A long first day

We set no alarm for Saturday morning, even though we knew we wanted to get away early. We were woken as expected by light in the cabin and around 5.30 I suggested Julian put the kettle on. We were soon up and moving, but there were covers to remove and rigging to check so the engine did not go on until 06:40. There was a good NE sailing breeze that we knew would not last the whole day, so we wasted no time getting the sails up and by 07:06 the engine was off and we were sailing on full main and no 1 jib on a very broad reach out of the Gairloch and across the Clyde towards Gourock. We had to gybe in order to clear the west end of the town, and headed towards Dunoon for a while while we could gybe back onto course for the south end of Bute.

By 09:15 we were approaching Skellmorlie at nearly 5 knots running before the wind with the preventer rigged. The sea state was definitely “slight” but the sea was beginning to roll under us which was fine when the wind was steady, but every now and then there would be a lull and the course became more difficult to hold. We were expecting to go west of Great Cumbrae, but it was impossible to hold that course, so we decided to go east of the island. The sea state eased as we did that, but the wind followed us round, and after 10 minutes we decided to gybe and return to our original plan.

We crossed the Clyde, heading towards Bute. We were now heading across the waves which had build up as the fetch increased, but a very broad reach took us into the entrance to Kilchattan Bay, so we gybed back onto our course towards the south end of Arran.

By 12 noon the wind was failing, but we were still making nearly 3 knots. Then Julian’s hat went into the sea. This might have been it getting caught by the lazy backstay, but we do not know for certain.

Julian is very fond of his sun hat, and was not prepared to loose it, so I put the engine on and headed back towards it. We must have circled it 4 times before I managed to get Robinetta close enough for Julian to grab the hat with the boat hook. At one point he decided he needed to get into Worm and row for it, but luckily I reached it before then.

When we turned back onto course we discovered that the wind had died and we needed to keep the engine on. The rest of the afternoon saw us alternating between sailing and motor sailing but by 17:00 the wind was too light to use, and we dropped the main.

Dinner was a tin of chilli beans on orzo pasta. Suprisingly tasty when we added a couple of rahcers of chopped and fried bacon and just what we wanted.

We reached the anchorage at Sanda just after 21;00, helped for the last couple of miles by a knot of tide. The approach was full of tidal rips, but no overfalls and once inside the anchorage the sea was calm and flat.

There were already 3 boats at anchor there, but plenty of space for us. We dropped the hook in just under 4m, and after checking it has set turned the engine off at 21:18.

We knew that the wind was expected to increase in the small hours, along with a chance of thundery showers, so Julian lowered the jib and tidied up the stay sail with its cover. When putting out the chain he had asked if 14m was fine, and I had agreed, even though I had already decided we should have 20m. When the wind kicked up at 1 a.m I remembered this and could not get to sleep until I let out more chain…. This was after I had already spent time after getting ready for bed in order to tie up to tie Worm so she would not bump Robinetta. Then the wind woke me at 1, the rain woke me at 2, and swell began to roll us at 4. Not a peaceful night’s sleep!

60nm in 15½ hours.