Saturday 28 September 2013 – Kip

Start of the big pack up.  Took off wind instrument for investigation and mainsail for repair.

Warm sunny day to dry things off. Fortunately the wind was light so we did not miss a good sailing opportunity

Friday 27 September 2013 – Millport to Kip

No wind at all – very damp and foggy so we did not go ashore. At last a little bit of wind arrived. Motored then slow sail. Pam caught 5 mackerel. No photos.

Thursday 26 September – Ardrossan to Millport

Good sail with 1 reef, shame it was not a bit further.  After lunch we went ashore and took a quick look at Millport, which was not at its best late on a cool midweek afternoon at the end of the season.  We also visited the smallest cathedral in the British Isles.

Entering the bay at Millport

Moorings at Millport

View from the prom

Cathedral of the Isles, Millport

Arran seen from the top of the island

Wednesday 25 September 2013 – Irvine to Ardrossan

We visited the Maritime Museum (which included a visit to the ship “Kyles” that we were tied to"!).  The most unexpected exhibit was “Air Sea Rescue Craft 10”. This boat, and a number like it, were left anchored around the coast during World War 2. The idea was that if aeroplanes were shot down or crashed nearby the aircrew could swim over to the lifeboat, find food and shelter and await rescue.  It seems they were not used much.

The visit was worthwhile. However as the museum has only just reopened after major changes, some of the exhibits still need to be better presented – the machine tools seemed to be short of quite a few parts and short of explanation as to how they worked.

Leaving Irvine later than intended and with more wind than expected we opted out of going all the way to Millport and stopped at Ardrossan.  We had to wait for the ferry, then motored in painfully slowly against strong wind and took down the mainsail in the outer harbour.  We were still fiddling with fenders and warps when the harbour control called us again.  I did not wait to hear what they were going to say – just headed straight in before they told us to wait for the ferry again.  The marina is well sheltered by flats.

River Irvine, looking down river from the museum

We are moored alongside the puffer “Kyles”

Model of a ship’s engine rooms, from the pre-CAD days of the 1980s

The half ship models were built to help design the plating

Tuesday 24 September 2013 - Holy Island to Irvine

Eventually made a late start in very little wind, and headed for Irvine.  Motor-sailed part of the way to get there before the ebb started.  We entered the river past the old pilot tower which many years ago when Irvine was an important port used to have signals which showed the depth on the bar.  We then passed a beautifully made footbridge which was a millennium project commemorating Scottish inventors.  Unfortunately both it and the other attraction which it led to are now unused.

Irvine is not set up for visiting yachts! Even the residents have problems as the river is now owned by a property development company who don’t care about it and don’t maintain anything.  After some confusion we ended up alongside the “Kyles”, an old puffer which was part of the maritime museum, helped by locals Jimmy and Denny.  There appears to be quite a problem here with thefts and vandalism, so when we went into town we locked the boat for the first time for ages.

In the evening Jimmy invited us to join him on his fishing boat which he has spent years converting.  We appreciated the company, guitar-playing and the warm stove.

Leaving Holy Island in no wind

Entering Irvine. The old pilot tower used to have signals showing the depth of water

The sliding footbridge was a millennium project, sadly now abandoned

Monday 23 September 2013 – Lamlash to Holy Island

The shortest sail of the trip, across the bay under genoa.  We found the anchorage had more shelter and a bigger area of useful depth than we expected.  We visited the information centre, walked over the top of the island in the cloud and visited St Mo Las’ cave.  Returning to the boat there was very little wind and not enough time to move on so we stayed overnight

Buddhist centre on Holy Isle

The boat is just visible through the mist

Normally you get a view of the whole of the Clyde from the top of Mullach Mor on Holy Isle

Wild Eriskay ponies

Cave on Holy Isle – a sea cave from an earlier higher sea level

St Mo Las’ cave

Sunday 22 September 2013 – Campbeltown to Lamlash

After 2 long days and with no tidal constraint, we enjoyed a lie in and left late morning after chatting to 2 of the 3 other visiting boats.  Both were on their last trip of the season, one from Bangor (NI) and one from Girvan, and both were regular visitors to Campbeltown.

