The
forecast for today suggested stronger winds in the afternoon, and
rain. The stronger winds were only force 5, but from the south, so
would head us after we rounded Rudha Reidh, and sailing in the rain
is not much fun. We therefore decided not to linger in our anchorage
at Camas Glas, aiming to be away by 8am.
The weather first thing was
lovely, and Julian went forward to check the contents of the creel he
had baited with mackerel guts last night. Crabs obviously loved it,
because there were about 20 small ones
scuttling about in the creel, plus something that looked like an eel.
We had no need of more fish though, still having a mackerel each to
eat for breakfast, so Julian released everything back into the loch.
Having anchored in 5m, with
only 1 metre rise of tide to go, there was much less chain to haul up
than on previous mornings, and Julian had it all on deck by
07:23. We motored past
Bessie Ellen,
watched by various members of her crew and guests, then as soon as we
had sea room we turned back towards them to raise the mainsail. By
07:40 the engine went off as we sailed at 3½ knots on a very broad
reach towards the Isle of Ewe. Julian went below to cook the mackerel
while I helmed in bright sunshine. Breakfasting on pan fried mackerel
with tomato while sailing in sunshine on a flat sea surrounded by
dramatic scenery is a memory to treasure.
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sailing out of Loch Ewe
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Of course the wind did not
last, and by the time we had finished eating at 08:00 we were
virtually drifting along at 2 knots, so the jib was furled away again
and the engine went on to take Robinetta
out of Loch Ewe. The view
to the west and south was a bit hazy, but we could pick out the
Shiant Islands from the mass of Uist behind them, as well as Skye
ahead of us. Julian used
his phone to book us a table for dinner at The Old Inn in Gairloch,
and got a confirmation email back, saying we needed to make our
dinner choices by 6pm.
We got another bit of
northerly
breeze as we rounded Rubha Readh lighthouse, that lasted all
of twenty minutes before dying away, then quarter of an hour later it
came back, this time from the South West. It took an hour to build to
a proper sailing wind, but by 12:22 we could turn the engine off
again to reach along the coast towards the Isle of Lunga in the mouth
of the Gairloch.
The view past Lunga was a bit
grim, with Skye disappearing into the murk, and rain obviously on its
way, but as we followed the coast round to pass north of Lunga we
were still in sunshine. Unfortunately the wind was now straight ahead
of us, and we decided to turn the engine on to try to reach the
harbour at Flowerdale before the rain reached us. We
did not quite make it, but we had had plenty of warning so had our
waterproofs on.
The Flowerdale pontoon is run
by the Highland Harbours, so our cruising pass covered the mooring
fees. We were not sure we
would be able to stay there though, as reports suggested that there
is very little space left over for visitors. A trip boat went past us
as we neared the harbour, and we waited until he had moored up before
approaching. There was only one yacht on the pontoon, and it did look
as though there were space for Robinetta
(and Worm)
behind. I looked at the trip boat skipper, and he moved to take our
lines, as obvious an approval of our intentions as I could think of!
Once moored up I commented
that we were glad to find a space, and he said the pontoon had been
much quieter this summer. Last year up to 6 yachts had been rafted up
along the short stretch of pontoon now taken by Robinetta
and Suzelle.
As it was still raining
quite hard we pulled Worm
up onto the pontoon and turned her upside down before
going below and having a late lunch.
While we were putting the
sail covers on a
Drascombe coaster appeared round the breakwater, and Julian reached
for the fenders to allow it to raft up on us. Instead
it went to the end of the pontoon, and disgorged 5 adults, 2
children, and a dog. How they all fitted in a 17’ yacht is beyond
me! As the party walked
along the pontoon past us I heard a comment that Robinetta
was a proper “Riddle of the Sands” boat, and we ended up having a
fun discussion about that
book. |
On the pontoon with the cover on
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Once the cockpit cover was on
we went below to relax. Julian tried to get hold of the menu for the
evening meal, and discovered that he had no phone or internet
coverage. This was a
surprise when we were in the middle of a settlement, but not really a
problem as we were in easy walking distance of the Inn, and could do
our pre-ordering of the meal at the place itself. Once
we had chosen our dinner we set off on the Flowerdale waterfall walk,
but the rain and general gloom meant we did not go as far as the
waterfall before returning to Robinetta
to change for dinner.
It rained off and on all
evening, and we were glad to have the cockpit cover on overnight.