Heading north again

 We woke to hazy sunshine, with dew damp decks and sail covers, and enough condensation in the cabin ceiling to drip onto our sleeping bags. After a cup of tea I moped this up with J-cloths. We left the sleeping bags and dry bags out in the cabin to air: they had kept the sleeping bags dry, but were themselves very wet outside.

We took a walk up to the farm shop after breakfast, and bought some frozen diced lamb to make a stew for tonight, using the stew pack we had bought yesterday as flavouring. The honesty box system works well as the shop is always open.

We were back on Robinetta and warming up the engine by 08:45, and five minutes later our old lady was backing out of her berth without problems.

We got the sails up as soon as we were clear of the North Channel out of Oban Bay, but there was very little wind at first. Then it came in and we had a lovely 40 minutes sailing towards Lismore on flat seas. Such a difference from last Friday! As we closed with Lismore the wind dropped, and our speed fell to under 2 knots. We put the engine on to get through the channel between Lismore light and Lady Rock, as there was a ferry coming up behind us and we wanted to stay out of its way.

Julian had plotted a course all the way to Eigg where our arrival time varied between 22:00 and 04:00, so we were not going fast enough!

Once we were clear of Lismore (and two ferries) the wind came back up and we were able to sail at over 3.5 knots again with the engine off.

As we approached Glas Eleinanan we spotted Provident motoring towards us. We changed course to get closer and confirm our identification and she went head to wind to raise sail before we reached her. We passed within 30 yards of each other (definitely Provident), giving and receiving complements. Julian took some video of her raising sail.

 

From that point on we had a glorious day’s sailing, reaching/running goosewinged all the way up the Sound of Mull. We had the neap tide under us, and occasionally made over 6 knots, never dropping below 5 until we were past Tobermory at 14:30.

As we headed towards Ardnamurchan we saw two fine boats coming the other way. One was a lugger and the other a gaff-rigged yacht.

The noon Met Office forecast had some bad news for us. A strong wind warning, gusting up to force 6 from the South East in the small hours. This made our proposed anchorage at Eig much less attractive, and we decided to head for Gallanach Bay on the north west of Muck instead. This is totally protected from all wind except northerlies (when it is dangerous to enter.)

Ardnamurchan Point made a mere navigation point in the slight seas, although the wind did seem to follow us around it, keeping us stubbornly on the edge of a run when we expected to be reaching. However once we decided to go up the east side of Muck instead of the west we went onto a nice reach. I went below and browned the lamb before tipping in the pre-prepared stew pack, a glass of wine (from a bottle we opened over four weeks ago) and 2 of water. Once it came to the boil I turned it down to low, and left it alone.

Approaching Muck we could see a mess of boats between it and Eig. This resolved into a fish farm as we approached. We tried gybing to pass between the island and the farm, but Robinetta’s speed fell below 3 knots for the first time this afternoon. Given we were only 3 nm from our destination we decided to lower the mainsail and motor instead. There was plenty of room between the fish farm and the shore, but the orange “keep away” markers were quite small, and on very long floating lines that we were careful to avoid. Once round the north end of Muck the fish farm vanished behind us.

Once we were at the reefs that fringed Gallanach Bay we turned off our chart plotter pilotage, and Julian pulled up the Antares Charts on his phone. These are much more accurate than anything based on Admiralty plots. I prepared the anchor while Julian brought us through the reefs, and we anchored in 6m under the keel, with 25 metres of chain at 19:00.

Our stew was ready to eat, with succulent meat and thick sauce, full of barley and vegetables. Our only quibble would be that it was a little salty for our palate. A glass of wine, left over from our meal yesterday, and biscuits and cheese to follow all eated in the cockpit made a lovely end to the day. Once the sun fell below the horizon we went below to listen to the promenade concert. A lovely end to a lovely day.

New topping lifts

 I made new topping lifts on Wednesday. 6mm poly hemp instead of 8mm but I think it will be fine. Spliced the lazy jacks on starboard but left port alone.

Got to the boat about 2:30 and fitted them. On the port side I tied in butterfly knots and threaded the lazy jacks through with a stopper knot. This way, we can adjust them and disconnect them completely if needed.

