We used our larger fenders on the mooring at Plockton, to stop Worm damaging Robinetta while we boarded, since they held her far enough from Robinetta to fit our boarding ladder between them. Unfortunately we had not tied one of them on securely enough, and moments after scrambling aboard on a wet and windy evening I saw it drifting off into the darkness, an elderly grubby white fender in need of some more air. It would not have been safe in the conditions to chase it in Worm, and there were rocks in the direction it headed so using Robinetta was impossible too. We had lost another one at the end of last year, which left us only three decent size ones.
The chandler/hardware store at Kyle of Lochalsh did not have any fenders obviously for sale and we forgot to ask, so we went to the chandlers in Mallaig this morning. They had none on display either, but they were much more obviously a chandlers, set up for big fishing boat supplies with a good supply of shackles and the first galvanised blocks I've seen on sale. We asked, and they did carry fenders, so one of the men behind the counter walked us to their storage shed and asked what size we wanted then blew two up for us. We've fitted them to Robinetta now, against the gale expected this evening. We've been blown off the pontoon by the wind so far, but the winds are forecast to swing all over the place now, so extra fenders are a good idea!
We also bought some more shock cord to make dampers for Robinetta's shore lines. Hopefully they will make for a quieter night tonight than last!
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