Good sail with cruising chute until we rounded the S end of Aran, then the wind went a bit light and it took ages to get to Lamlash.  Just for a change we departed the pontoon and picked up the mooring under sail.  It’s a good job we charged the battery fully on shore power.

Ship coming in as we leave Campbeltown

Light on Island Davaar, Ailsa Craig in the distance

Pladda, a small island at the S end of Aran

Another yacht + Pladda

Entering Lamlash Bay, Holy Is on right

Sunny, warm and with a fair wind!

Saturday 21 September 2013 – Gigha to Campbeltown

Left Gigha early (6:30), motored to the S end of the island and then had a beat down to the Mull of Kintyre, continually checking if we were still in time to catch the tide.  Rounding the corner, we kept a little way out to avoid what looked like rough water and could at last ease sheets.  We seemed too late to have tide with us in Sanda Sound, so went outside Sanda.  We then used the cruising chute for the first time for ages.  A good passage.

Mull of Kintyre lighthouse

Continuing round Mull of Kintyre

Approaching Sanda Island

Leaving Sanda

Moored at Campbeltown

Yacht Pontoon at Campbeltown.
The boat next to us, and 2 others are the
“Kintyre Express” fast passenger ferries

Friday 20 September 2013 – Ardinamir to Gigha

The tide seemed to be dropping rather quickly and started to expose rocks in the entrance, so we left before breakfast to make sure we got out!  This left us a bit disorganised and it took a while to complete breakfast on the move, as we tacked down Shuna Sound and then on towards the Sound of Jura.  No chance of being sucked into the Gulf of Corryvreckan as the tide was running the other way.   Going down the Sound of Jura the water gradually gets wider, so I assumed that we just needed to get past the first narrow bit before the tide turned against us.  In the wider parts the tide would not be very strong, so it would not matter. Wrong! The tide continues to be important right down to the rock and lighthouse of Skervuile, where it seemed particularly strong and it took several tacks to get past (The tide was also a biggie, coefficient: 105).  We then made one long tack across to Gigha on the other side.

 

Approaching Gigha we had our first rain and poor visibility of the day, which was not welcome as we needed to pick up the buoys marking the channel.  It also seemed at odds with Gigha’s reputation of having a warm and dry climate compared with the rest of the region

 

No photos

Thursday 19 September 2013 – Cuan Sound to Ardinamir

The weather forecast was still windy and unsettled but we wanted to get somewhere where we would be ready to move when the weather improved, so we left the mooring to pick up the first of the ebb through the second part of the sound.  We were early so were still against the flood, which made it easier to avoid the various rocks.  In a short time we entered Ardinamir, following the directions very carefully.  The anchoring options were not too good so we borrowed a vacant mooring.  Our destination was about half a mile from where we had been moored the previous night and could be reached more directly via a narrow and shallow passage with a power cable over it.  This passage was made even more unattractive when we saw the speed of the tide through it!

The only problem with our way through is that we missed the real “Cuan Sound Experience” of being swept through with a strong tide and frantically picking up marks and dodging the rocks.

Looking back to the W end of Cuan Sound

Cleit Rock in Cuan Sound, one of the ones to miss

The anchorage at Ardinamir, boat mast just visible

View over Ardinamir

Wednesday 18 September 2013 – Loch Spelve to Cuan Sound

Quite a stressful time for a short sail!  We hung about in Loch Spelve hoping to see Sea Eagles, but had no luck.  Possibly because a series of showers came across and they did not want to get their feathers wet.  We did see a pair of large birds which might have been buzzards, and lots of hoody crows and a couple of herons on the shore.

After a leisurely lunch we headed off with the intention of taking the first of the flow through Cuan Sound, forgetting about the incoming tide through the narrows into Loch Spelve.  This appeared to run at about 3 1/2 knots, so it took a while to get through, running with 1 reef in, whilst following the gentle curve of the channel and avoiding the perch (which you can see) and the rock on the other side of the channel which you cannot see but avoid by keeping near(ish) to the perch.  The chartplotter helps too.  It must have been much more difficult before the perch was established, following leading marks on the shore which are still present and not very obvious.

