Equipment Woes - Completely Resolved

Well good on Exped for replacing our tent.

Our problems our Exped Orion started long before our trip to Ireland and Scotland but did get progressively worse during that trip with rips in the flysheet and corroding poles.

The patch on the flysheet can be seen below, we ended up with another before the end of the trip. Its obvious the old flysheet had faded considerably compared to the new one so I suspect the material had been weakened by UV despite being covered with an old tarp when pitched all day in the Tasmanian sun. Even that wasn't without problems, the old tarp wore holes in the tent flysheet underneath.

I have had no reasons from Exped as to why we had a multitude of problems with the tent in only two years. My theory is that most outdoor gear is getting lighter and lighter and so durability despite new 'wonder' materials is nothing like it used to be. Couple this with an estimated 16 weeks use of the tent in the last two years, which I would imagine would be much greater than the average use of a backpacking tent.

It will be interesting to see how long the new one will last.

Equipment Woes - Resolved. Mostly.

In what seems another lifetime ago way back in July, I had a good whinge about the gear problems we were having in Equipment Woes.

I don't mind giving the people who make gear a hard time if the equipment does not live up to expectations but am also very happy to praise them when they resolve the problems.

So good on Typhoon International for excellent customer service in sending me a replacement drysuit to wear for more than half of our trip so I could return mine for testing. As it turned out I don't think there was anything wrong with it but they were concerned enough to want it back to check it was ok. They also responded very quickly when due to various courier and address mix ups my drysuit got lost and then when found it followed a very circuitous route back to me, arriving the day before we left to return to Australia.

Credit due to Thermarest in Ireland who once I made contact immediately arranged to post me a replacement, by that time though the major surgery I had inflicted on the existing mattress had worked so I only had two nights sleeping on the ground. It was nice to have a new one but as it so light and feels as though it is made of tissue paper it will be interesting to see how long it lasts.

Solarfilm too offered to replace the faulty solar panel but due to the difficulties of having a replacement sent from the US to us in Ireland I asked them to send the replacement to Tasmania. It was a bit of a gamble as the faulty one could have stopped working at any time leaving us unable to charge our phones and VHF radio - our most reliable sources of weather information. Luckily it kept working and the new one has just arrived here at home. 

We had more major problems with our Exped tent, the poles started corroding badly which made them virtually impossible to put together and/or pull apart and right at the end of the trip the flysheet ripped again. These problems coupled with others from earlier in the trip and before has made the tent pretty much worn out and unreliable in just over two years. We have two Macpac tents, one 24yrs old the other over 15yrs old that are still very much in working order and have caused less problems in all that time than the Exped tent in just two years.  I have been in contact with Exped and they seemed concerned about all the issues we've had but nothing resolved yet. 

Scotland Seventh Week Oban to Cuil Bay, Duror.

Heading south west down the coastline of the Ross of Mull, we came across only the second group of kayakers we met on the whole trip. Most of them were from Holland. 

The Sound of Iona. 

The Nunnery, Iona.

The Abbey, Iona.

Ancient carved headstones, Iona. 

Sail repair. 

Inch Kenneth, Loch Na Keal. 

Loch Na Keal.

Heading out to the Treshnish Isles. 

Lunga, Treshnish Isles

Campsite at Port Langamull on the north coast of Mull. Great views of Ardnamurchan, Rhum, Eigg and Skye in the background.

Tobermory, Mull on a grey and drizzly day. 

Floating pontoons are very handy for a short stop in places with big tides. 

Having breakfast in the Tobermory Bakery, in our drysuits! Well it was wet and cold outside, we were only ashore for a short time and couldn't be bothered to change.

Torrential rain leaving Craignure on the last day of the trip. 

Cal Mac ferry heading for Oban. 

Duart Castle, Mull.

Cuil Bay, Duror. Last landing, day 49. 

Liz and her Arabs at Cuil Bay. 

Ireland - Scotland Sixth Week - Malin Head to Oban.

Our lunch spot after Malin Head, a perfect day with a perfect view and a lovely level patch of grass, we were very tempted to stop and stay the night.

We were closing in on the border with N.I. and were gently quizzed by the Garda as to where we had come from and where we were going.

Sharon and Lynn are relatives of a friend of ours in Tasmania, and we met up with them in Portrush. They very kindly treated us to lunch. Thanks! We still had perfect weather and perfect tides for our planned crossing of North Channel to the Mull of Kintyre so were sad we couldn't take them up on their invitation to tour the Bushmills distillery and other local attractions.

Yet another fantastic tiny little sheltered harbour at Dunseverick. 

Great camping, absolutely nobody taking any notice of the sign.

Approaching the distinctive shape of Fair Head with the Mull of Kintyre visible to the left.

In the eddy formed by the tide race off Torr Head looking back towards Fair Head.

Tiny little harbour and slipway on the eastern side of Torr Head. Our departure point for crossing North Channel.

On the water at 4.30am. We couldn't have asked for more perfect conditions for the crossing, no wind, flat calm sea and smack in the middle of the neap tides. The early start was necessary so as to be off the Mull at slack water to then catch the north flowing tide to our landing at Machrihanish. 

A few kms off the Mull of Kintyre at about 7am, unbelievably calm.

First landing in Scotland (wee break!) and the gravestone of an unknown sailer from 1917.

Ashore and camp set up at Machrihanish just in time for the pub to open. 

The Haggis Nachos were delicious so too was the beer. 

Up at 3am, 36km paddled, delicious food and beer for lunch - time for a nap.

Alan and Roger appear out of the mist at Craighouse, Isle of Jura. 

Alan and Roger had had a long day, virtually all of it navigating in very poor visibility. 

Andy meeting up with us the next morning with our Special Delivery

Tough paddling conditions.

We saw quite a few otters along the west coast of Jura, including two that seemed to be having a vicious fight. Eventually the loser was driven off, escaping inland. 

Lunch spot on the west coast of Jura.

Alan with the Paps of Jura in the background.

Campsite at Shian Bay.

Otters are very timid creatures, we were very lucky to get this close. 

Leaving Oban at 9.30pm having restocked with food for our trip around the Isle of Mull.