The day began in the somewhat quiet little village of Lochinver on the north west coast of Scotland. Dawn brought sunshine and a southerly breeze. Whilst T and Christine had showers on the boat, Mike walked into the village from the marina to purchase freshmilk supplies at the Spar shop( he had a shower on the boat en route ).

We departed our berth at 8.55am and headed out to sea passing a number of small islands on the way. We watched as two busy little fishing boats buzzed about doing the early rounds of their lobster pots.

The inshore waters forecast was an ‘iffy’ one…. it did not concur with many other often reliable weather stations. Although it had a number 7 in the Met Office forecast, the highest wind speed we observed on our 40 n.mile journey across the Minch was 26 knots… which is a five at best.

What did concern us though was at about 12 noon….. over the VHF radio came Stornoway Coastguard with a gale warning for the shipping forecast area of ‘Hebrides’… which we were in…. although the eastern most part. “Gale 8 later, Hebrides’ crackled the voice. There are lots of ways of interpreting this… ‘later’ is code for ‘more than 12 hours from the time of issue’…. so was the gale coming later that evening? Have to then find out when the gale warning was first issued…. on examination it was issued the previous evening…. so why was it not mentioned in the inshore waters forecast at 6am the next morning… ie Friday?

Lots of equations to mull over…. turn back ? continue? outrun the threat, full speed? You can check by simply calling up Stornoway Coast Guard on VHF Channel 16…. but in some ways it was so strange… we just cranked up our speed.

For most of the 40 n’miles we were on the same tack…. we observed windspeeds of up to 15 knots for the first 20 or so n.miles…. then as we closed on the Isle of Lewis… the wind increased to 20 knots so we reefed the jib sail. As stated we saw 26 knots on entry into Stornoway harbour…. and as I type at 9pm Friday…. it is a howling gale outside. Screaming banshees. So arriving here in the Hebrides at 2.30pm …. five hours from Lochinver…. was excellent. We will sit out the Hebridean gale safely in Stornoway harbour.

Besides the gale, we saw wildlife enroute… a pod of dolphins first spotted by Christine… and what appeared to be a seal but could have been something much bigger way out in the middle of the Minch…. and many varieties of seabirds for the whole route across.

Poli Poli in Stornoway marina… two big high powered lifeboats next door… tells you something about the nature of the Hebrides re bad weather and number of “shouts”. RNLB folk do a magnificent job.

Stornoway is very different from Lochinver and many of the small ports we had visited on the Scottish mainland. Busy, bustling, mixture of tradiional and new, pleasant and just a nice place to visit…. lots and lots of people…. and everything appears to be ‘thriving’.

Distance sailed from Lochinver to Stornoway: 40 n.miles.

Duration: 5 hours 15 minutes.

Distance travelled from Eastbourne: 1,754.7 n.miles.

ps…Am not shouting this too loud..but we have not seen or heard ( at night ) any rain since we departed Kyle of Lochalsh ( the double rainbow over the Skye Bridge ) on Wednesday morning …the 29th of August. So three whole days without rain…yippeee from the crows nest …except Poli Poli has not got a crows nest! Spoke too soon…9.10pm Christine yells out …”rain” …damn and blast!

Tuesday night was another dreadful sleeping night in the aft cabin…. torrential rain and howling winds all through the night. Wednesday morning began with a huge double rainbow stretching from the Isle of Skye over to the Scottish mainland. Torrential downpours became sunshine and showers.

Double rainbow in the morning at Kyle of Lochalsh…one of our last views…note black skies.

Forecast were still bad but we had decided to leave Kyle of Lochalsh at 9am. This we did and within ten minutes or so we were passing under the Skye Bridge ( air draft 29m ) so we had a few to spare. Still a teeny bit anxious as you head for the highest point in the arch… and you look up expecting the Windex and VHF aerial to be torn off. Nothing happened… and we motored out into the Inner Sound. To start with the wind   had gone round to the north and was therefore ‘on the nose’…..

Passing under the Skye Bridge…aiming for the middle highest part of the arch.

