01-08-2023, 11:19 AM
Day 2
We slept well in the Hostel, it was quiet and well equipped. We exchanged stories with a French family and said our goodbye to Daniel, the author.
We headed south, hugging the coast. At Sheildaig we pulled off the main road detouring into the village itself and charming, but small, campsite caught our eye and was stored for future visits. The local store was open and we purchased food for a picnic lunch – this proved to be a good decision.
The road narrows from here and you end up sandwiched between steep mountains on either side, glimpses of peaks sneaked from the clouds and soon we found ourselves at the base of the road that travels up and over Bealach na Ba (Pass of the Cattle) to Applecross. We have been over this several times in the Austins but never with a trailer on. On a clear day the view is spectacular and the hairpins can be seen clearly, winding up and over the summit. Today was not clear and the dark black clouds hung ominously low in the gullies – an omen of things to come..?
We climbed the first part with me leading in the Chummy and then pulled in to discuss how best to approach the climb. Tanya and Willow would head up in front and we would follow in the Chummy, our decision being made so that if Tanya got into trouble, I would find her and be able to help, if I faltered she would be able to turn the Ulster and come back to me. Plan sorted and off she went, into the cloud. We started our climb a few minutes later – the road was largely clear and I only had to pull in once to allow a car to come down past me on the single track. At the start of the very steep climb and hairpins a car pulled into the passing space, stopped, saw me coming up and then continued down towards me. With a sheer drop to my left and a gully to my right, I was unable to do anything but stop. The car continued towards me up until the point that they understood that I was not reversing back down. After much excitement on their part they eventually returned to the point that they should have stayed and, after some clutch warming, I continued the climb up the final hairpins. I noted that on both final sweeps the rear wheel lifted from the ground, momentarily preventing progress!
We were now in thick cloud and some 300 yds from the very summit I came across Tanya, parked at a jaunty angle. The space was just big enough for us to pull in, in front. The car had lost power and ground to a halt. At this point the girls’ experience and maturity kicked in. They knew the cars were not safely parked and that visibility was down to a few yards, it was raining and we had a problem. Without many words all three of them helped move the stricken Ulster up the incline and over to the side, then the same with the Chummy, which they moved into so that Tanya and I could diagnose the issue.
The car would start and run, but only on three cylinders, there simply was not enough power to pull up the final stretch of track. I changed the plugs, no difference. I had spark at all plugs but straight onto three when back in the head. I could feel 4 compressions on the handle but number 2 was the cooler plug. I decided to remove the head, half expecting to see a failed gasket, it was perfect. All valves were doing what they should and I just could not find the issue. The car was running an electronic distributor and although these do fail, they normally fail completely, despite spark at all four plugs I changed to the spare baseplate, same issue. Spare coil provided no improvement and eventually, with little else to try, I fitted the spare Lucas distributor with points – this solved the issue, and the car ran on 4 once more (the electronic baseplates turned out to be fine, the problem manifested elsewhere and I will come back to this later). The relief was palpable, throughout, I was trying to work out just how the five of us would continue on and then return to rescue the Ulster, a lot of crazy ideas passed through my head and I was now very happy that none of them would be tested!
The diagnosis and attempts had taken nearly 2 hours. Tanya and I had stood in the rain for most of this, the girls had sat in the Chummy wrapped in blankets without a single word of complaint throughout, we are very proud of our girls, they knew the situation was serious.
We re-packed the Ulster with the spares and luggage, Tanya led and soon we were heading down the other side of the pass. At the Campsite we regaled our story and were given a tent spot near to the hot showers, which we all used after the tent was erected and set.
209B8A1E-B5CE-4459-83DA-013D2557A621.jpeg (Size: 778.41 KB / Downloads: 1,003)
We slept well in the Hostel, it was quiet and well equipped. We exchanged stories with a French family and said our goodbye to Daniel, the author.
We headed south, hugging the coast. At Sheildaig we pulled off the main road detouring into the village itself and charming, but small, campsite caught our eye and was stored for future visits. The local store was open and we purchased food for a picnic lunch – this proved to be a good decision.
The road narrows from here and you end up sandwiched between steep mountains on either side, glimpses of peaks sneaked from the clouds and soon we found ourselves at the base of the road that travels up and over Bealach na Ba (Pass of the Cattle) to Applecross. We have been over this several times in the Austins but never with a trailer on. On a clear day the view is spectacular and the hairpins can be seen clearly, winding up and over the summit. Today was not clear and the dark black clouds hung ominously low in the gullies – an omen of things to come..?
We climbed the first part with me leading in the Chummy and then pulled in to discuss how best to approach the climb. Tanya and Willow would head up in front and we would follow in the Chummy, our decision being made so that if Tanya got into trouble, I would find her and be able to help, if I faltered she would be able to turn the Ulster and come back to me. Plan sorted and off she went, into the cloud. We started our climb a few minutes later – the road was largely clear and I only had to pull in once to allow a car to come down past me on the single track. At the start of the very steep climb and hairpins a car pulled into the passing space, stopped, saw me coming up and then continued down towards me. With a sheer drop to my left and a gully to my right, I was unable to do anything but stop. The car continued towards me up until the point that they understood that I was not reversing back down. After much excitement on their part they eventually returned to the point that they should have stayed and, after some clutch warming, I continued the climb up the final hairpins. I noted that on both final sweeps the rear wheel lifted from the ground, momentarily preventing progress!
We were now in thick cloud and some 300 yds from the very summit I came across Tanya, parked at a jaunty angle. The space was just big enough for us to pull in, in front. The car had lost power and ground to a halt. At this point the girls’ experience and maturity kicked in. They knew the cars were not safely parked and that visibility was down to a few yards, it was raining and we had a problem. Without many words all three of them helped move the stricken Ulster up the incline and over to the side, then the same with the Chummy, which they moved into so that Tanya and I could diagnose the issue.
The car would start and run, but only on three cylinders, there simply was not enough power to pull up the final stretch of track. I changed the plugs, no difference. I had spark at all plugs but straight onto three when back in the head. I could feel 4 compressions on the handle but number 2 was the cooler plug. I decided to remove the head, half expecting to see a failed gasket, it was perfect. All valves were doing what they should and I just could not find the issue. The car was running an electronic distributor and although these do fail, they normally fail completely, despite spark at all four plugs I changed to the spare baseplate, same issue. Spare coil provided no improvement and eventually, with little else to try, I fitted the spare Lucas distributor with points – this solved the issue, and the car ran on 4 once more (the electronic baseplates turned out to be fine, the problem manifested elsewhere and I will come back to this later). The relief was palpable, throughout, I was trying to work out just how the five of us would continue on and then return to rescue the Ulster, a lot of crazy ideas passed through my head and I was now very happy that none of them would be tested!
The diagnosis and attempts had taken nearly 2 hours. Tanya and I had stood in the rain for most of this, the girls had sat in the Chummy wrapped in blankets without a single word of complaint throughout, we are very proud of our girls, they knew the situation was serious.
We re-packed the Ulster with the spares and luggage, Tanya led and soon we were heading down the other side of the pass. At the Campsite we regaled our story and were given a tent spot near to the hot showers, which we all used after the tent was erected and set.
209B8A1E-B5CE-4459-83DA-013D2557A621.jpeg (Size: 778.41 KB / Downloads: 1,003)