Up Loch Carron

Given the forecast we did not have any great expectations of leaving Plockton today, but the bright sun shine gave us hope.... When we left the mooring at 10am our plan was to head west, out of Loch Carron, and investigate the sea state. If it was not too bad we would head up to Torridon, but otherwise we would turn straight back, and go for a sail in Loch Carron.

Ten minutes beating out to sea, bashing through short steep waves and watching the white horses get closer made the expected decision simple, we would turn round and go through the Strome narrows and into the shelter of Inner Loch Carron. We tacked rather than gybed Robinetta round, then went onto a very broad run back towards Cat Island under the eyes of a seal watch trip boat. Hopefully they got some pictures! The sea state quickly went down, and we had three sails up, so  we looked good!

Then we found we didn't really know the way to Inner Loch Carron! Alison found the entrance to the Strome Narrows on the chart and said “follow the trip boat”.

We then had a nerve racking (for Alison) and fun (for Julian) time picking our way through the rocks towards the deep channel to the narrows. It was all down wind so we needed to gybe several times. We furled away the jib, which meant we only had to worry about the main sail, and got through the “islands” without incident. It was after we entered the main channel, that we relaxed, lost concentration, and had an unplanned gybe, but luckily not an uncontrolled one.

The sea state was slight within the Narrows and we had the tide and wind with us, so made 5½ knots and entered Inner Loch Carron in fine style. Once we were there we got caught by a succession of strong line squalls, some with blindingly heavy rain and some with hail!

There was no fetch so the waves were very slight, but running or broad reaching a gaffer with the wind varying between F2 and F6-7 is 'interesting'. Julian decided to put an extra reef in the main and by the time we were head to wind he had changed his mind and dropped the main entirely. Then we tried goose winging on staysail and jib but of course the sun came out and the wind died. So up came the main again, with the extra reef. It was so nice Alison went below to put the kettle on.

Then the next squall hit. “Can you come up and furl the jib?” came the plea from above. Alison secured the kettle and leap up but the wind was so strong the jib used up all the furling line and was only half away. Julian put the helm over to shield the jib from the wind and Alison let it out and put it away again, successfully, this time. To kill the power Julian dropped the peak and we sailed on with staysail and saggy peak until the squall was over. Then the sun came out again and we had our cup of tea.

Somewhere along the way we did another good gybe and then Julian lost concentration and the boom went back over again – that is the worst thing we can do with a reef in – the sail gets crushed between the boom and the backstay block. Another hole that will need mending this winter.

Julian looked and found that there is an Antares chart for the rocks at the top of the loch and Slumbay Harbour. We were able to go right up to the top and round Sgeir Fhada (the well named 'long rock' – it looks like a shingle bank). Of course we had to put the engine on at the end of the loch – no more sailing – the return trip was head to wind all the way.

The wind was really strong as we stowed the main and motored to the harbour. There were a few good empty moorings – ideal for a lunch stop and to wait for the tide to turn in the Narrows. Picking one up was another matter – the wind kept pushing us away. Alison managed to get the boat hook onto one buoy but could not haul it close enough to get a line on. Then the boat hook would not come free and got snatched out of her hand, only to free itself from the buoy and sink straight to the bottom.

Time to try an alternative method. We drove up to a buoy and Julian got a rope around it from the cockpit and then we walked the rope to the bow and Alison tied a bowline bridle round the samson posts. We went below for a light lunch and were cosy inside when the biggest squall hit with heavy rain that turned into hail.

The return trip was uneventful but as we got out of the Narrows the wind in the outer loch had freshened quite a bit. There were white horses and the spray was getting blown off the tops, even though the waves, luckily, were still low and far enough apart that we could keep above 2 knots under engine.

It was windy enough even at Plockton that it took two goes to pick up a mooring, this time using the short boat hook which is all we have left until we can get to a chandlers. As we got the jib down and the sail covers on I spotted a broad rainbow over the Strome narrows. A pretty end to an interesting sail, but it was time to put our feet up!