We headed north west between the Crowlin Islands and the Scottish mainland first. We had noted an AIS black triangle target boat behind one of the northern most little islands… T went downstairs to fill in the log, and returning to the cockpit… found Mike and Christine trying to deal with what looked like a tug boat pursuing us. It appeared from behind one of the Crowlin Islands and sounding its hooter with long and short blasts…. obviously trying to attract our attention. We slowed down and managed to establish VHF radio contact on Channel 16 at first and then Channel 8.

Photo below of the chart showing the “torpedo testing area”!!

They informed us that we were crossing a live firing range and that we should leave by going to the east side of the Inner Sound. All very puzzling…. as we had not seen any warnings on any of the charts we had used to prepare todays journey. The only observation we had made was that the southern part of the Inner Sound was designated as a ‘Submarine Practice Area’… a not uncommon title found on many Scottish lochs. We later discovered that this was a ‘live torpedo firing range’ … and that red flags should have been flown on an MOD building that we later passed. We did not see any red flags. Hey ho…. chased by a tug. That’s a new one.

The rest of the journey northwards to Loch Gairloch was uneventful….. apart from flying our jib sail and the very regular, heavy showers en route. However, we had phoned the harbour master at Gairloch to enquire if there would be any vacant pontoon berths when we arrived about 2pm.

Photo below…the peaceful Moorings at Loch Shieldaig in Gairloch.

We entered Gairloch Harbour at about 1.30pm …. now very windy…. to find that the single pontoon was absolutely full… with many boats rafting up… and no mobile phone signal to speak to the harbour master. There were no other marinas within a reasonable distance. So Plan B….. Poli Poli was running out of depth in Gairloch Harbour… and the wind having now gone round to the west, blowing the boat inwards to the harbour wall, we managed to turn our 15 tons of machine round and high tail it out of there. We were miffed!

There were two Plan B choices…. and they usually are firstly, nearest mooring buoy or secondly, safe anchorage. We chose to head to Loch Shieldaig, only 20 minutes away… the nearest quiet, sheltered bay with a number or suitable mooring buoys. We tied up safely to a big dark red one at about 2pm…. still miffed re no space in Gairloch. However, that feeling subsided as Shieldaig Bay turned out to be wind free, sheltered and very very peaceful.

Our  mooring buoy technique…note our safety line and two horizontal fenders to stoop buoy strop chaffing on the gel coat.

There must have been a dozen other boats on mooring buoys .. but not a single human being. So we cooked our pasta bake and steamed our green vegetables on board…. then a late afternoon snooze and rest in the aft cabin… that was sheer paradise… no slapping and no slamming. Only downside…. a mere minor one… no mobile signal and no wifi… oh dear.

Distance from Kyle on Lochalsh to Loch Shieldaig : 34.0 n.miles.

Total distance from Eastbourne: 1,674.7 n.miles.

A big thank you to my lovely niece Victoria who wrote a very detailed e-mail to us…. detailing all the things to do and see in Loch Gairloch.. where to eat etc etc and the views etc etc. Victoria and her family recently owned a holiday cottage in the area and it was evident that she and her family had enjoyed many happy holidays in Loch Gairloch over the years. Having re-established our north bound momentum, we certainly didn’t do Loch Gairloch justice in the short time we were there.

Day 96, Loch Shieldaig to Lochinver  ( missing out Ullapool ).

We set off in bright sunshine and very little wind at 9am……. planning to go to Ullapool. However, after a phone conversation with the Ullapool Harbourmaster we changed our minds and headed for Lochinver instead. The latter is further north but a similar distance.

It turned out that in Ullapool overnight stays were not possible on the pontoons… only mooring bouys and anchoring. Never really heard that one before… and none of the almanac entries re Ullapool or marina adverts actually stated sleeping on a boat on a pontoon was forbidden. They had pontoons but you were only allowed to stop briefly to pick up supplies. Most odd. Must reduce their visiting yachts and motor boat trade considerably.

Christine helming Poli Poli out of Gairloch today Thursday.

