Voyage overview
- Year: 2022
- Destination: Inner Hebrides, West Scotland
- Boat: Aqua Vite
- Vessel type: Beneteau 411
- Distance sailed: 186 nautical miles
- Skipper: Mike Scrivens
- Crew: Chris Robson (“AC”), Andrew Wagstaff (“BigWag”), Simon Tyler (“DC”), Warren Creates (“Warboy”), Boris Ulehla (“Borbrides”)
- Notes: A long awaited return to sailing after 2 covid lockdown years
Logbook notes
After two silent years ashore, the Phat Buoys returned to sea — and to Scotland’s raw, unforgettable west coast. The Inner Hebrides offered drama, history, whisky, and weather in perfect measure.
The replacement of the original charter boat left Aqua Vite showing her age, but the crew’s enthusiasm more than compensated. With neap tides making navigation more forgiving, the challenge shifted to the currents and winds threading between islands — each passage a test of teamwork and timing.
Among the highlights: a cautious crawl into Tinkers Hole, distillery visits at every turn, and a spontaneous meeting with a lone bagpiper on another yacht who serenaded the anchorage at dusk.
A gift from Joan to us all were Blue/yellow tuques (in support of Ukraine), worn often to compliment everyday merch.
This voyage also carried deep meaning: Beloved Phat Buoy David Ashfield sadly passed away during the Covid years and in his memory his ashes were brought aboard with us on the first trip without him, then cast to the sea he loved, with a poem and a toast of Jamieson’s whisky and more ashes cast on the hills and valleys as we walked inland for a memorable lunch at Nick Nairn’s culinary school Port of Menteith.
Further haggis-infused post sail adventures were had in Stirling, posthumously signing up William Wallace as a legacy Phat Buoy.
