Helensburgh to Skye: Glencoe and the Ferry

Sunday

The planned run is north, past the Faslane submarine base, Glencoe and on towards Skye.

Day 2 - AM - Towards the Green Welly
Cars: Joined by Callum in the Sylva and the Porsche

Easing us into the highland roads, the path north along the A82 winds and bucks like a roller coaster, mostly two way roads and perfect to blow away cobwebs/wake us up and shift like only a 7 can...

Route on Google Maps

The hotel carpark becomes our makeshift pits & assembly point; long shadows betray the 8am hour.

Most of us checking oil/coolant etc.

Before all the wraps are off Dan is already at work, Camshaft in hand!

Timing issues and oil leak issues meant it needed removing and re-installing; problem was lack of tools to re-set the timing. Ultimately through team effort and help from Andy/Keith amongst others the appropriate torx bit was secured (Sunday morning) and Dan was running again...

All ready to run at about 11:00; Dan encounters more teething problems with the 'fixed' engine but eventually all heading north:

Blue skies here to stay & mirror like water you only see in Scotland (ok, I've only seen in Scotland), this is from Inveraray

We meet up again at the Green Welly for lunch: sandwiches & ice cream.

Day 2 - PM - Glencoe and on to Skye
Cars: Joined by the Ferrari who promptly vanishes with the Porsche (somewhere)

A82 - sweeping fast road through the spectacular Glencoe, this year the mountain tops all have snow but the air is clear and fresh;

Route on Google Maps

I think this is Glencoe... could be wrong...
Its possible the parascender, look carefully for the red smudge centre frame, a couple of hundred metres up is the only person with a better view than us about 6" off the ground..

Kinlochleven village at the end of the loch is another chance to pause; 

hmm, Terry's bonnet open a sign of problems to come...

The stops are a chance to wander away from the cars for a few minutes relax and take in the scenery:

The road on the North side of Loch Leven, I started with the fast group, then change my mind, hang back - decide to take it easy and grab some photos. Cooler on this side in the lee of the mountains:

Fort William is the next meeting point to re-group and wind down with some selfie silliness, then fuel stop and provisions stop:

 

Tyre stop

Then to the Glenelg Ferry; fast run past Ben Nevis up the A82 and A87 then a winding road to Glenelg. Split into two groups again by this point - but arrived on Andy and some others part way to the Ferry. He had ripped a 2" gash in his offside rear tyre!

Tyre weld wasn't going to fix it - but my car, the only one with a spare, was not far behind and since both our running gear was Ford Sierra based a quick swap and he was up and running.

The Glenelg Ferry 

The ferry takes 7-8 cars at a time and usually stops around 18:00; luckily the first group being already part way across sent it back for us. To our shame we didn't do the same for Simon & Andrew behind us, we assumed they already took the Skye bridge route after waiting 10-20 minutes. Sorry Simon & Andrew.

The ferry was new to me - a turntable on deck means its us, with the cars, that spins around rather than the barge - care taken when loading to balance everything while the turntable is at right angles.

Andy's new toy - selfie stick - helps to capture the mood: John, Derek, Callum, Andy, David & Me:

Dunollie Hotel in Broadford Skye:
Fantastic location & good bar, the rooms are pot luck and range from loch views to little more than the size of a bed - but hot showers and simple, good, food here!

This evenings puzzle: how to fit the cars in the corner of the small carpark..

Evening meal - 

  Left front to back   : Simon, Dan, David, John & Stuart

  Right back to front : Mark, Andy, Terry, Me(Hidden), Keith, Andrew & Callum 

  (Paul taking the picture)

There was even talk of northern lights, I think we managed about 5 minutes looking for them before retiring to some well earned sleep:

A long day; some great roads, all looking pink now from the sun,  tomorrow will be the most demanding leg - Sky & Applecross passes!

(Maps are not entirely acurate due to blogger/google maps embedding, some pictures courtesy other members of the trip)

Heading North: M1 J29A to Helensburgh

Saturday

Day 1 - AM - Meeting up and Lambretta Motorcycles

Cars: Me, Andrew, Dan, David, Keith, Paul, Simon, Terry

First day of the run proper, we meet at M1 J29A, Ferrybridge and Boroughbridge services.