So we travelled further north… across the 58th parallel of latitude to a place called Lochinvar. Here we received a warm welcome…. the harbour master Mark,  came down from his office to show us our berth… and take our lines to assist us in mooring up…. and put us on a side on 60 metre pontoon with water and shore power to hand.  Nothing was said about not staying the night!!! We also received a warm welcome in the office from Linda, who sorted our registration and a shore power key, and helped us to organise re-fuelling at the fish dock wharf. Very pleasant, friendly and professional.

Photo of  the CalMac …Ullapool to Stornaway in the Hebrides…ferry…passing us east to west as we headed north.

The local wildlife proved to be friendly too…. a huge grey faced growling and puffing seal ( we called him Sammy ) popped up not ten metres away and sniffed and snorted at us. Then he or she actually moved towards us…. growled and dived under…. so close we could see his or her huge size and markings…. looked like a leopard seal. Will have to look that one up…. leopard seals in Scotland. Sammy appeared again a little later on when we had left our berth to go and get diesel from the fisherman’s wharf.

Sammy below…two poses.

We are now only two stops from going round the top…. Cape Wrath.

Distance sailed today from Loch Shieldaig to Lochinvar….. 40 n.miles.

Duration: 5 hours.

Distance from Eastbourne: 1,714.7 n.miles.

 

 

 

 

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.

Sunday was a truly awful weather day…. strong winds and bucketfuls of torrential rain all day…. as five weather fronts crossed over North West Scotland…. and then later, much of the rest of the UK. Bank Holiday Sunday ( no bank holiday in Scotland ) was truly a washout. Bad weather warnings by the dozen…. so Poli Poli remained on her berth in Mallaig Harbour.

Mike and Christine took the opportunity of visiting Fort William in the rain ( T did not go as he had visited said town four times in the rain previously whilst on the Caledonian Canal ).

Mike and Christine set off from the boat about 1.45pm and by some stroke of luck, two seats ( single one way ) were amazingly available on the famous steam train the Jacobite… crossing the well known ( to railway enthusiasts like Len and Clem )…. Glenfinnan Viaduct. The Jacobite steam train was used in the Harry Potter films… so Mike and Christine had a real treat on a wet Sunday afternoon…. sitting in wizard seats!

On arrival in Fort William they then had seven hours to ‘kill’ before their return train ( ordinary blue Scotsrail  at 10.20pm). Now 7 hours in a very wet Fort William is a long, long time. The latter part was spent at the Moorings Hotel at Banavie, by the side of the famous Neptune’s Staircase of eight locks… returning to Mallaig at 11.30pm.

What a different day today, Monday was. We woke to ….. no rain and no wind. Calm and peaceful …. and were even blessed with some blue sky and sunshine. However, we were unable to depart until gone 12 noon as our route…. north up the Sound of Sleat… took us through a tidal gate ( narrows ) called Kyle Rhea. This could only be negotiated with a northbound tide behind us… which did not start flowing until at least 2pm.

So we departed Mallaig at 12.30pm…. well we thought we had! It is protocol to call up the harbour master or port authority to get clearance to leave any port. This we did …. first we were told it was ok to go…. then the three red lights at the exit came on… so we were told not to depart as a huge CalMac ferry was arriving. Thus we had to hold station ( easy as it was extremely calm )…. for about 20 minutes… in which time we drank our take away coffees that Christine had kindly purchased from the Bakehouse…. next door to the laundrette where she had been completing her washing.

The rather large CalMac ferry entering Mallaig …we had to wait and drink coffee!

Coffee whilst we hold Station for the CalMac!

What a difference 12 hours makes… the Sound of Sleat was calm…. a slight sea…. tiny wavelets, no rain, no white horses and …. of course…. no wind. So we motored the 15 or so n.miles to the tidal gate narrows known as Kyle Rhea. However… every mile we made north… the sun slowly disappeared and the greyness plus some drizzle re-appeared. Mike helmed us through the narrows which in the end, proved not very difficult…. having read in the pilot book for the area… about whirlpools, eddies, and severe overfalls. Our timing was just right as we passed through Kyle Rhea at 2.15pm ….so a slackish turn of the tide situation.

