Our Skipper Graham

This is a big, big thankyou to Graham, our skipper over the past two weeks. Graham has excellent sailing skills which he has been willing to share with our novice  and not so novice crews. He has looked after everyone, shared his experience, showed the patience of a saint, got us out of some tight situations, and always believed in our overall goal. He has done so with a childlike sense of humour, laughter, terrible songs and without smacking the gorilla once. 

It has been wonderful sailing with you Graham. Thankyou for all the support and looking forward to seeing you again. I hope this is the start of a life long friendship.

Lorraine's Blog on our second sailing week from Mallaig to Badachro via Skye and Harris

The Crew from left to right - Wendy, Katy, Graham, Paul, Caz and John

A few words about our mad crew..................

Wendy was our novice sailor with more competence than confidence. She loves fixing things and secretly wants to be a bosun.  Great support to everyone when we were challenged meteorically both on the boat and the hill.  Our chief fundraiser too!

Katy, our enthusiastic, young pup, with all round sailing skills, mistress of the RIB and secret smartie eater. Not only did she bring her homework on board, she did it too!

Caz showed great skills on the helm and out on the hill. She went over and above the call of duty when a gust of wind blew her forward and she jumped to stop herself hitting me,

tumbling down the rocks and smacking her face ending up with a serious black eye. Great sense of humour and support during the long, trudge to the Sligachan pushing forwards in horizontal rain.
 Paul is our chef extraordinaire, ship's mate and bosun. Going all out to help in all situations both emotionally and physically!!  Completely at home in the environment and having some epic tales to tell!

John - a great sense of humour in the face of adversity, good all round sailing skills, master of the RIB and excellent ballast on the hill when Caz and I were about to take off!

WHY I WAS HERE

The phone rang unexpectedly. "Could you skipper a yacht in the western islands of Scotland?", was the question. "Errr, yes........tell me more......", was the immediate answer.

What followed was an introduction to an amazing woman, Lorraine McCall, who has fought back from serious, serious illness and at the age of almost fifty determined to take on another challenge that the fittest and strongest would struggle to complete.

Amiable and exuberant, too modest by far, she has a steely resolve to be the first woman to complete the 284 Munros in Scotland in one continuous walk and the 221 Corbetts in a continuous journey of walking, sailing and cycling.

The opportunity to skipper a crew made up of Lorraine's friends was too good to miss. A wonderful bunch of people they have turned out to be and every one committed to helping Lorraine, their beloved friend.

For me personally, it has gone beyond merely sailing a boat for her. This is a woman pursuing a goal that just twelve months ago seemed an impossible prospect, and at the same time she is raising money for MacMillan Cancer Support. These were the very people who helped Lorraine through her moment of need. I feel proud to have had the opportunity and privilege of helping her.

Lorraine has committed herself to a huge effort to raise money for her chosen charity. You can help too. Please dip into your pockets for even the smallest amount. Every penny will help someone in their moment of need.

Graham Walters

Yacht Iona was kindly supplied by Peter Henderson of Spirit of June Yacht Charters.

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.... 

Alex's blog of our first week sailing

Gratitude for Graham on Gigha! Having no sailing experience, this trip was always going to be an adventure. I awoke on day 2 of the trip at 6am being flung across the bed with the sound of screams from Clare at the helm - that was just a glimpse of things to come. Sailing around the Mull of Kintyre involved rough seas, a vomiting Rob, a sea-goggled Clare, a reliable Julie, a sleeping Lorraine and a jolly skipper. I spent the time down below with flying cutlery, in my sleeping bag hoping it would all end soon. The facial expressions from Rob and Clare in the cockpit suggested I was safest where I was. Graham the Great was in full control throughout, however, and we sailed calmly into Gigha with all crew back upstairs rewarded by an amazing dolphin display. It was a come back from sailing as 6 hours before I was thinking NEVER AGAIN. As the sunset, I sat on deck alone and appreciated the beauty of this wonderful land. A day of mixed emotions ended with gratitude for the oppportunity to have such an experience, gratitude for the opportunity to meet and share the experience with a group of special people and most of all gratitude for Graham for getting us all there alive.

Julie's Blog from our first week of sailing........

Julie's blog

A pertinent place to start this voyage for me as I last sailed from Ardrossan with my friend Marion Harris, her family and friends, for her 49th birthday. We had a wonderful, sunny trip with lots of laughs, but Marion was by then very ill with cancer, and sadly died 8 months later, having coped courageously with her illness.

So it is uplifting that Lorraine is doing this amazing journey in her 49th year, having been through her illness and is raising money for MacMillan.

After a days sailing yesterday ('good' or 'queasy' depending on your perspective), goose winging our way up, we arrived at Rum for a bumpy night at anchor, before an equally bumpy and wet dinghy ride ashore to drop Lorraine on a mist clagged island.

Off she trooped, determinedly up into the wind and cloud, as Rob rowed and I cursed at the obstinate, stalling outboard. Now we are munching on such gourmet delights as crisp sandwiches and biscuits with macaroni cheese on the hob, awaiting Lorraine's return from the high peaks - so that we can make the shelter of Mallaig before the forecast gales come in...... Crew change tomorrow and a new lef of the adventure...............

And as Marion would have said,  'Keep on Trucking', Lala

Rob's Blog from our first week sailing.....

day 6 on board Lala's maritime adventure. ......I've worn the same underwear for 5 days now, I had a 3 minute shower, puked up in one of the most wonderful areas of Scotland and generally felt off coulour for 5 of the 6 days especially if I was down below.  On the plus side, I've got an idea how to sail now, have climbed Dun Da Gaoth on Mull, the only Corbett there and had great fun. Best of all , I've made some new friends and had a great laugh - even when I was honking over the side. Oh yes..... we also got Lala over 8 corbetts and stood on top of her 50th with her. A big, big thankyou to Graham for being so patient and skippering the boat so well. I have felt in safe hands throughout the whole trip - even on the journey round the Mull of Kintyre when we were all crapping ourselves in the strongest winds and highest seas of the journey.