on a convienient way to store the washboards and it turns out the etap designers were way ahead of me.

I know its been a bit Tim heavy of late, Jo will be joining me on the otherside of the Mull but will still be a few episodes. Also yes I do need to be braver and as my knowledge of the boat and confidence grew over the season I certainly did. Still have further to go but am getting there.

I'd have said a bridle attached to the lateral D-rings only.

@gingerbard2607 in a 3 point bridle the strain is spread to the lateral D rings, and the centre leg of the bridle left slightly lose, that serves two purposes 1. It becomes tight as the dinghy swings left/right so the centre leg is only under tension part of the time 2. Should any of the side D rings break off their patches from the tubes you have a fail safe. There is a good diagram here:th-cam.com/video/sMMGWiBvzQo/w-d-xo.htmlsi=Ty4EfXX2nOOnPim_

You guys seem scarily good at reading my mind, I was certainly in the same mindset and I do make the change your talking about, I can't remember exactly when or if I filmed it but yeah I was certinaly concerned about being attached to only the front ring, you can see the change briefly in the future looking clips from last video th-cam.com/video/EcHTmwk_cJs/w-d-xo.htmlsi=soOz9RrmOYn_aAQk&t=422

Can't agree more, has to be one of the best places in the world to learn to cruise.

Yeah I have it set up wrong, I do figure out the mistake towards the end of the season but there are still somethings I want to improve on the system over the winter. I generally try and fill you in on where I am anchoring but realise I didnt for the second anchorage in this video, I do at the start of the next episode but doesn't help for now. The bay is called Asgog bay on Lloch Fyne, just across from Tarbert harbour. We are putting together a guide to our favourite anchorages but that won't be out till the end of this season and there is still a lot of adventures to come this season so might be a little while. Hopefully will be of interest though

Certainly helped to build confidence in her, she sails like a beauty

And if rounding the Mull try anchoring at Sanda Island if the weather is suitable.

Short answer because I have it set up wrong, I do figure it out eventually but not till much later in the season. Unfortunately until then we will all have to stare at this and my many other errors 😅

@@pabloblue999 Never anchored at Sanda but its certainly on the bucket list

Thank you 😊 we had an amazing season on Hat Trick this year and have loads of videos to come on our summer adventures 👍

Cheers bud, in hindsight the nut wasn't the most likely candidate but I always say it's what you don't know you don't know which you should be worried about. It's hard to show on camera but from the feel of it I could tell that the shaft was fine and the propeller was moving on the shaft. With no concept of the fact I forgot to install the spacer the nut was the only logical thing left, at least in my mind.

Appreciate the sentiment 100%. Not thinking of the worst case scenario is a weakness for me that I try to keep on top of generally. To give myself credit though this one the first few days of my first solo sailing trip so getting a bit overwhelmed with stuff was not that surprising. Looking back with hindsight and the benefit of the extra experience I gained over the season I hope I would be less pessimistic now but it's always easy to reflect on how you should handle something after the fact. Appreciate the kind words and support

The evening after this was spent with a nice Aussie guy I met at the marina and way too many beers, was good to blow off the steam, even if the next morning was a bit rough 😂

Yep, that's probably best!

😂😂

Spot on, no spoilers but you pretty much nailed my outro to the next video 😂

Sorry for the slow reply, the heater works great and keeps it toasty warm. Hattrick isn't great on condensation tbh but I think in general the Etaps are very good when it comes to warmth and condensation for the reasons you point out. I think we just have a few leaky deck fittings which I have yet to track down. One downside of the double skin is tracking down leaks, as where the water appears inside isn't neccessary related to where its getting in.

Eventually :)

@@joandtim You made it , that's all that matters 💯😊

I did spend a fair amount of time thinking about that, main issue I was trying to figuire was where I would mount it. At the time I was thinking about my trolling motor, probably wouldn't be enough to drive the boat but might give me some manouvering. I do miss having an outboard engine, so much easier to maintain and swap if worst comes to worst

Thanks bud, easy to look back with hindisight and chastise myself for not being more easy going at the time but its pretty scary being on your own with all the responsibility of the boat and not sure what is the right course of action.

Looking back this, and the whole trip was certainly a big learning experience and knowing it all turned out well now I can say it was a good one :)

Yeah as I said in the video I did all I could do, was the right thing, probably not but it was all I could do at the time with the info I had

Lol, I spent most of the 3 days muttering to myself about how much I hate the prop and looking at fixed ones to replace it with.

I don't have a particualrly powerful motor for the dinghy, in calm weather I would probably be able to manouver a bit but dragging it 10 miles would be possible

Yeah I wasn't sure how sound this theory was at the time, but it was the main reason I was going back and forth on stopping the engine once the wind picked up as I was worried the forward motion was the only thing holding the prop one

Yeah getting tied up under water was pretty scary, I was just telling myself to be calm and undo the clip, but the back of my mind was screaming that I was about to drown. A small dive bottle or similar would have been really nice at the time.

Cheers bud, sat in comfort at my desk its easy to be critical of how it affected me at the time but the biggest fear was not knowing what to do, judging it now with all the info and hindsight is not that reasonable.