Approaching the “narrows” known as Kyle Rhea…note the greyness!!

We then crossed over Loch Alsh from the south to the north side, and soon made the very small marina pontoons at the little town of Kyle of Lochalsh. Poli Poli was safely moored up next to a huge 28 metre yacht owned by the Gordonstoun public school ( Elgin near Inverness )….. the school the Duke of Edinburgh and Prince Charles attended.

Poli Poli in the very small marina at Kyle of Lochalsh…note big white ketch to the left.

Apart from the drizzle at the top end of the Sound of Sleat… we have largely had a dry day. Sad that the depressing greyness, mists and gloom returned before Kyle Rhea. but that’s Scotland for you.

Distance travelled …. 22.6 n.miles.

Distance travelled since leaving Eastbourne….   1,640.7 n.miles.

Note: Poli Poli is now at the furthest point north in the Circumnavigation at Kyle of Lochalsh. In terms of lattitude this is further north than Fort Augustus on the Caledonian Canal… reached on 11th August.

Kyle Lochalsh…Poli Poli centre right.

Not true to say it didn’t rain. It did…before we left Tobermory..we had heavy showers early morning. After that, wall to wall sunshine and blue sky from Tobermory all the way to Mallaig.

We followed a yellow tripper motor boat called “Elsie” out of Tobermory harbour at 9.40am …smiling at the name “Elsie”!

 

Last view of Tobermory about 7am on the morning of our departure.

Mike and Christine on Poli Poli approaching  Ardnamurchan point in the background.

Breezy as we turned NW in the Sound of Mull and headed for  the famous headland known as Ardnamurchan Point… the furthest   westwards point on the mainland  in Great Britain.

Christine and Toby, top end of the Sound of Mull…Andamurchan Point.

Once safely round this wild looking  headland, we turned north east to pass the Scottish islands of Muck, Eigg and beyond the majestic mountains of Rum….and in the very far distance we could work out the highest point on the Island of Skye.

This magnificent landscape was all on our left hand or port side. On starboard we admired the craggy and majestic coastline of hills, mountains and inland lochs of mainland Scotland.

 

Other than watching the CalMac inter island ferries scurrying all over the place, traffic in the Sound of Sleat was light. “Elsie” had turned back to Tobermory somewhere near the island of Muck.

As we approached the port of Mallaig, 33 n.miles from Tobermory…Mike tried to raise the Harbour Master on the VHF radio but to no avail. We had made contact earlier in the day by mobile phone to assess the availability of a berth.

So we slowed down, and gently approached the southern end of the port where we found a small marina with brand new pontoons. Having not spoken to the Marina office we took a nice hammerhead berth, but in conversation with a guy called “Rob” we decided to move to a single berth next door.

Rob was doing a “three year Circumnavigation “ in stages. We tied up safely in a visitors berth at 2.30pm… in bright sunshine …all the way. So no moaning about bad weather today folks!

Mallaig Marina…Poli Poli just off top centre left. Christine took the photo below…after the pub lunch she went for a long walk up the hillside…look carefully and you can see Poli Poli . She is behind the big departing CalMac ferry.

Distance sailed : 33 n. miles.

 

Distance from Eastbourne: 1,618.1 n.miles.

A great feeling to be going north!!

Once again we have to report rain…. through the night and on and off all day Friday. This morning was particularly dreadful… heavy thundery showers rolling in from the north west and really quite chilly. The inshore waters forecast was a ‘no no’ as winds of force 7 strength, near gale force, were predicted by the Met Office. In fact looking at the next few days, the national weather forecasts paint a very dismal picture for North West Scotland. So so grey and gloomy.

We were visited early on by Rob the deputy Harbour Master who came to collect our mooring fees. I had to invite him into the boat as he was standing in torrential rain… poor man was soaked walking up and down the pontoons.

So we did jobs first…. food shopping at the Co-Op, checking lots of things on the boat, having a planning discussion as to the future route from Tobermory so that we make Cape Wrath by very early September. It was agreed we would press on tomorrow subject to a better forecast. Everything is dependent on weather.