Hauled Alison up the mast to fit them. All went very well. Let her down again.

Tightened the shrouds. Hopefully the garboards will work a little less.

Lovely meal at the Waypoint.

Most relaxing and optimistic day we’ve had in a long while.

Northward Progress proves impossible

 The weather looked problematic, but we thought we had a window to get as far north as Tobermory. Julian rigged a temporary port topping lift using the spare halyard then we went shopping and had lunch before leaving the marina just after 2pm.

Our aim was to get past Lismore and into the Sound of Mull once the tide was in our favour around 3pm.

Unfortunatey we did not get that far. The South West 4-6 in the forecast turned out to be a solid 6, and only 20 minutes after raising the fully reefed main sail we decided to bring it down again. Just after we lowered it, and before Julian could get a sail tie on the boom and gaff dropped lower:- the starboard topping lift had failed in a similar way to the port one yesterday.

Julian's jury rigged topping lift meant that the boom did not drop onto my head. however the laxy jack lines need noth topping lifts in place to work, so the just lowered sail was flopping all over the place. Julian managed to get it under control using sail ties but the swell made it very stressful.

We saw another gaffer coming towards us past Lismore. With sails on 2 masts, and setting 2 jibs she seemed overcanvassed to us, but showed the sea state in the Sound of Mull must be flatter than where we were. We thought this was was likely to be the Brixham trawler Provident, who runs charters in the area, but could not be sure. After passing us she went head to wind to lower her sails close in to Kerrera, but that island could not provide any shelter and she had problems staying head to wind while her sails were lowered, just like Robinetta!

Consulting our chart plotter we saw that we were making under 2 knots, and would be in the rough seas for at least another hour before reaching Lismore. Given the gear failure and the swell conditions we decided to turn back to Oban.

Our speed doubled immediately, and 40 minutes later we were moored up on the fuel dock at Kerrera Marina, We took 16 litres of fuel, then went to berth C11, being told we would need to move in the morning. Luckily the marina soon found us a berth we could stay in for longer and we moved Robinetta and Worm there there before heading up to the bar for a drink.

We met Douglas Cook on the pontoon and learnt that he is now employed there full time. Later, in the bar, we discovered that he is the nephew of an old University friend of ours. It is a small world.

We retired to Robinetta for dinner after our drink, and discussed what to do next. The sea state does not look like it will get better for several days, and we need to be at home by Wednesday ready to attend my Father's funeral on Thursday. The only sensible thing to do is head home, so we decided to leave Robinetta here for a week.

Dorus Mor and the Sound of Luing

 It was not raining this morning, so Julian got the drill out and fitted the tiller pilot mount. He also rigged a line along the reefed boom as a trial, not because he expected us to be using it today!

The lock keeper came along and asked for our plans, and we said we intended to lock out today and head for Oban. We through we should leave about noon to have the tide with us through the Dorus Mor, but another yacht was also heading out in that direction, and they had asked for an 11:00 lock out. We were happy to join them; Morning Star is a big charter yacht with a professional skipper so we both trusted his timing through the lock. We were released together into the sea at 11:20. The sea state was noticeable but would normally be described as slight, but the wind was strong enough that we only wanted the staysail up until we were through the Dorus Mor. It was pretty much slack water between the islands and I did not even notice swirls on the water. A pussy cat of a passage!

Once clear of the Dorus Mor we got the mainsail up, reefed as small as it would go. However even with this little sail I could not hold Robinetta on course and after 20 minutes trying we dropped the main sail and went back to engine and staysail. While doing this the port topping lift failed. Luckily the starboard one held and we were able to safely stow the main sail. The just rigged "preventor" line came in handy for keeping the boom centered, and I was very glad Julian had thought of it.

Julian had plotted us a course through Cuan Sound, as it would offer us maximum protection from the swell. This meant heading up the East side of Luing then doing a lot of heading changes past Torsa. With the wind as it was and the strengthening tide I suggested changing to the simpler passage up the Sound of Luing. We would get similar protection from the waves and have much more sea room if anything went wrong with the engine. Julian agreed and we had a pleasant trip up the sound with the tide.

