Winter training
Posted: February 21, 2012 Filed under: Iain Oughtred, Scottish Coastal Rowing, St Ayles Skiff | Tags: Clinker Ply, Lapstrake Ply, Loch Broom, Ross Shire, Scottish Coastal Rowing Project, Ulla, Ullapool, Ullapool Coastal Rowing Club, Wooden Boat Leave a comment »What with Rowing with the Royals, defending our Gold and raiding a few more Regattas later this year ‘Ulla’ is in high demand for practice. Last Sunday saw a brief appearance of Icing Sugared Hills as a welcome change from the Howling Winds and Monsoon like Rains (no drought here) which have characterised this winter and a couple of crews grabbed the chance to go out for a brisk row on Loch Broom.
- A crisp Winters morning
As usual click on the thumbnail for the bigger picture
Loch Broom Regatta – a reprise
Posted: October 21, 2011 Filed under: Iain Oughtred, Scottish Coastal Rowing, St Ayles Skiff, Uncategorized | Tags: Clinker Ply, Epoxy Ply, Iain Oughtred, Loch Broom, Ross Shire, Rowing Skiff, Scottish Coastal Rowing Project, Skiff Racing, St Ayles Skiff, Ulla, Ullapool, Ullapool Regatta, Wooden Boat Leave a comment »A different perspective on our Regatta way back in August has just seen the light of day. Ulla’s very own Beach Holder, Ali Foote, was taking the opportunity to get some fantastic shots when he wasn’t holding Ulla’s stern in place.
This is a really cracking shot of Ulla setting off in search of Gold – successfully. A very good selection of shots show the highs of the day – many ‘people’ shots of a fairly candid nature display some of the raw emotion experienced finishing with this charmer showing some of the Golden Girls enjoying a well deserved lemonade.
The full collection can be seen on Ali’s Flickr page - as well as much else of local interest. So thanks Ali for such a great record and allowing us to show them – thanks also for standing up to your waist in Loch Broom and holding Ulla steady for the crews on that glorious day.
Ullapool Gold up for Grabs
Posted: August 5, 2011 Filed under: Scottish Coastal Rowing, St Ayles Skiff | Tags: Epoxy Ply, Epoxy ply plank repair, goldleaf, Iain Oughtred, Jordan Boats, Lapstrake Ply, Loch Broom, Regatta, Ross Shire, St Ayles Skiff, Ulla, Ullapool, Ullapool Regatta, Wooden Boat Leave a comment » 
Ullapool Bullion Bling
Just about a week to go before the Loch Broom Skiff Regatta starts. Local folk have been beavering away – Sculptors, Potterers, Gold and Silversmiths and the bronze foundry to say nothing of the Ribbon weavers and Tyers Co-operative have all been working long into the night to produce the goodies that will reward our fellow Skiffie groups who are making the journey North, or in one case, South. We have been steadily updating our Regatta Page and all the pertinent information is there, including downloadable registration forms, Regatta Instructions and Programme.
We have the Band booked, the Bar Stock is on its way and Cake Baking is taking place in local kitchens to ensure that Skiffie energy levels remain high.
All we need now is some Portsoy Weather, so start crossing everything you have cause the Met Office is not being very helpful.
Portsoy Funtime
Posted: July 11, 2011 Filed under: Iain Oughtred, Scottish Coastal Rowing, St Ayles Skiff | Tags: Clinker Ply, Epoxy Ply, Iain Oughtred, Jordan Boats, Lapstrake Ply, Portsoy, Portsoy 2011, Rowing Races, Rowing Skiff, Scottish Coastal Rowing Project, Scottish Traditional Boat Festival, Skiff Racing, St Ayles Skiff, Ulla, Ullapool Coastal Rowing Club, Wooden Boat Leave a comment »report by Topher
Well we had a fantastic weekend at Portsoy and the sun just belted down. There were big waves (boats disappearing and reappearing) but little wind, and the boats handled it without shipping a drop. The races were about 2.5Km long, and out of 9 boats we came 4th in the Womens Open (fantastic effort!), 5th in the Womens over 35 and 4th in the Mixed Over 50 having passed Port Seton in the second leg! This Mixed over 50 crew contained one lady from Anstruther who had just done a race, so we are grateful to her for going out and doing another!
