spring galloway gathering

[Adrian Condon]

Hi Mike,

Sorry to hear that you are sharing the static van with an otter!!

You could at least offer the poor otter a whiskey........

Anyway, I am glad you arrived safely and are settling in.

Also good to hear that the site has recovered from the weather last November.

Please pass my best wishes on to Lesley and Ralph.

Cheers

Adrian

[stev74]

Hello All just a quick update for all who are attending,the site is in good condition thanks to all the work Lesley and Ralph have done over the winter months,presently cool and dry,sky looks promising for tonight,plenty of geese still around and Lesley has a photo of a baby otter which hopefully has with its family taken up residence.

Regards

Mike

Thanks for the update Mike, I hope you and the other early arrivals get some clear skies tonight mate.

I should be there early afternoon tomorrow with my son, we've got everything packed and ready to put in the car in the morning, although looking at it all I think we might need a bigger car!!

[Adrian Condon]

Hi Guys,

Seems the news from Dunroamin has dried up..... is the weather so good that you can not spare

some viewing time to keep us posted.

The weather here is miserable at the moment.

Trust you get a "November Saturday night" for the nights you are there!

Spare some of the whiskey for Cumbria.

Best Wishes

Adrian

[furrysocks]

Should be there in a few hours - one forecast site I looked at suggests clear skies tonight. Who knows...

[Adrian Condon]

Hi Mike,

Hope the weather at Kirkinner improves for tomorrow night.

Apparently, there is a massive sun storm heading towards earth, should be arriving

on Saturday evening.

Kenny did a post on Astro Lounge about his two great evenings last weekend at Drumroamin.

According to Acuweather, you may have gusts of strong wind on Saturday evening.

Hope you don't get blown away!

Cheers

Adrian

[asset189]

55 and last night was my first every star party so here's my impressions.

I'd been across at Stranraer earlier in the day and the weather was foul so when i got home from work i was considering not going but my wife is made of sterner stuff and after a quick phone call to lesley to make sure we could get on we piled a couple of things into our wee camper and set off for Drumroamin .

We arrived about 7pm and were met by lesley and shown around the facilities before parking and hooking up our van to the electiric. A we word on the site and facilities before i go any further, for anyone seeking a peaceful tranquil site with great views this is certainly a place to come. Ive done a bit of camping now and then and the toilet block has to be one of the cleanest and best equiped ive seen. The weather had not improved much and uit was a little gloomy. We met Matt and he showed me the Dobsonian telescope hed build - impressive stuff and way beyond my skill set im afraid. As time rolled on it was obvious that cloud would have a major say in the nights observing and several folks drifed to the we lounge to chat and pass the time. About 11pm someone came in to tell every one the cloud was clearing.

There was a buzz all of a sudden as folk rushed to set up kit , and man was there some serious looking kit about the place. The excitement built, people were busying around in their red head torches working away in the pitch dark in different parts of the site, it was infectious and for a we while as the cloud cleared it was a clear deep sky.

Sadly the cloud was back within 40 minutes and pretty much curtailed the evenings events after that. For that brief time i saw the sky as id never seen it since i was a youngster with so many stars it was hard to comprehend ,alway a little hazy after the days weather but in that short period the potential for the site is apparent.

We could only stay for the one night but will return later in the year better equiped. We travelled home via the galloway Forest trail, spot of breakfast at newgalloway on the way and arrivedc home tired but satisfied.

To everyone who was there last night ,thanks so much for the friendly chat and acceptance of someone who really is only a hobby stargazer, it was a pleasure to meet you all. Matt thanks for the heads up and get yourself a better weather predicter!

cheers davie

[Adrian Condon]

Hi Davie,

I am pleased that you enjoyed the experience despite the weather.

It is really a first class site, Lesley is brilliant, and the skies are extremely dark as you found out!

Fortunately I could not make this one, but I am booked for the November 2013 event.

There is another star party in Cumbria in late May 2013.

This will be a lunar party given the fullness of the Moon over the party days.

I trust you met the other attendees, I find them a very agreeable bunch.

Hope to see you at a star party.

Cheers

Adrian

[SpookyKatt]

Glad you enjoyed your first starcamp Davie, the skies at Galloway really

are superb when it clears and sadly Saturday night was a bit

of a tease as just when most of us had gotten ready to align etc the

clouds arrived. At least Matthew got some views in with his dob

but for the rest of us it was pretty annoying hehe.

