Loch Ewe to Gairloch

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.

sailing out of Loch Ewe

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

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.