Coming out past Fladda was an experience. Suddenly we had the full Atlantic swell with a force 5 westerly wind driving it. Robinetta did not enjoy having this on her beam (neither did her crew) as we headed east to clear the Bogha Ghair shoal, but we coped and Robinetta was a whole lot more stable once we could head more into the waves. We only needed to do this for long enough to be able to put the waves on Robinetta's stern and head straight between Inch and Siel, aiming for Kerrera Sound.

Once past Inch the sea state was less extreme, with a longer pitch, and the wind was right behind us. This was not a good place to try raising the mainsail, but we unfurled the jib and goose winged it with the stay sail. The set up proved stable, so we turned the engine off and ran towards Kerrera Sound doing 4.5 to 5 knots over the ground.

Once we entered the Sound the jib became unstable, so we furled it, but were still making over 3 knots on the tide and staysail all the way to Oban's transit marina on the North Pier pontoons. We had thought about taking one of the community moorings, but they did not look especially calm as we went through them.

We took the first berth we came to, right next to Morning Star, whose skipper came and helped us moor up. They had passed us in Kerrera Sound, having stopped for lunch at Easdale. Morning Star is twice Robinetta's length, but her skipper still described the swell conditions leaving Easdale sound as "interesting".

The six hour trip from Crinan had shown us very varied in sea state, but the wind was a pretty constant top end 5-6. This is right at the top end of what is safe for Robinetta, especially since we are heading north for overdue repairs.

We finished the day with fish and chips, then a tourist ceilidh at The View on Oban high street, which was fun.

A wet day in Crinan Basin

 Julian did a little playing with the electronics and finsihed the tiller pilot mount he was making, but did not fit it, as that would have meant drilling in to the cockpit in the rain.

He also had an idea for rigging a line along the boom so we could hook our accidental gybe preventer on it when reefed. It was just too wet to do much, and I spent the day reading.

Why were we just sitting there? The met office forecast says it all.

Valid from 06:00 UTC 21st August.

Mull of Kintyre to Ardnamurchan point.

South or South West 6-6 increasing 6 to gale 8, veering West or North West 4-6 later. Moderate or rough, becoming rough of very rough. Rain

+24 hours. West or North west 4-6 occasionally 7 in north, backing South West 3-5 later. Rough or Very rough, becoming moderate of rough later.

Crinan Basin shenanigans

The weather reports of gales on Wednesday meant that we did not want to leave the canal before we had to, so our goal for today was just to get to the Crinan Basin. We woke to a grey sky, and wanted porridge for breakfast, but we had half an hour of bright sunshine at 8 a.m. so we went for a walk along the towpath.

The locks needed purging before they could be used, so we knew we would not be on our way before 9. By 08:45 it had clouded over again, and we put our damp wet weather gear on  before setting off down the last two Dunardry Locks in the rain.

The canal organization seemed impeccable. We were warned that we might need to wait for the two bridges to be lifted as the bridge keeper was doing water quality checks, but he appeared to swing the first bridge before we had time to moor up, and he was ready and waiting at the second. Here he warned us that there were two yachts heading our way in the narrowest part of the canal, but that this meant the Crinan Basin top lock would be ready and waiting for us.

We passed the two yachts and continued on our way, only to see the lock gates close as we rounded the sharp corner on the approach. This caused us a huge problem. The waiting basin seemed full of yachts, giving us very little space to turn around. The lady closing the gates seemed surprised to see us, and vanished down towards the bottom gate rather than reopen the top one.

Julian maneuvered Robinetta with great care, but Worm is always a a problem when reversing in tight spaces and it was a fraught five minutes before we were round and heading back up the canal, rather shaken. We had cleared the concrete abutments with inches to spare, but we did discover a nasty scrape in Robinetta's paintwork later. Julian suggested dropping me off at the first pontoon with space while he turned Robinetta and headed back to the lock. This is not seem sensible to me, and his plan was cancelled with we saw the lady from the lock walking fast along the towpath towards us.