Yeah it really is a super campsite and lesley is very attentive

and helpful.

It was good to see everyone and meet a few new faces and despite

the terrible weather on Saturday night it was a good weekend.

Kathleen

[stev74]

Not booked yet, but hoping to make it along for a night. I've got an 8.5" f/7.6 dobs in the making and I'm busting a gut to get it finished in time to bring with me. Got a lot on that weekend, so I'll be keeping a close eye on the forecast in the hope that I can choose the best night to break out.

Clear skies,

Matt.

It was great to meet you Matt, i hope you enjoyed the star camp and can make the next one! Hopefully I'll get a chance to look through your homemade dob next time as you don't see many of them about anymore.

55 and last night was my first every star party so here's my impressions.

I'd been across at Stranraer earlier in the day and the weather was foul so when i got home from work i was considering not going but my wife is made of sterner stuff and after a quick phone call to lesley to make sure we could get on we piled a couple of things into our wee camper and set off for Drumroamin .

We arrived about 7pm and were met by lesley and shown around the facilities before parking and hooking up our van to the electiric. A we word on the site and facilities before i go any further, for anyone seeking a peaceful tranquil site with great views this is certainly a place to come. Ive done a bit of camping now and then and the toilet block has to be one of the cleanest and best equiped ive seen. The weather had not improved much and uit was a little gloomy. We met Matt and he showed me the Dobsonian telescope hed build - impressive stuff and way beyond my skill set im afraid. As time rolled on it was obvious that cloud would have a major say in the nights observing and several folks drifed to the we lounge to chat and pass the time. About 11pm someone came in to tell every one the cloud was clearing.

There was a buzz all of a sudden as folk rushed to set up kit , and man was there some serious looking kit about the place. The excitement built, people were busying around in their red head torches working away in the pitch dark in different parts of the site, it was infectious and for a we while as the cloud cleared it was a clear deep sky.

Sadly the cloud was back within 40 minutes and pretty much curtailed the evenings events after that. For that brief time i saw the sky as id never seen it since i was a youngster with so many stars it was hard to comprehend ,alway a little hazy after the days weather but in that short period the potential for the site is apparent.

We could only stay for the one night but will return later in the year better equiped. We travelled home via the galloway Forest trail, spot of breakfast at newgalloway on the way and arrivedc home tired but satisfied.

To everyone who was there last night ,thanks so much for the friendly chat and acceptance of someone who really is only a hobby stargazer, it was a pleasure to meet you all. Matt thanks for the heads up and get yourself a better weather predicter!

cheers davie

I'm Glad you had a good time Davie it was really nice to meet you and your wife, hopefully you'll get a chance to look through all the scopes at the next star camp in Nov.

I'd also like to thank Lesley and Ralph for maintaining such a great campsite, it really is a joy to visit.

It was great to catch up with all the other folks that were there and as always a big big thanks to Mike and Phil for your hospitality in your caravan and helping me and my son with putting up and taking down the tent. He told me he had an amazing time for his first star camp even though we didn't get the clear skies we were hoping for, he was really pleased to meet all of you and is looking forward to his next star camp!!

Cheers

[Demon Barber]

Hi All,just a word of thanks to all who attended the Galloway gathering,although few in numbers a great atmosphere was enjoyed by all.

It was nice to see some new attendee`s,and to catch up with the old hands,well not so old but you know what i mean!

Lesley and Ralph were as welcoming as always ,it`s a pleasure to visit such a well run site.

The weather was the usual mix of rain wind, clear skies,poor visability and on the final night Sunday despite a cloudy start a couple of hours bino viewing was achieved.

Hope the new starparty guests got a sense of how good the skies can be and look forward to seeing everyone in the back end of the year for he main event.

In the meantime there is the next Cumbria starparty/moonwatch at the end of May in Longtown Cumbria to look forward to .See seperate post in Astro Events for details.

Again a big thankyou to all who came!!!!!!!!!

Regards

Mike

[furrysocks]

I'd also like to thank Lesley and Ralph for maintaining such a great campsite, it really is a joy to visit.

One of the best small sites I've been to! Lovely place, top notch facilities!

See you all again, I hope.

Matt