Making for the Mull of Kintyre

"If you can't lay the Mull, you can't make the Mull," Julian decided in the middle of the afternoon. The forecast was for Southerly winds, and the Clyde Cruising Club advice was not to try for the Mull, but we decided to see if we could do it anyway.

We had left Port Ellen just after 08:00. I backed Robinetta out of the berth, and almost speared her berth mate with the bowsprit. However almost was the operative word and no contact was made! Then we realised that the boom crutches were still on, and getting them untied was not a simple operation in the swell of the bay. After setting sail (no 2 jib and full main) we realised that we would need the engine on to lay our course for the Mull.

After an hour Julian noticed a cardinal ahead, I checked the course and I had plotted it to clear the Otter Rock, but even with the engine we could not hold our course up tide of it. We came off the wind slightly and cleared the cardinal and the rocks it warned about to port. That course was easier to steer and we stayed on it, but within the hour the wind had backed more to the East and we were being headed. We furled the jib and motor sailed on full main and staysail.

Breakfast was tea, and hunks of Co-op olive bread, so was elevenses with the addition of a pear each. Packet soup seemed the ideal lunch, as neither of us felt like cooking under way.

After a while I looked forward, and noticed that the bob-stay tensioning block was hanging loose at the end of the bowsprit. Sometime after we furled the jib the line must have parted. I already had my life jacket on, but tied myself to Robinetta with a strop before going forward to investigate. I took the boat hook with me as I did not want the bobstay chain hanging under the boat with any rope on it. That had happened in Padstow and it had fouled the rudder. Luckily the line we use to pull the bobstay chain out of the way when we anchor had held and I used this to pull the chain on board. The tensioning line had broken close to the chain, so there was no dangerous rope in the water either.

We saw another yacht heading for the Mull, coming down from Gigha, and they were a reassuring sight. At least we were not alone in our desire to pass the Mull today. They had no sails up and we decided that it was time to lower our main sail too.

The next couple of hours were frustrating. The sea state got up. We could not make our course. We were making less than 2 knots. The yacht ahead vanished southward. 15 minutes after I went on the helm for my stint I realised that while I could make a course for Rathlin Island I could not hold Robinetta on course for the Mull of Kintyre. We needed a rethink.

Five minutes later everything was different. We were running on staysail and engine, heading for Gigha at 4.5 knots. The relief at being able to hold a course was huge even through the following seas made it quite hard work. Julian wanted to get the main up straight away, but I needed a bit of time before we went head to wind again, and persuaded him we should try the jib and staysail goosewinged first. Unfortunately the swell meant this did not work, and the bowsprit felt vulnerable without its bobstay, so we furled the jib and went head to wind to raise, and reef, the mainsail.

Raising the main was not without its problems. The sail got caught on the redundant top mast bracket on the boom and Julian had to go forward to clear it, then once the sail was raised the gaff saddle refused to sit flat against the mast and we had to bring it down and raise it again. All while holding Robinetta head to wind in a nasty swell.

Once under way we had four hours of steering with the swell rolling us round. The sun did come out just after we began sailing, as though saying “Good call, you did not want to go round the Mull of Kintyre today anyway.” Then after half an hour the clouds covered the blue sky again. The main never threatened to gybe and we were making 3 ½ – 4 knots, so the engine stayed off until we reached Ardminish Bay. Robinetta did not want to make the turn into shelter, so we put the engine on to go head to wind to drop the main. Turning made the wind strength obvious: 5 gusting 6.

We picked up a mooring buoy close to the pontoon. The three yachts on the pontoon were moving more than looked comfortable, and the ones on buoys looked better. Our mooring had no pick up line, but that is not really a problem with Robinetta’s low bow. Julian made a perfect approach and I got a first line through the shackle on top, made it off, and had time to rig a second for a bridle before Robinetta dropped back.

Once secure Julian cooked dinner. Bacon, egg, haggis, tomato, potato and cauliflower which all vanished rather quickly. By the time we had finished it was full dark. Robinetta was bobbing and rocking in the swell, but not too much to stop us getting the bedding out and heading for an early night. It had been a stressful day.