Monday night was a bad night…. about midnight the wind went round to the south… sending quite sizeable waves into the stern of Poli Poli. How do I know?…. I woke up when the slapping and slamming started…. bang, bang. The wind gusted at between 25 and 35 knots…. screaming through the masts and rigging in this small marina. I have never read the Daily Telegraph at 4am in the morning… I have now! Then came the rain…..torrential. It has rained all day today Tuesday…. relentless, bucketful after bucketful…. what have we done to upset the Gods in Scotland??
So no sailing today Tuesday. We set off at 11am this morning and caught the Inverness coach express to Portree ( to where we would have sailed had the weather been ok ). Rain had ceased just as we left Kyle of Lochalsh…. but began again in earnest as we crossed over from the Scottish mainland to the island of Skye …. on the Skye Bridge.
Pic above…the Skye Bridge from inside the Inverness to Portree coach.
We walked round Portree, viewed the harbour and the now far too common pale and bright painted waterside houses…. got soaked, were not impressed with the tackiness of much of the town …. although most towns in the pouring rain can be quite depressing…. and Portree was no exception…. so had a coffee with all the soaking wet tourists… and after just over an hour in Portree caught the coach back to Kyle. That was the main event of our day.
View up Loch Alsh from the Skye Bridge…grey grey and more grey.
It has rained all day after a brief morning cessation…. and as I write still pouring down. The clouds seem to have got lower…. as the mist and fog has crept down to the loch edge…. all dark grey and full of gloom. It is August for goodness sake… what has happened to the weather in Scotland?We have just the boat heating on …. and Christine is watching the Adrian Chiles programme about drinking…. with Margaret’s hot water bottle!
Pic above…Chart showing proposed route for tomorrow’s sail from Kyle of Lochalsh to Gairloch.
So we don’t get depressed… we plan the next day’s sailing. We leave at 9am for Loch Gairloch and Flowerdale Bay…. way to the north of Portree. Flowerdale Bay is about 32 n.miles from here in Kyle of Lochalsh. Weather permitting of course. I might get to sleep tonight…. lets hope the wind blows from the west…. and therefore no slamming or slapping.
Toby's sailing boat Poli Poli 