First glitches of the trip worked around - David's starter button decided to ignore requests to start the engine (I push started him at the hotel) & Dan had issues generally with engine setup & brakes which he would he would wrangle with the whole trip but ultimately overcome:

Heading up through the Yorkshire Dales and Lake District for an impromptu lunch at a fuel stop just outside Keswick. A local RhoCar club member drove across from Scotch Corner to meet us & accompany part of the way on.

Great country driving, but competing with what must have been a national outing of Lambretta mopeds through the Dales - they seemed to be everywhere belching 2 stroke oil and some surprisingly nippy! Frustratingly they also tended to ride in groups and long lines making overtaking challenging.

Route on Google Maps

As we ran through villages the party split into two groups; I saw the four cars ahead get stuck in local traffic and my satnav was showing an alternate - so I followed it with David, Simon and Andrew, continuing the run until a likely spot just after Hawes:

Tried to get in touch but typically no signal on mobile phones - so after some garbled texts and attempts at conversation; headed onwards to attempt a re-join at Kendal.

Arriving at Kendal we started to wonder where to meet. Kendal has a one way system around/through the town with no obvious meeting point, then coincidence struck as our group of four cars pulled almost directly behind the others in the high street - a sign of the luck to follow as issues tended to resolve themselves on the whole trip.

Day 1 - PM - The run into Helensburgh

After lunch heading north again; the party split up as some of the group ran into technical issues, their focus changed away from scenic to direct routes to get to the destination at a reasonable hour.

A few texts to check if I should wait or continue resolved I should continue, so kept moving on the original planned route taking me through Dumfries and Kilmarnock. Navigation errors, read driver failure to take notice of the satnav, taking me through the centre of Glasgow meant I also ended up behind Simon.

At the outskirts of Helensburgh Andy and Jon were waiting & after we worked out the remainder of the group took the main road in we four arrived last at the hotel.

Route on Google Maps

Travelodge is basic, but clean and good showers; right on the front so excellent views across to Gare Loch and across the Clyde. Time for a pint & food in the pub next door with talk about the journey to come:

Can't complain about the view from my window:

Numbers would be complete in the morning with Callum & a couple of Andy's friends arriving for the drive.

(Maps are not entirely acurate due to blogger/google maps embedding, some pictures courtesy other members of the trip)

Here we go - goodbye Kent!

Friday

Packed, Fuelled, oil & coolant checked - its time to make a move.

Starting around lunchtime to try and avoid commuter traffic I'm heading north - a couple of hundred miles will put me within minutes of the start and meeting with the others in the morning.

Motorway driving - but a good final shakedown of the car

Route on Google Maps

Found the hotel, and by the time I checked in David pulled up in the carpark too.

We are off & all set for the morning!

Radio Headphone circuit

Still faffing with the radio; which isn't audible through the speakers over about 40-50mph.

The head-unit has separate amplifiers on +ve and -ve speaker lines & with headphones taking a common ground it needs a little workaround. Connecting left and right -ve or +ve lines will upset the head-unit amps.

The solution, cribbed from googling and reading through various forums is a current limiting and AC passthrough circuit wired into the +ve side of the speaker feeds and the common ground from the headphones back through the chassis ground:

I'm also incorporating a simple double pole single throw switch which isolates the speakers when not in use. I can't use the normal automatic switching 3.5mm jack socket due to the requirements of the circuit.

Decided on a small aluminium bezel for the components:

...and in situ:

Works well enough while stationary; test will be whether its any better when moving and through speakers added inside my helmet.

Update - doesn't like iPhone headphones - the vocals almost always drop out, better response on the helmet speakers though. I suspect the circuit needs some audio quality capacitors and/or some adjustment in capacitor value. If the radio is outputting certain freqs. on the -ve vs +ve speaker lines then its a whole other problem.

It's probably the issue of having to use chassis ground in the first place - at a probable completely different potential to the audio outputs.

Update - in the process of replacing this circuit with a specific amp.

Update - re-created the bezel in formica so its non conductive and can use a metal case socket.

Scotland 2015 - Preparation

Preparation and now the countdown to the Scottish Highlands run:

Hotels are booked, time off work booked, route being finalised by other club members and I'm in the process of designing the group sticker/badge.

This year's badge style is along the lines of a band tour shirt:

and on the car...

and on the satnav splash screen...

The sticker only tells half the story, I'm starting in Maidstone so have another 942 ish miles on top to get to/from the start line. The group will build as we head north, meeting up at services local to each driver & we take a scenic diversion through the Lake District on the way.

Touch wood the car is running fine, should be just a fluids and pressures test then heading north.