Page 109 - Demo

105so, people we met assumed it was not hired but was ours. Our first night was anchored off Castle Urquhart where we broke down. In the morning, we could not start the engine and so eventually I had to row ashore in the dinghy, find a phone box, and get the cruiser company to come and fix it. After that it was OK but Gabby was in the %u201clots of peeing%u201d stage of pregnancy and so the tiny toilet compartment was a bit of a problem. We went up the loch ladder at Fort Augustus where we moored for the night and met up with an American who had a two masted schooner and was waiting for a spare part as something had gone wrong. He had done 20 years in the USAF and had retired. His last tour had been in Turkey and he had saved a lot of money. He had decided to spend the rest of his life sailing about and found the best place to have his boat built was on the Isle of Mann. He could sail this boat single handed although he had a young wife with him. It also carried enough diesel to motor across the Atlantic if he wished. Lucky chap. We carried on up the Glen for a couple of days before going back. I think that I had a quick swim in one of the Lochs at one point although the water was very dark, and it was a bit frightening as you wondered what might be in the water with you. That trip down the Glenwas nearly the end of our time in Scotland as I had been posted, although I still had a few weeks to go. Actually, I had flown down the Great Glen with Paddy McKay in a Shackleton at one point a couple of years earlier. Probably illegally as there were strict rules on low flying over the UK. It was fine to begin with but then we ran into a shower. We flew through it but could not see anything whilst we did so and then saw another shower ahead. Paddy decided to about turn which was a bit tight for a Shackleton, but we made it and just flew home.I was posted to 42 Sqn at St Mawgan. They were short of experienced Nimrod pilots, and I was to be first pilot to a navigator captain. However, more or less as soon as I got there, I would be going to South Africa for three weeks and so was told I needed a number 6 uniform. This was