Sue E joined a composite crew in the Womens over 50 which won its race, and I joined a Mens over 50 composite team which also won its race, so all in all our club can feel happy with our progress, especially since we were without our youthful and energetic pair of Dan and Charlotte. The camping was in a nice green playing field with good facilities in a park, and the craic was excellent. A late fishing trip in Ulla and two other skiffs yielded a haul of mackerel which was barbecued down at the shore. Copious quantities of ice cream, wine and beer were also consumed, although not at the same time.
It was great meeting the other crews, especially the new ones of South Queensferry, Dunbar and Galgael.
Other crews told us how they were looking forward to our regatta on the 13th/14th August, so that is our chance to return hospitality and show them what a great place Ullapool is for skiffing. Well done all our rowers and coxes.
giving an idea of the bouncy conditions
As usual click on the thumbnail for the bigger picture, thanks to John for the on water shots – particularly useful since the shoreside photo opportunities were so restricted this year.
Lots more pictures over on the SCRA Flickr group pool
I name this boat . . . ..
Posted: April 4, 2011 Filed under: Iain Oughtred, Scottish Coastal Rowing, St Ayles Skiff | Tags: Boat Name, boatlaunch, boatname, Clinker Ply, Epoxy Ply, goldleaf, Iain Oughtred, Lapstrake Ply, Loch Broom, Ross Shire, Rowing Skiff, Scottish Coastal Rowing Project, St Ayles Skiff, Ulla, Ullapool, Wooden Boat 1 Comment »Ullapool Coastal Rowing Club members were joined on Saturday by representatives from the Coigach and Wick (about to be formed) coastal rowing clubs to see our St Ayles Skiff properly named at last. After getting well sprayed by the Bubbly, Kath Foote, one of the small but dedicated restoration team, did a splendid job of naming and anointing the boat after which the assembled group raised a toast prior to an afternoon of recreational rowing in excellent conditions. The healthy glow induced by some vigorous exercise was then prolonged by a celebratory libation of a more traditional (for this locality) nature provided by Topher. Not a fan of the ‘uisge beatha’ myself but to even my untrained nose this was clearly something very special.
As usual click on the thumbnail for the bigger picture
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- Who’s going to be the speechifier?
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- Let us Spray – Champers bouncing in the bottom of a boat being rolled over a rocky foreshore works up quite a head
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- I name this boat – Kath does the honours
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- Ahhh
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- Well the libation didn’t peel off the varnish so it must be OK
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- General admiration all round
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- and officially back in service
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- a wee bit of atmosphere
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- but the sun was soon back
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- Come and have a row
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- That seaweed is slippery stuff
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- And away for further refreshment
And she didn’t ship a drop
Posted: March 22, 2011 Filed under: Iain Oughtred, Scottish Coastal Rowing, St Ayles Skiff | Tags: 'Gale damage', Boat Name, Boatbuilding, Boatpainting, Clinker Ply, Epoxy Ply, Epoxy ply plank repair, goldleaf, Iain Oughtred, Lapstrake Ply, Loch Broom, Ross Shire, Rowing Skiff, Scottish Coastal Rowing Project, St Ayles Skiff, Ulla, Ullapool, Wooden Boat 1 Comment »A truly gorgeous evening on Loch Broom. After the recent snows and tempestuous winds today finished sunny and mild – just the right conditions to take ‘Ulla’ back to the water. Tophers brilliant repair job and the never-ending hours of sanding and splashing fresh paint and varnish from the painting team were amply rewarded by the way ‘Ulla’ behaved back on the water, she seemed to have really missed the action – the consensus of tonight’s rowers was that she glides more smoothly and rows better than before the storm damaged her.
