The tug tour

Built in 1944, the duchess of troon is one tough old bird. she has had her accommodation and engine refitted but other than that, she is still the same she has always been.
i sailed on her for only eight short days-26th april to the 3rd of may 2007; four of which i spent heaving my insides out. we towed a former us navy vin from liverpool to glasgow and came back minus a tow. an especially unforgettable evening watch was while southbound on the irish sea approaching the isle of man- the coast guard was on strike(?!) so we did not get accurate weather warnings. all we were told was that there were no gales. that doesn't mean squat to such a tiny boat. things were fine for a couple of hours..sunshine, rippling seas and a decent force 3/4. it suddenly jumped to a six just as i was beginning to get smug. for the rest of the five hours, i had a garbage bag in my left hand (rapidly filling up with puke) while i yanked the massive wheel every few seconds to keep her on course(no auto pilot thank you very much). i almost had a heart attack when she did a three sixty in the massive swell. no laughing matter when there are two other lives on board that trust your navigation and the fucking rocks and lighthouses are a few cables off.

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[mcspoonshine]

Terrorist

[jeevan333in]

mcspoonshine:

Re:terrorist

Appollogies for that message, i must still be signed on a computer somewhere :S

Lots of random activity has been happening from my account, will have to remove it and start again. Sorry if any of this has offended you.

[andy3127]

I'm from Troon in the South West Of Scotland, i presume the tug is named after there?

[jeevan333in]

very possibly. she's so old that there were no original ship plans or papers on board..what little i know about her is all word of mouth stuff.

[anglosaxonheathern]

I just want to make it clear that the UK Coastguard have NEVER been on strike until the 6th March 2008 - the first time in their history. If there was a Coastguard strike during your trip it would either have been the Irish Maritime Service (Coastguard) or the Isle of Man Coastguard Service - both are seperate organisations from HM Coastguard

[jothi20]

Great junk of real life adventure