Friday 16 May 2014

Lorraine's blog on the Rum Cuillin and the end of the first week's sailing

It is now the end of our first week on board Iona and our first crew have just left the boat. Thankyou to Graham, Clare,Rob, Julie and Alex for a wonderful, wild, exhilirating first week. My final day of this first week was spent on the Rum Cuillin on my own ( I would not have left the boat either if I did not have to) in some manky, misty weather involving greasy rock scrambles, walking for hours on compass bearings, sliding down moving boulder fields and trudging through mud. It was not until I came down to Dibidil for the walk back along the coast that the mist finally cleared. I spent a few minutes thinking about our good friend Tam from The Craig Dhont Club who sadly died here a few years ago. There was not a chance today to have a rum on Rum for him but \i made a mental note to do so later. Back on board the boat I was met by a slick, sharp sailing machine as the guys collected me on the dinghy got the sails up and the anchor up and we were on our way to Mallaig before I knew it. It's been only a week but the guys have picked up so much already and I think they have had great fun doing it. It's not just all for fun though as the poignancy of Julie;s blog shows.As I sit here writing this, Chris the really helpful pontoon master has been down to handover a donation from the Chairman of the Coastguards who has been inspired with the whole journey. If i think back to this time a year ago, the world was a very different place. I tired so, so easily, suffered from chemo brain - the term the MacMillan nurses use to describe the forgetfulness which can happen, (so what's changed I hear friends say - degrees, I answer) and had to come to terms with short, curly hair.  Others go through so much more but there is an amazing support network.. Please think about donating and sharing.... 



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