Campbeltown's seal (perhaps) and off to Tarbert

Poor Patrick expected a little more attention from his grandmother than he received. On the day of her arrival,  Patrick wasn't mentioned once.  On day 2, after prompting,  Patrick got a cuddle.  By day 3 (when she totally blanked him again),  poor Patrick was feeling most upset. He has been most difficult and refuses all attempts to talk him round now.

We have a huge problem on our hands.  Linda,  who might visit soon (or fly to Athens where it is warmer and very cheap in comparison so she says) has a real job on her hands to cheer up our poor little penguin.

Against their wishes,  the toddlers were forced to walk around the bay in Campbeltown as it was "good for them".  Sitting on a seat admiring the views,  the crew was convinced that she saw a seal, just far enough offshore to not see it properly,  in a clump of weed that was drifting about.  Some of us were a little sceptical.  The crew tried to attract some seal attention and make him / her / the inanimate lump of timber move a bit:

Pity that the noises she made didn't get recorded too. Most impressive. Despite all of this enticing activity,  the seal / lump of wood remained passively still (not true, says crew!). Draw your own conclusions. Later on that evening,  a real swimming and diving seal popped up near the moorings and cruised around a little.  The crew said that it was certainly the one she had seen earlier as the head was the same. Draw your own conclusions once more. Early stage dementia or wild optimism or rapid deterioration in her previously better than 20/20 vision? Andrew might be able to check the latter for us:

We pottered back to Tarbert,  giving the little wing engine a good run on the way too.  We want to burn off most of the diesel in the separate tank that feeds this engine as it is stuff from 2014. Then it can be refilled from the "new"  supply.  Have to say that the Stanadyne performance formula additive stuff stabilises the old fuel very well though -  no nasty black gunge from the asphaltene settling out of the fuel is evident in the filters.

We had the wing engine shaft realigned this spring and it certainly runs more smoothly at higher speeds.  However,  the little 4 cylinder engine always makes more vibration and noise than the big Lugger lump that ticks over all day.  One drawback of the realignment is that the wing engine stuffing box is starting to drip a little more than we'd like.  Tightening it up a bit is a nightmare as the stuffing box is very tight under the engine oil pan.  Looking forward to that job.....

Tarbert was peaceful,  if a bit grey:

Dinner was good, we hit the Starfish restaurant in Tarbert.  Number 1 on Trip advisor in the area and we found out why.  If you like fish (sorry Andrew and Linda)  then a good stop off.

A peaceful night was spoilt by the local fishing boats who manage to make lots of noise and wash when leaving between 3 and 4am. Then the ferry who berths opposite and heads off for the start of business added to the commotion:

All very noisy and active for such a  tiny town.

Maintenance news

Disaster struck.  One of the 24v bulbs in an engine room light went pop and had to be replaced.  We might have to sell the boat if maintenance expense at this level continues.