We moored up and chatted to the lock lady. She had not known we were coming, and apologised for closing the lock. We would have to wait about an hour before she could open it again as it was already being reset to allow another two yachts up from the basin.

We agreed to wait where we were until the lock cycled and we saw two yachts coming past us. It was only 11:40, but the sun was shining again and we decided to take advantage and have an alfresco lunch in the cockpit. No sooner did we have everything out than it started raining again...

By 13:00 Robinetta was moored up in Crinan Basin, with Worm ashore and upside down. Heavy rain with occasional sunny minutes continued all afternoon. Our mooring spot was too far from the electric to reach it, we had no phone signal, or usable wi-fi. Julian got quite depressed since we knew the weather would keep us in port until Thursday morning.

Stretching our legs between rain showers took us to the sea lock, where we spotted that the yacht coming in was another Heard 28, like Capraia. We knew this one too. Oystercatcher of Glenarm had attended the Oban OGA rally we organised last year, and as well as Mike the skipper her crew was another friend, Kevin. We spent the rest of the day socialising in the Crinan Hotel, having a fine meal in the bar.

When Oystercatcher entered the lock there had been a large Finnish yacht close behind. They did not want to enter the basin, and moored up outside on a concrete jetty. The swell increased as the evening drew on and she was pitching and rolling dangerously where she was. The sea lock is always left open at night, to allow yachts to take refuge, so we walked over to advise them to come in. They took our advice and we helped them moor up in the lock before heading back to our respective boats.

Bad news and Bad weather

 I was woken in the small hours by a text from my sister. My father, who had been in hospital for several weeks, had just died. This was not unexpected, but I found it difficult to get back to sleep again, and was more than ready to get up at 6. 

Our aim for the day was to get into the Crinan Canal, and as far along as possible. There was heavy weather forecast and we expected to take refuge in the Crinan basin until Thursday until it blew through.

The weather was forecast to worsen as the day went on, so we replaced yesterday's no.1 jib with the no.2 to balance a reefed down main better. Julian got the main sail cover off and rigged the peak halyard, then did all the foredeck work. He asked me to check, and everything looked good, but after we left the shelter of the harbour and raised the main sail we discovered that he had run the peak halyard on the wrong side of the topping lift; a first time ever error. The peak halyard block got jammed in the topping lift, so we had to release the topping lift, which let the gaff fall into the cockpit. All this while fishing boats came past on their way to work...

By 08:10 all the jams were sorted and we sailed out of the harbour approaches with 1 roll of reef on the main. The entrance to the canal at Ardrishaig is almost due north of Tarbert, and the wind was almost due south, and rather than running up Loch Fyne we broad reached across it, with the swell just aft of the beam. Once we reached the Eastern side of the Loch we tacked round rather than gybing, using the time we were head to wind to roll more sail round the boom so we were reefed all the way down.

Our next reach took us a long way up the Loch, with Robinetta reveling in the conditions. Her transom stern is designed for waves from astern and she rose to them perfectly. We kept this tack most of the way to the next fish farm, only needing to gybe again once Big Rock was well astern. Unfortunately after the gentle roll of the waves beneath us on the other board heading across the waves felt very unpleasant. I had taken the helm after the gybe but handed it back to Julian after 20 minutes, and he kept it until it was time to get the sails down and enter Ardrishaig Harbour.

I called up the harbour master on VHF channel 74 and was answered immediately. He told me to go on to the waiting pontoon, but called us up again as we rounded the harbour wall and told us to go straight into the lock, which was ready for us. We entered the lock at 11 a.m, exactly when Julian had booked us to enter!

I was glad to be in there as the boats on the pontoon were rocking uncomfortably despite the harbour walls. Once we were raised to canal height the lock keeper told us we would he there for an hour before he could swing the bridge and let us into the canal basin. We spent the time stowing Robinetta's sails and tidying up the rig for the canal passage as well as having a cup of soup for an early lunch.

