Summer hols - caravan 'n' f-rib family of four fun!

[H-boyd]

Captains Log 8th July 2016: After a frantic end to a busy week at work, we (I) got packed up on the Friday night, L200 loaded to the max with food, drink, clothes, shoes, outboard, lifejackets, anchor, fuel etc etc, in the caravan was the F-RIB 360, seats, oars, pump and bow canopy.

The plan was to set off from Dundee at 07:00….best laid plans ‘n’ all that saw us leaving the house at 08:30….a little frustrating but on the whole an excellent result for us! We had booked into a caravan / camping site at Clachtoll, up just past Lochinver on the North-west coast of Scotland. My school boy error was not to study a map and instead just rely on the sat nav this served me well until around the last 20 miles of the journey where we were told to take the next left, which took us onto a single track road, not uncommon in rural Scotland so the alarm bells weren’t ringing just yet…..however 150 yards down the road (at the point of no return) I caught a glimpse of a sign about vehicle length restriction , we later discovered I had exceeded this by 13 feet….we survived this very precarious route by sheer luck, with the only damage sustained was a broken plastic motor mover cover…..lots of cursing and head in hands moments from the co-pilot throughout this 14 mile stretch….which of course is the last thing I wanted to hear and see . This exciting scenic coastal route added what seemed like hours to the journey…..but in reality was just 20 minutes possibly taking years off my life, 20 minutes I’d rather not experience again!
We arrived at the site in Clachtoll around five and a half hours after setting off, set up caravan, awning etc just in time for the rain starting

Later after the rain stopped we went for a walk down to the stunning sandy beach to investigate best launching locations and gleam some local knowledge, this is around 250m from the site.

Our pitch!

There were a few boats, sibs, kayaks, a shetland as well as a few big ribs. They have set up a slipway using rubber mats down a rocky/stony beach, which works quite well, they have 3 running mooring for the bigger boats.
The following day we had more rain earlier on which then cleared off and at around 5pm we set up the boat and towed it at walking pace down to the slipway. This was just the third outing my young lad (10) and I had had in the boat and was a first for my daughter (14) and wife…

Brave faces

. who were both a little apprehensive and seemed to prefer 15mph and less to the 23mph we reached , which to be fair did get a bit bumpy! We explored a bit of the rocky coast down past a couple of beautiful white beaches and turned back just as we reached Lochinver

Captain Cammy : )

. We arrived back at the slipway at around 21:15 we hauled the boat up the steep slipway and parked it for the night

Stored boat here, just up from the slip way, DIY PVC cover

Red SIB in the back ground possibly over cautious with the anchor sizing : )

, then back to the caravan to watch extra time in the Euro final
Next day weather was rainy and windy, water very choppy so stayed on land!
We managed a brief trip out the following day before towing the boat back

Slow tow with the pickup the 250m to the pitch

to the caravan and packing it up into the pick-up for our Wednesday – Sunday trip to the Outer Hebrides minus the caravan the following day, this was our sixth year in a row of visiting these Islands at this time of year and attending the Hebcelt music festival. We were about half way to Ullapool for our ferry to the Isle of Lewis when I realised my second school boy error of the trip…..i’d left both pumps at the caravan ….with no time to turn back I cursed myself the rest of the way!!! I bought another pump and valve adapter in Stornoway £30 lighter we were ready for boat action!

Next day, from our B&B in Stornoway, we headed down to Hushinish in Harris with the intention of boating around to our most favourite beach on the planet, Luskentyre then to take the short hop over to explore the island of Taransay (where the TV program Castaway 2000 was filmed). We couldn’t get the pick up down on to Hushinish beach

Hushinish Beach, Isle of Harris looking toward Luskentyre and Taransay

, where I’d thought launching would be possible but close by was a slip way beside where a campervan, motorhome and tent had pitched up. We quickly (fairly quickly) set up the f-rib

Nikki getting involved with setting up

and walked the boat down the slipway…..leaving the sheltered water

Leaving the slip way

and after passing Hushinish and around half way to Luskentyre my wife and daughter got spooked by the swell and pleaded for a different destination
We turned around and headed back to more sheltered water

and found a beautiful secluded white sandy beach opposite the island of Scarp

Tràigh Mheilein beach

, where we later stopped for a picnic and Cammy messed about in the water.

When arriving back at the pickup and packing the boat away we met a couple of guys who’d been diving for scallops and had an impressive haul

Scallop Divers haul

. This was our only boat trip in the Outer Hebrides due to shit weather , the worst we’ve experienced there! Great music festival though will hopefully manage more outings next time!!

Back at the caravan at Clachtoll, we had some great weather enjoyed a few more trips

Tee shirt weather : )

, one great day at Achmelvich beach, kids messing about rowing the boat and in and out of the water

while we chilled out on the beach

Helena at the helm!

, later we saw some seals and dolphins (hard to make out)

Dolphins there somewhere!

. We had an unsuccessful couple of shots at fishing from the boat, just using sand eel lures….need to gleam some knowledge and be better equipped for fishing.
The last day - we took the boat just around the coast and met up with some others from the camp/caravan site

where my young lad joined them for an hour or so for some rock jumping

Cammy's first rock jump

before the heavens opened, at which point we hauled in three of them and motored back the shortish journey to the slip way, that was 5 of us in the F-RIB seemed happy enough!

All in all a great holiday, despite having some rotten weather, it just wouldn’t have been the same without the F-RIB adding a new dimension to our staycations!

Needing to modify the launch wheel pins as the brackets are splaying out, possibly due to the heavy loading and rocky beaches I've been hauling it on.....anyone else experiencing this? I'm planning on welding washers/collars to the pins that will prevent the brackets splaying either side. I also found water splashing in when motoring with the wheels in the retracted position, so now prefer removing the wheel from the brackets when motoring!

I'll be better prepared with camera next boating trip, I hope you enjoy the photos

[kaman]

Great stuff and cracking write up.
Thanks for sharing.

[H-boyd]

Great write-up and made even better by the photographs.

Thanks for sharing with us.

[James]

Thanks for sharing, was an interesting read.
Is that front canopy a proper F-Rib one? If so can it be folded down?

Thanks

James

[H-boyd]

Hi James, the bow canopy is not an F-RIB one, but yes it can be folded down and the cover I made sits over the top for overnight storage. It may not be too clear in the photos (showing the cover on) but the canopy is folded flat underneath it. I thought the standard F-RIB one looked like it blocked too much view....but possibly not!
Cheers,
Hamish

[kaman]

Do tell more Hamish, about the bow canopy.
It looks great - did you buy it or make it?

[dalesman]

Where did you get the blow up lounger from please .

Graham

[Gazzago]

Great post. Thanks I enjoyed reading it.

I’d also like some info on your bow canopy please.


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[Paul]

Great post. Thanks I enjoyed reading it.

I’d also like some info on your bow canopy please.


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Gazzago

H-boyd dosen't visit the forum on a regular basis unfortunately
To draw his attention to your post/request you could PM him
By sending him a PM he'll recieve a email notification drawing his attention to your post, which he'll hopefully answer

[warder54]

"Needing to modify the launch wheel pins as the brackets are splaying out, possibly due to the heavy loading and rocky beaches I've been hauling it on.....anyone else experiencing this?"
As for another post here recently with the same problem: The wheels need to be fitted tucked under the transom, the way you have them puts a lot of stress on the wheels, brackets and transom. Bringing the wheels underneath also gives better balance by putting the outboard behind the wheels, makes it far easier to move around. Mine have taken some stick over rough beaches with no ill effect.