Our itinerary will be:

Tobermory to Mallaig. ( 33 n.miles )

Mallaig to Kyle of Lochaish ( 25 n.miles plus major tidal gate )

Kyle of Lochaish to Portree ( Isle of Skye ) 20 n.miles

Portree to Gairloch ( 26 n.miles ).

Gairloch to Ullapool        (35 n.miles ).

Ullapool to Stornoway  (43 n.miles )

Stornoway to Kinlochbervie ( 45 n.miles ).

Then round Cape Wrath to Scrabster and the Orkney Isles.

Tobermory to Kinlochbervie is 227 n.miles in total .

This afternoon…. in between heavy showers… first snack sandwich in the pub, then something very different ….. the Tobermory Whisky Distillery tour from 3pm to 4pm. None of us actually likes whisky but we went for the interest. At one point we were shown a locked store room full of wooden barrels… six million pounds worth of whisky in store… including barrels of 50 year old whisky placed in store in 1972…. and maturing.

Tomorrow, Saturday we will depart at 10am for Mallaig and travel northwards. We exit the marina and make our way out of the north western end of the Sound of Mull. We will then round an important headland known as Ardnamurchan. Before 12 noon we should have rounded the westerly end of this headland…. known as Ardnamurchan Point…. the most westerly point of Great Britain.

From here we navigate the final 20 or so nautical miles north eastwards up the Sound of Sleet to the port of Mallaig. We will be hoping that once we get into the lee of the islands that form a partial Atlantic barrier off the mainland coast ( Muck, Eigg, Rum etc ) we will escape the strong winds from the north to west quadrant.

Wish us well please.

Mike and Christine on the pontoon at Tobermory.

Starboard side of Poli Poli looking towards the waterfront of Tobermory ….yes some blue sky… but see the grey rain clouds blowing in on a north westerly.

 

Mike and Christine arrived on Wednesday afternoon and by 10am Thursday we had left our berth in Dunstaffnage ( Dunbeg ) north west coast of Scotland…. and headed for Tobermory on the island of Mull.

Despite weather warnings and despite heavy overnight rain… we chose to travel the 25 n.miles or so across the Firth of Lorn and into the Sound of Mull. Conditions were not perfect… strong F5 winds, white horses everywhere, wind over tide for the early part of the trip and short, choppy waves.

Photo above …Poli Poli passing Duart Castle on the Isle of Mull about 11.15am. The other yacht in the photo is exiting the Sound of Mull going the other way.

Once we had come under the lee of the huge island of Mull, the sea state moderated and the winds eased. We admired Duart Castle on our port side and then  the tide turned in our favour ( this was planned ) and Poli Poli  made excellent progress up the Sound of Mull all the way to the little port and harbour of Tobermory. We berthed in the very nice community marina at 1.45pm.

Christine on Poli Poli, a CalMac inter island ferry going past …possibly heading for Oban.

This was only a short sail…. some 25 n.miles but psychologically a very important one. After a long stay in Dunstaffnage…. falling further behind our schedule with the onset of long periods of severe weather and storm bound…. to be on the move again, to start building momentum back into our circumnavigation was absolutely essential. We have made a start and achieved good progress against very iffy weather conditions. Mike and Christine have made a great difference…. their sailing knowledge  and expert crewing abilities have contributed immensely to todays success.

Mike and Christine putting the fenders and mooring lines out as we are about to round Calve Island and enter Tobermory Bay.

 

Poli Poli – bottom right in Tobermory Marina facing the waterfront.

Distance sailed today: 25.9 n. miles.

Duration: 3 hours and 35 minutes.

Distance sailed from Eastbourne: 1,585.1 n.miles.

Sunday and Monday were joyous days…. if you had not seen a days sunshine for three weeks ….well Sunday and Monday were a treat and certainly raised the spirits. As we all say…. the sun changes everything.

Tuesday … and the rain returned… as did the wall to wall or horizon to horizon gloom and all manner of shades of grey. Tepid water in the showers has not helped despite daily visits of the Oban plumbers van.

