Phun Cruise 2013: Wednesday 18 September 2013

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.