Two big yachts were waiting to come out of hte canal and as soon as they were released from Crinan Lock no 2 the lock keeper swung the bridge to let us out of the sea lock, and them enter it.Out three yachts did a careful dance in the basin, with Robinetta ending up entering Crinan Lock no 2 and the other yachts safely through the bridge.

In the summer months the Crinan Canal employs extra staff, and all the locks were manned. On all our previous transits we had been in a convoy, but this time we traveling in solitary style. Much less jockeying for position and worrying about Worm wandering around in each lock, but our passage would have been very slow with just Julian to work the locks.

As we rose up through locks 2,3, we crossed paths with the Atalanta we had met three weeks before in Ardrossan. They had got their engine sorted and been cruising north, but were now heading south again. We were also spotted by some OGA friends. Patrick, the ex OGA president and his wife were heading south in their Heard 28, Capraia. We stopped at the waiting pontoon at the top of Lock 4 and had a good chat. Patrick had come up from Wales along the West Coast or Ireland and the weather had not been kind to him. Capraia would be wintering in Glasgow before heading back to Wales next season, although Patrick said that the sailing had been so bad he was not sure he wanted another year of it!

Once we got going again we headed along the canal to Cairnbaan where we moored up on the waiting pontoon in the rain. We would have gone to the hotel for a drink, but it had shut down after COVID, and never reopened. The original hotel building still looks in decent condition, but the 1970s extension to the dining room is now derelict. 

Two yachts were heading down the flight, and at first the lock keeper suggested we wait until they were all the way down, but then changed his mind and let us enter the lower lock and raised it up. This meant he would only need to swing the bridge once to let us out, and the 2 yachts in. The lock/bridge keepers were very careful to impede the road traffic as little as possible.

At the top of the Cairnbaan flight we were asked how far we wanted to go. Our answer of "As far as possible", got us to the middle of the Dunardry flight of locks with two people manning the flight top speed things up. There is a pontoon, shower, and toilet at this position, and it was a good place to stop. We moored up there in the rain at 17:15 and the lock keepers headed home.

We shut the cabin door against the rain and the midges and had an early dinner of spagetti carbonara, before settling down for the night. We were relatively cosy on Robinetta, although we regretted not hauling Worm ashore and inverting her!

Getting back into the swing of things

I woke up at 6 a.m, and since Julian was also awake we put the kettle on the stove to heat for tea. By 07:20 we had the engine on and warming up ready to leave the marina.

As soon as we were clear of the entrance channel we went head to wind and raised the main sail, leaving in a couple of rolls of reef even though we still had the no 1 jib up. The sail balance worked as we beat down the Clyde in rather rolly seas, but the wind was light enough that Julian shook all the reef out within 20 minutes. %0 minutes later the reef went back in as the wind strength increased and we furled the job away.

The sea state increased as we approached Toward Point, and we had to keep an eye on the regular ferries on the Wemys Bay to Rothsay route. We needed the engine on to help us cope with steering in the gusts as we rounded Toward Point.

Once we were clear of Toward and approaching the entrance to Loch Striven we could sail again. The view up the Loch was marred by one of the ugliest fish farms I have seen, but looking back once we were past it the whole mess vanished into the background of the Cowal peninsula.

Half an hour later we were back under engine in the East Kyle, motoring straight into the wind while a fleet of yachts ran towards us. These were mostly under genoa alone and we suspected we had encountered a race as few of them flew ensigns. A careful watch ahead kept us clear of the approaching yachts, and we were lucky with our timing at Colintrave as the ferry docked before we got close, and only started to move again once we were past.

There were still yachts heading towards us, but they were coming through the South channel past the Burnt Isles where the tide was weaker. With the tide under us we headed for the narrower North channel. As we approached this a motor yacht headed into it, but with its greater speed it was past us before we entered the narrowest part, with only its wash to cause potential problems.

I had hoped to sail as soon as we turned south into the West Kyle, but the head wind came round with us, and it was not until we were passing the moorings at Tighnabruich that the wind became usable. I had gone below for a rest when I heard Julian taking the reef out and unfurling the jib. Then the engine went off and we sailed down the west Kyle all the way to Ardlamont Point. The sea was flat and Robinetta romped along at between 5.5 knots and hull speed. Julian on the helm had a lovely time, and I relaxed.