Margaret in the port of Oban …best remembered for the rain…but amazingly  not raining in this photo. In the background the North Pier where we caught the water taxi Pamela J from.

After just over three weeks of living aboard Poli Poli, Margaret returned south on Tuesday aboard the 12.11 pm train to Glasgow Queen Street via Loch Lomond ( over 3 hours ) and then transferred to Glasgow Central. Somewhere between the two stations M found herself in a posh 5 star hotel where she researched the quality of a cream tea…. and then boarded the London train. M got off in Wigan…. and joined her friends in Ash Vegas ( aka Ashton Under Makerfield ) and returns to the south coast tomorrow Thursday by car.

Margaret can be seen in the first window on the right. All aboard for the 12.11 from Oban to Glasgow Queen Street.

The Tesco food shopping in the marina trolley from Oban after accompanying Margaret to the train station. The Oyster in the background.

Wednesday………Todays good news is that Mike and Christine arrived from the south at about 4.15pm this afternoon.They had both a safe and good trip up here via Gatwick Airport and the Glasgow to Oban train. So all talk is now of moving on… making up for lost time…. going north and regaining our earlier momentum. Tomorrow Thursday … we intend to depart Dunstaffnage Marina and head for the Isle of Mull and the port of Tobermory. Only 25 n.miles….a short sail but it will get us started again. On the move again…..

Last view of our berth at Dunstaffnage….we are on the outer breakwater with an Oyster 55, a Discovery 67 and a Discovery 56…. about 10 million quids worth of boats!!!

Tobermory here we come.

 

Bright, dry and sunny but chilly first thing this morning. Warmed up as the morning went on…. lovely to have a dry boat, dry clothes, dry pontoons, dry everything….. for a change. Very different mood and mind set with all this sunshine.

We spent the morning doing jobs. Took a large load of washing to the laundry facility…. M went up to Reception to ask about the progress made to have hot water in the facilities… got fobbed off…. the plumber’s van from Oban standing outside the shower/toilet block. We have had no hot water since our arrival last Tuesday evening…. nearly a week ago. Checked at 7pm…. tepid, luke warm. Not good.

Adjourned to the balcony of the Wide Mouth Frog hotel/pub for morning coffee overlooking the marina. Grandstand view of two boat yard hoists at work…. one bringing a Rustler sailing yacht out of the water by going into the water on the slipway to collect it!

Below…the boat hoist goes down the slipway into the water and collects the Rustler yacht then reversed out and went to the boat yard.

The other hoist was returning a flat bottomed CalMac car ferry ( like a landing craft ) to the water…. which then, with two honda outboard engines on the stern, zoomed off to whatever two small islands it linked together.

Margaret…below the CalyMac ferry returning to the water.

Well it’s entertainment! Coffee was good though.

T made a cheese and tomato omelette for lunch…. taken in the cockpit… watching seven people arriving  for their very expensive ( sixteen hundred pounds per person for a 6 day wild life cruise !!)…. on a converted coaster called Sea Horse II. First time we had been able to sit in the cockpit for three weeks and watch all the comings and goings.

T spent afternoon trying to mend the various rips and worn out parts of the cockpit tent  in the warm sunshine. M did more laundry and packed her case for tomorrows journey south to Wigan.

Three young lads were sea fishing off the end of the breakwater…. one caught a nice size mackerel , all shimmering silver with the tell tale grey black stripes. The first time T passed and witnessed the catch…. playing the old sage… said ‘where there is one mackerel, there are more… they move in shoals.’ On his way back half an hour later….they had caught four! Well well…. occasionally it works!

Second sunset tonight…. two in a row now… lovely day…. but forecast for rain Tuesday pm. We will see.

Somewhere in the sunset photo taken by M …in the black silhouette beyond the masts is Dunstaffnage Castle.

 

 

 

Up at 7am on Saturday morning. Had relocated to the forward cabin to sleep  as the winds overnight had strengthened from the west…. the slapping and slamming on the stern had become quite unbearable. Whilst it was warm and cosy with a new duvet, sleep had been difficult with the deluge of rain and the screaming wind through all the masts and rigging.

