INTERESTS

These galleries have images of interests and hobbies undertaken at, and from, the mill.

MACHINES

  • Picture taken in Beaufort Road, Inverness.
  • My first plastic boat. driven up form Southampton.
  • My second boat after arrival from the south coast of England. A long and noisy trek with the hired LR. Renamed Mas Dubh, original name was Gemini.
  • Failed to look at the chart properly and just ran up the submerged rock. No damage apart from pride. Allowed a hull inspection whilst waiting for the tide to turn. Missed the tide at Corran so was a day behind schedule on the trip throught he Caledonian Canal.
  • Just about to head to the Isle of Lewis.
  • Gordon knew motorcycle seats were warm!
  • Used this machine for a couple of years. Toured Europe and based in Wimbledon and Rotterdam before reurning to the Highlands. Sold with a dodgy valve. Worth a packet these days.
  • Still have this grunter. Hoping to re-commission for 2025.
  • At rear of Eden Court Theatre, Inverness, for start of inaugural DGR at Inverness.
  • Still have this machine. Used for a trip to Frosinone [Latsio], Italy and back after retirement in 2019. Splendid machine for long distances.
  • Interesting walkaround the policies to view what our mill would have been like when it was a working mill in the early 1800's.
  • Stopped here to start the TGO Challenge in early 2000's.
  • The paddle steamer was moored at Kyle of Lochalsh. We boarded it there for a cruise around the inner sound up to Loch Torridon and back.
  • Another favourite wee van used for travelling to and from work. Also managed to transport the Guzzi V7 Stone in it. It was great also for transporting eBike to start of cycle runs up glens and moors.

This section describes the various machines used for getting to and from the mill. These include bicycles, motorcycles and cars. A local bus route can also be used to access the towns of Cromarty and Dingwall and the city of Inverness. Bus services are used for reaching the Inverness travel hub; and especially for accessing walking trips.

Walked routes and sunsequent journals can be found here.[HOLD]

DIGITAL

  • This gizmo* got me thinking. Pretty soon after I started looking at 3D printing and bought a Prusa i3 printer. Thought it would take half a day to build. More like 3 days! * This machine was installed at link below.
  • based at Cairnorrie, Buchan, Aberdeenshire.
  • First one burst. Armand in the NL sent me his one which still works.
  • This is the device that detects (Hall Effect) the crank position and they suffer from heat and swell up resulting in odd misfires before death.
  • Cliff Jefferis myECU replacement for the original Guzzi Sport ie 1100 ecu. Allows for tuning and much easier fault finding.
  • A kit to allow road tuning of the myECU replacement item for the sportie 1100. It is connected to the ecu card by ethernet cable.
  • My first quadcopter was a dji Phantom. It was great for filming / taking pictures in slightly iffy winds. I sold it after buying a smaller dji item - the Spark which I still use. Small and more readily portablebut less time in service due to batteries size and less able to cope with wind. This picture is of the Crude Oil Storage Tanks at Nigg Oil Terminal - now demolished.
  • Taken on a visit to the area with several chums on our motorcycles.
  • This is in the shed for charging mobile devices on Isle Martin off the west coast of Scotland. I love its simplicity and charm.
  • Looks like I may have been on private land or the autobahn.
  • I think I have about 30 cables of different genders and types.
  • I use this system for navigation on my walks across the moors. This one is from a day in 2022 when I was walking through a wind farm enprth east of Glen Garry.
  • First production of an Umarell for pressentation at a motorcycle rally.
  • Luigi sports the Carlo Guzzi cap and a shirt bearing the Guzzi Parodi logo. He is also colour coordinated in Italian flag colours. Luigi is in the hands of Mr Jake Beatson.
  • Giovanni - the stl file before printing. The finished article was awarded to Wilson Hutchison.
  • The original key switch suffers from poor solder quality and fails. A motogadget rfid switch was installed c/w relay to power the motorcycle. This was the test bed of the top yoke and trial fit of 3d printed housing. The 12 volt system was also tested prior to installation.
  • First attempt at charging the ev away from home. This image shows the Pod Point info.
  • This device allows for backfeeding power from our ev using V2L (vehicle to load). It can be used to power equipment up to 2 kW from the ev batteries. It is plugged in to the car charging socket and is initiated from the car info screen menu.
  • Version 2 of a new instrument housing for the Sport ie 1100 Guzzi. This drawing was made on FreeCad then exported as a .stl file to print on the Craelity 3D printer.
  • This is a prorotype print for checking gauge and fit with accompanying mounting bracket.
  • Given there is no electricty at the bothy this information sheet is rather ironic. Oddly one can pick up 4G from Kilchumein [Ft Augustus].
  • David Ledinghams rendering of the Pictish "Princess Stone" [ Glenferness House] from several dozen photos I took. This led me to explore 3D images using photogrammetry and subsequently, an acquistion of a hand held 3D scanner [CR Scan Ferret].
  • First real capture of an object using the CR Scan Ferret.

Since retirement time has been spent further developing interests in digital media including photography, web authoring, 3D imagery and 3D printing and preparing documentation for organising various club activities.

CRAFT

  • Brought up from Hayling Island, Southampton.
  • Cromarty Boat Clubs Commodores Cruise.
  • A Cromarty Boat Club Burns night.
  • Pontoon mooring anchor and chain deployment about to start.
  • Awaits fill of ready mix.
  • A fine anchorage offshore from Culbin Forest about NH 979635 which has a sandbar to negotiate. Nairn Sailing Club may have bouyed for navigation. Be cautious during northerly swells. A small salmon fisher bothy is just onshore to the north east.
  • A cruise along the north east ports with a stop over at Lossiemouth.
  • RFYC host the start of the Moray Firth Cruiser Race with the finish at the Cromarty Boat Club tower.
  • Mas Dubh was transported up to the area from its previous berth near Emsworth, Southampton.
  • Loch Sheildaig Moorings to the south west of Gairloch where a mooring is kept foor Mas Dubh.
  • On a trip to bring Mas Dubh back from the west a call was made to overnight at Eigg on the way to the sound of Mull and Corran Narrows to the sea locks at Banavie.
  • An overnight mooring on the way to Loch Nevis and Inverie. Entered the inner Loch Nevis to anchor off the Eilean Maol for a climb to the summit of Sgurr na Ciche (1040 mtrs), one of the remotest Munros.
  • Inverie Bay. Guest moorings may be arranged with the pub.
  • Inverie village and the most remote public house in the UK; The Forge.
  • Looking north to Rona through the opening from Poll Domhain.
  • View back to Acairseid Mhòr from the track above the house at the jetty.

A bilge keeled 26' Bermudan rigged Hunter Horizon yacht sits in the policies and it is to be hoped that it will be recommissioned; sooner rather than later. This craft has allowed the author to visit the west coast of Scotland from a seasonal mooring located at Loch Sheildaig, Gairloch.

ASSOCIATIONS

  • North of Scotland Archaeological Society.
  • Moto Guzzi Club GB.
  • The Great Outdoors Challenge.
  • Highlands of Scotland Tour Guiding Association.
  • Highland Classic Motorcycle Club.
  • moto guzzi - highland.

The various aspects of the main interests above has led to memberships of several clubs and societies.