Once out of Loch Spelve it should all have been simple, but we had light wind and our reef started to look a bit silly, especially when the waves just flapped it about.  Half way across we got the wind back, and then wend down the Sound of Insh.  Emerging from behind Insh the wind was stronger and waves bigger.  The reef again looked wrong and the thought of heading straight downwind into Cuan Sound was a bit scary.  Maybe we should go back to Puilladobhrain but that would also be a downwind approach to a small and inconspicuous entrance. We ducked back behind the island and put in the second reef and carried on to Cuan Sound.  A few tense minutes approaching the narrow entrance with following wind, but we soon got swept in by the tide until we turned off to pick up a mooring on the Luing side.  The plan had been to go right through Cuan Sound and stop at Ardinamir, but it was a bit late and we had had enough excitement for one day. 

Tomorrow is forecast to be unsettled again, so another short trip is called for. We may get better weather on Friday or Saturday.

Loch Spelve, looking towards the river

Loch Spelve. No showers coming down the valley just now

Loch Spelve – Another rainbow

Cuan Sound. Looking towards the W entrance.

Tuesday 17 September 2013 – Dunstaffnage to Loch Spelve

We learnt 2 things today: Loch Spelve is pronounced “spelvey” and the light from a rainbow is polarised.  When seen through sunglasses the top is not visible, tilt your head to the left and the left side is not visible – we have had plenty of rainbows to practise on.

The wind moved a bit to the NW and the slight swell came in through the entrance and made all the boats rock and roll.  We had been warned about this and so already had warps across the empty berth to the next finger to hold us off the pontoon.  So this is another marina which is not fully sheltered from all directions – fortunately it was time to move on.

Good sail across to Loch Spelve, then motored through the entrance at high tide – no problem, just followed the directions in the book.  Whilst anchoring in the NE corner we saw a Sea Eagle close by and low over the water.  As I was fiddling with the anchor I did not see it well – never mind, I could look carefully at the next one.  However we did not see another one.

Firth of Lorne, approaching Loch Spelve

 

Brief Update from Dunstaffnage

Oh Dear, the idleness has set in! I have been in 3G range for 2 days and have not updated the blog properly. 

On Friday we went from Tobermory to Loch Aline in no wind.  On Sat to Dunstaffnage in no wind.  Sun and Mon (today) we have been stuck here with too much wind - sometimes not much and sometimes big gusts. Yesterday we did a wash.  Today we took the bus to Oban and wandered round there.

Possibly tomorrow we may move on, but not yet sure where.

Monday 16 September 2013 – Dunstaffnage

We took a trip to Oban on the bus and did a bit of shopping.

We had earlier noticed some small RNLI boats in the marina.  They are used for flood rescue training in the nearby Falls of Lora.  This is a place at the mouth of Lock Etive where the loch is partly blocked by a reef and the water rushes over and round the reef.  This provides just the right conditions for the flood rescue training (it also provides entertainment for kayakers, but we don’t plan to go there in the yacht as not only does the state of the water look a bit scary but the bridge is only 15 m above water level which is about the height of the mast).  Today the flood rescue trainees practised capsizing and righting the boats, after removing the outboard motor.  The motor is capsize-proof, but if actually capsized has to sent back to the workshop for overhaul.

Flood rescue trainees return to base

Saturday 14 September 2013 – Loch Aline to Dunstaffnage

Walked along to the marina, which looks as good as we have been told. However we needed a break from marinas. We walked past the silica sand mine, which is still in production on a small scale and had a coffee at the dive centre near the ferry pier.

We had had an extremely quiet night as the loch is well sheltered by a wood of mature trees. Gale force wind was forecast for Sunday and Monday, so although Loch Aline was very sheltered we decided to move on to Dunstaffnage as that would allow us to go ashore.

Loch Aline was as sheltered as it looks

Leaving Loch Aline – looking back at the entrance

Lighthouse at the SW end of Lismore

The only boat not motoring is the last boat
in the yacht race – returning to Oban