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CARRADALE'S BLUE TARN'S ATLANTIC CROSSINGS2008 / 2009 WEB DIARY 
In September 2008, Michael Foreman and Tony Leighton set off on Michael’s boat, the
Blue Tarn
, to head for The Canary Islands. At the end of November, they joined a flotillaof 214 boats sailing across The Atlantic Ocean and, three weeks later, on December 18,they arrived at St Lucia, part of The Windward Islands in The Caribbean.Leaving
Blue Tarn
in St Lucia, the two sailors flew back to Scotland to spend Christmaswith their families and then, a month later, it was back to St Lucia to cruise around TheCaribbean. Reaching Antigua at the end of March, Michael and Tony were joined by theirwives, Moira and Margaret, they returning home at the end of April and Blue Tarn returningacross The Atlantic to arrive in Campbeltown on Saturday June 13, 2009. The web log of The Atlantic crossings was posted on the internethttp://blog.mailasail.com/bluetarnand here, to allow the yacht's positions to be plotted onGoogle maps, a
Degree Minute Second Convertor
 
Latitude Longitude convertorprogram
fromhttp://freegeographytools.com/2008/degree-minute-second-to-decimal-1
 
degree-converter hadto be used to convert each of the log's "DMS" (Degrees, Minutes,Seconds) positions into 'decimal' positions so that e.g. Campbeltown's latitude andlongitude of 55.25.35 N 5.36.19 W becomes 55.426389 N 5.605278 W, the only formatthat the internet, so far, understands.
CLICK ON LATITUDE and LONGITUDEREFERENCES and
 
USE THE ZOOM IN/OUT SLIDER to focus in on yacht and harbourpositions
! ! !
Blue Tarn’s Atlantic Adventure
Monday, September 15, 2008 - 11.15 - Campbeltown -
55.25.35N 5.36.19W
“You start on Monday with the idea implanted in your bosom that you are going to enjoy  yourself. You wave an airy adieu to the boys on shore, light your biggest pipe, and swagger about the deck as if you were Captain Cook, Sir Francis Drake, and Christopher Columbusall rolled into one. On Tuesday, you wish you hadn't come. On Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, you wish you were dead. On Saturday, you are able to swallow a little beef tea, and to sit up on deck, and answer with a wan, sweet smile when kind-hearted people ask youhow you feel now. On Sunday, you begin to walk about again, and take solid food. And onMonday morning, as, with your bag and umbrella in your hand, you stand by the gunwale,waiting to step ashore, you begin to thoroughly like it”. ( Jerome K. Jerome, “Three Men ina Boat”)
The Boat
-
Blue Tarn
is a Nicholson 35 Yacht. The vessel’s principal dimensions are 35'3" LOA, 26' 9" LWL and 10' 5" Beam.By today’s standards, this design is purely a cruising boat, although when originallydesigned, she would have likely been considered a cruiser/racer. The hull features a low-aspect fin keel with a large, unbalanced spade rudder mounted on a full-length skeg. The Nicholson 35 has a very attractive sweep to the sheer, nicely balanced overhangs anda low-profile cabin house that results in a handsome look that, although nearly 30 years old,does not seem dated or old-fashioned.
The Crew
-
Skipper
- Michael Foreman;
Crew
- John Mactaggart and Tony Leighton
The Plan
-
 
 To depart
Campbeltown
at the end of September, sail across
The Bay of Biscay
, down the coast of 
Portugal
, out to
Madeira
and then on to the
Canary Islands
2
 
where we will join
The Atlantic Rally for Cruisers
(The ARC)http://www.worldcruising.com/arc/. This annual transatlantic rally starts this year of 2008 on November 23rd in
Las Palmas deGran Canaria
. The rally is the largest trans-ocean sailing event in the world. This yearthere are 225 yachts entered from all over the world. (There is one yacht that is smallerthan
Blue Tarn
in the event). The Caribbean destination is
Rodney Bay
in
St.Lucia
, one of the most beautiful islands in
The Lesser Antilles
. The 2,700 nautical mile passage on the NE tradewind route shouldtake us between 21 and 28 days. The skipper and crew plan to return to the UK for Christmas and New Year. We will thenreturn to
The Carribean
which we intend to fully explore before sailing back via
Bermuda
and
The Azores
, arriving back in Campbeltown in June 2009.
Tuesday, September 16, 2008 - 20.51 - Campbeltown -
55.25.35 N 5.36.19 W-
Blue Tarn
was craned out of the water today so that any growth on the hull could becleaned off. In fact, she was surprisingly clean. Many thanks to all those who helped.
Monday, September 29, 2008 - 10.47 - Campbeltown -
55.25.35N 5.36.19W-
Blue Tarn
is now loaded with stores and all the equipment we think that we might need.Our personal items will be loaded today and then we will be ready for departure. We are asready as we shall ever be !Departure brings very mixed feelings. Of course we are excited to be going. But there arealso feelings of trepidation. Nothing ever goes entirely to plan. I wonder what the futureholds ? We also have cares about those we leave behind. We know they will cope and thatwe have left everything in good order, but we are nevertheless going to be away for a longtime and will miss them as we know they will miss us.We aim to leave at 10 am on Tuesday morning. The forecast is for fresh Westerly windswhich should push us easily to
Bangor
in Northern Ireland. I wonder who will come to giveus a send-off from the pontoon ?
Wednesday, October 1, 2008 - 14.30 - Bangor -
54:39.868 N 5:40.318 W- Theintrepid trio were surprised and touched at the size of the group of family and friends whobraved the torrential rain to see them off. At the appointed hour of 1000 or nearly (sorryStuart, Sylvia & ?). Skipper Mike swung
Blue Tarn
away from the pontoon and after settingreefed main and genoa we were off.South of 
Paterson's Rock 
, the wind had increased sufficiently to enable us to go on aclose fetch south and this gradually became a broad reach.We were safely berthed at
Bangor
after a passage of little over 8 hours and enjoyingacelebratory gin and tonic, being regaled by tales, not all, of which we had heard before, of Mike's childhood here. He was of course born with webbed feet and able to paint a vividpicture of the
Ballyholme
/
Bangor
waterfront pre- the very grand marina. We wanderedup the street to
Coyle's Bar
for a light snack and so to bed.
Thursday, October 2, 2008 - 14.30 - Howth -
53:23.400 N 6:03.998 W
 
- Acracking sail today from
Bangor
to
Howth
. Wind NW 6 - 8.
Friday, October 3, 2008 - 19.20 - Wicklow -
52:58.825 N 6:02.215 W
 
- Pleasantsail from
Howth
to
Wicklow
and another great Chinese meal in
Ping's Restaurant
. WindNW 4 but forecast of SW 9 imminent. We might have to have spend another day here.3
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