It continued to rain on and off all day… the standard grey, gloomy landscape all around… each time you walked to the facilities and back, you got soaked. Only luke warm water in the showers! T spent most of the morning inside… taking the opportunity to do a deep clean with our John Lewis Liverpool boat hoover. M went to the showers, spoke to Dad in Rusthall, Tunbridge Wells on the phone, and did ‘face time’ with sister Pam and niece Amy in Winchester…. both supposed to be ‘decluttering’… more Amy than Pam.

By late afternoon… surprise, surprise…. the winds eased and the heavy showers suddenly stopped. Hurrah…. we went for a walk into Dunbeg, the nearby village… bought a Times newspaper, a loaf of bread and Scotch pancakes. Could not believe it…. no rain.

Margaret …holding on for dear life! Windsock…blowing Force 5…Saturday morning. Notice how M’s top matches the windsock!

Owner of the boat opposite us knocked in the evening…. had a problem with his shore power connection… so we let him borrow our special 32 amp adaptor so he could run his electrics on his boat. It was now very much calmer… the wind had virtually vanished… but by 8pm it started to rain again. Trying to make sense of the different weather forecasts…. we judged that the torrential downpours and strong winds of Friday night into Saturday morning were the so-called ‘remnants’ of tropical storm Ernesto… and had now passed through west to east.

So apart from the rain, a sort of surreal calmness took place by bedtime…. thus all the bedding was moved out of the fore cabin and back to the main cabin at the stern. A blissful nights sleep…. no slapping or slamming.

Sunday morning…clearing skies to the north, Poli Poli is to the right of the Discovery 67 Yacht.

Sunday … well the rain had stopped in the early hours…. so now Sunday morning dawned… no wind and no rain. The water surface had gone from mini wavelets to glass… no screaming banshees…. just calm, peaceful and …. well lovely! Spirits went from zero to sky high.

And it lasted the whole day…amazing! Then by mid morning the sun came out…. made all the difference…. after days of wetness, of damp, of wet clothes, of gritting teeth in the face of a howling wind, of clothing layers to keep warm, of oilies and wet shoes,,,, and when passing fellow sailors on the pontoons… faces covered in rain hoods… a cheerful ‘good morning’ didn’t really mean that.

So working in shirtsleeves on deck… a dry deck…. maintenance jobs were done cheerfully, whilst wet and damp items were hung on coat hangers all round the cockpit… with all sides up to let the seemingly warm air pass through. M returned from a hair wash expedition to the facilities with the only glum, cross face in the marina…. of course….no hot water! Only luke warm so had to do it with the very hot water supply on the boat in the aft bathroom ( heads ).

Various boat movements coincided with the arrival of the sunshine and light breeze…. some left for ports further afield whilst others departed for a day sail and return. T walked to the local village store to acquire a Sunday paper to read reports of how Lincoln City were able to get away with a 1-1 draw at Blundell Park. Luck Mighty Imps indeed.

Photo below…the main entrance to Dunstaffnage Marina and the “Wide Mouth Frog” pub/Hotel…Sunday afternoon.

Thus Sunday was a lovely day…. may there be many more. And as a bonus we were treated to our first sunset for a very long time.

Margaret has decided to leave for warmer climes on Tuesday…. train from Oban to Glasgow then the London train which seems to stop at Wigan. M gets off here and meets up with Hilary and family… who will then travel altogether back to Battle and Hastings on Thursday.

Mike and Christine arrive here at Dunstaffnage on Wednesday from Surrey and we hope to set off for Tobermory  on the Island of Mull on Thursday.

Which leaves one question…. what happened to Vasco? On the afternoon we arrived here at Dunstaffnage on the Tuesday ( 14th August ) I instructed Vasco to leave the boat. He had become a serious liability…. a danger to the boat, himself and Margaret and me. Having had nearly two dozen crew over the past 18 months from CrewSeekers… he is the first that I have had to dismiss. You win some, you lose some…. as the saying goes. The first out of 24. Sad, but to maintain the integrity of the circumnavigation it had to be done.