Loch Ness Challenge - Done

Awesome day. We started off with a tour round the Loch Ness RNLI lifeboat at Drumnadrochit - I think the only inland based lifeboat in the UK?! That was cool, Simon then joined us and we headed out into Urquhart Bay for the Loch Ness Challenge. We found a good spot to anchor, dropped the hook and got ready... Simon insited he should stay and ensure Scarlet didn’t drift off her anchor and he was our official witness so couldn’t possibly have gone swimming. It had to be one of the those moments where you just jumped in and swam - so we did... I’ll not say it was warm but we didn’t freeze although I was practially hyperventialting by the time I reached the stern again but did manage to hang around in the water long enough for the official photos to be taken! Once out I don’t know what all the worry was for, so much so that Cath and I jumped back in for more photo shoots - it’s not every day you get to swim in Loch Ness with the back drop of Urquhart Castle - pretty cool! The rest of the day was excellent, enough wind to sail, in fact so much so that we had to put a reef in! So now we’re happily moored up at Fort Augustus ready to tackle the lock flight tomorrow morning and then welcome the next crew tomorrow afternoon. Karen out

Today was amazin, we went sailin up the lochness again today it was cool. The wind was quite strong and we went from side to side alot and got thrown about a bit, it was so funny. It started off sunny and then it changed durin the day, we had every type of weather apart from snow and hail. We went to the life boat station place it was good, learnt alot there. Then when we were sailin Karen and Cath swam around the boat by urquhrt castle, it was funny, i cant believed they did it, it looked so cold. We are now in Fort Augustus and had fish and chips for tea, after we went a walk some where, it was really nice scenery. Now the midges are out and bitin me really bad.
mandy macdonald


Today i steered the boat again it was the best sail i have done so far it was such a buzz the way the wind was blowing the boat to the side and the rain was pouring i just felt soooooo free.The midges have been eating me alive today they won’t stop following me.Its sad we are coming to a end and leaving tomorrow but has been a experence i will never forget. It was a great opportunity just to forget the world and all the stresses of cancer the long term side effects and just be in peace away from cars,streets and roads to be around trees,mountains and water Shadab Naqvi x.


OMG today was sooo amazing i had sooo much fun . Simon joi nd us on our sail today which was quit fun as he alwes winds me and shadab up silly bt hay lol. it wasent a verry plesent day today and by that i mean the wether wasent verry nice. x( ooo welll . we were totally proper sailing today and evryone totally had a good time i enjoyd it best when the boat was goen fron side to side and we were goen throug the waves. The girles Cath & Karen went swimming in loch ness which was a we bit crazy ime glad i dident go in theeeeeeee. well what ells? the wether was sunny at the start then half way throug it started to rain agen ! What a suprise i guess thats just bony scottland for you lol. was totally amazing thoe i am glad i came . x) on the way to Fort Agustis i was steering which is like sooo fun and and i parked the boat which was soooo kool my first driving lesson in a boat. food was ok i sapose me& shadab made Haggis which was ok bt not the best lol. In all ime glad i came and in a way ime kinda sad aswell beacause its such a gra8 experience to be in the boat and lern new things but being on board is best and sailing its just soooo kool. The people are sooo nice espeshally Cath& Karen espeshally Simon vsooo helpful and grate fun. ide love to come back and be part of the group agen x) Emma xxxx > Right now getting eaten by miggies thay are sooo anoying tbh i think ther anoying evry one tbh Any way i think i better go beacause whats saposed to be a blog is turning into a book . lol bt hay thank you. Night Night xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Emma.

Great day today with every season out to welcome us. We began with a great guided tour of the lifeboat station and the the boat itself, thanks to Neil for that. We then set out to finish our part of the leg loch Ness to Fort Augustus. With a strong wind and the sails up we went full speed through the loch. As the wind picked up we reached the high point of the sail with the boat lurching and tipping, with me at the wheel for some of it! It was a great way to end the trip and i send all my thanks to the Ellen MacArthur Trust and the crew for allowing me to join this great event. Graham Scott