The new launching trolley turned a few heads on the way down to the sea and was every bit as good as we had hoped in making it easy to launch and recover our boat. Just the trailer to finish and we will be good to go for the summer regattas.
A few snaps from the occasion.
As usual click on the thumbnail for the bigger picture
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- Rolling ‘Ulla’ through the village on the way back to the sea
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- getting ready for the first launch off her new trolley
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- that is so easy
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- and recover the trolley
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- back on the water ready for action
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- it’s been a long time
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- away we go
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- paradise
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- time for a crew change
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- and complete with passenger
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- don’t want to scratch the new paint
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- that was great
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- ready to recover the boat
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- ease her on
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- and out she comes – beatifully easy.
Ready for the water – almost
Posted: March 21, 2011 Filed under: Iain Oughtred, Scottish Coastal Rowing, St Ayles Skiff | Tags: 'Gale damage', Boat Name, Boatbuilding, Boatpainting, Clinker Ply, Epoxy Ply, Epoxy ply plank repair, goldleaf, Lapstrake Ply, Rowing Skiff, Scottish Coastal Rowing Project, St Ayles Skiff, Ulla, Ullapool, Wooden Boat Leave a comment »
Ullapool Bling
Posted: March 7, 2011 Filed under: Iain Oughtred, Scottish Coastal Rowing, St Ayles Skiff | Tags: Boatbuilding, boatname, Clinker Ply, Epoxy Ply, gilding, goldleaf, Lapstrake Ply, lettering, St Ayles Skiff, Ulla, Ullapool, Wooden Boat Leave a comment »‘Ulla’ is now sporting her name and home port on the Port sheerstrake in real gold. An interesting little project which called for a bit of invention cause we are no calligraphers. The Starboard lettering remains on the ‘to do’ list but shouldn’t take that long once we heave her over again. One side took about four hours to letter so not an overly demanding task. The story of how we done it is here.
the completed home port, hopefully the view our competitors will see on the water 
We still have a bit of finishing off to do and a few coats of varnish to protect the Gold from the sea but this gives an idea of our new look. We think it won’t look too bad once we are out on the water. Probably.
We are into paint
Posted: February 7, 2011 Filed under: Iain Oughtred, Scottish Coastal Rowing, St Ayles Skiff | Tags: 'Gale damage', Clinker Ply, Epoxy Ply, Epoxy ply plank repair, Iain Oughtred, Lapstrake Ply, Scottish Coastal Rowing Project, St Ayles Skiff, Ulla, Ullapool, Wooden Boat 2 Comments »
The vanishing wounds
After a quick scuff around with a scrap of sandpaper ‘Ulla’ has had a bit of paint slapped on and beginning to look more like the lovely skiff we launched back in May. Downside is this is only one side – because of limited space we can only work with our boat on her side so once we have finished this side we have it all to do again! The detail to date is on our ‘repair’ page
Ullapool Regatta – 2011
Posted: January 27, 2011 Filed under: Iain Oughtred, Scottish Coastal Rowing, St Ayles Skiff | Tags: Clinker Ply, Epoxy Ply, Iain Oughtred, Loch Broom, Ross Shire, Rowing Skiff, Scottish Coastal Rowing Project, St Ayles Skiff, Ulla, Ullapool, Ullapool Regatta, Wooden Boat 1 Comment »
The Ullapool Coastal rowing Club have started planning for their Skiff Regatta on 13th/14th August. To try and keep all pertinent information in one place we have created a Regatta Page on our website at http://ullcoastrow.wordpress.com/loch-broom-skiff-regatta-2011/ . It would be appreciated if fellow Skiffies thinking about a trip North to join us could give an indication of intent via a comment on that page. Since we may have to limit numbers if our Regatta is overwhelmingly popular an early indication will avoid disappointment.
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