Leaving the West Kyle to enter Loch Fyne was not so relaxing. Three tidal streams were fighting for dominance, and beyond the protection from Ardlamont Point the force 5 wind was kicking up a wicked sea with a long fetch. It was jib away, engine on, and reef the main again. 

We had a destination to reach, but a yacht that had sailed down the West Kyle behind us turned back into its shelter rather than fighting to pass the Aldlamont Cardinal. 

Conditions moderated once the tidal streams smoothed out and we were able to turn the engine off and reach up Loch Fyne without problems, although we kept the reef in. By 17:45 we were moored up on the visitor pontoon in East Loch Tarbert after a very varied day's sailing, and after tidying Robinetta up and getting the sail covers on we went looking for dinner. 

A local suggested the Star Fish restaurant, and they were able to offer us a table, although by the time we finished eating every table was full. The food was very good, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. A glass of wine would have been lovely but had to refrain as I was still on antibiotics that said "no alcohol".

Kip

 We set off bang on high water at 11 am, and took the first of the ebb through the narrows.

It had been drizzling a little on the row out to the mooring, but it was dry now and the sun was making an attempt at an appearance. We got the main up by Rhu with quite a deep reef and immediately felt the strength of the wind.

All was good until we came out into the Clyde. The sea state was worse than we had expected and we put the jib away while we got used to things.

There were several racy looking wooden yachts around and we guessed they must be 8m class boats from the sail mark. Beautiful. And so nice of them to come out to give us a send off 🥴.

Robinetta was having more fun than I was on the helm and she persuaded me to put the jib back out, which made things much better.

We had a cracking beat out of the river and down past Dunoon but it was tiring. After 2 1/2 hours on the helm I needed a break and it was reasonably calm so Alison took over but she only managed 40 minutes. She is still very weak from the quinsy. It was obvious that our original goal of the Kyles of Bute was too far in a strong southerly with the crew not at their best.

So we went into Kip Marina. It’s too near home for us to visit normally, so we haven’t been here since we chartered on the Clyde many years ago. And then, we only popped in to drop Alison’s parents off. They had come for a day sail, joining at Great Cumbrie.

10 miles is a very short distance, but it was the right amount for today.

Homeward bound

 After a shore day visiting my father (by train from Ardrossan) we were ready to head home. The forecast was for a good sailing wind and a mostly dry day, but first we had to get showers and shop for lunch. On the way back to Robinetta we had a quick look round the marina, and found two yachts to drop OGA leaflets on. One, Grey Seal, was already on the register but without a photo, so Julian took care of that.

Next was filling up with diesel, and we motored over to the fuel dock. There was an interesting yacht moored up there; the Fairy Atalanta was designed by Uffa Fox, and heavily influenced by the lifeboats he built in WW2. This one had been rescued after 20 years ashore in Ullapool, and just had a reconditioned 1GM10 fitted. This had overheated on leaving harbour, so the owner had sensibly returned back to Ardrossan where she had been launched the day before.  After an exchange of information about what could go wrong with a 1GM10 we were ready to head out of harbour ourselves, but were warned. "It's a bit rough out there."

They were not wrong. Robinetta pitched and rolled violently in the entrance channel, and we could not go head to wind to get the main up to steady her as there was a ferry coming towards us and a reef blocking the way we wanted to go. We passed port to port with the Isle of Arran with plenty of searoom, but it seemed to take a long time to get clear of the reef.

Julian had put the no1 jib on before we left harbour at 11:50. This now seemed too large, but there was no way either of us wanted to go to the foredeck to change it! We got the main sail up, reefed down to the second cringle, and that balanced well with the staysail. As soon as we turned on to our course to pass between Little Cumbrae and the Ayrshire coast everything seemed to calm down as the seas rolled under us, and we stopped the engine at 12:19 and began to enjoy the day.

We always have the radio tuned to channel 16, and heard ferry Isle of Arran calling up the coastguard. One of the passengers had seen an empty kayak and reported it to the crew. A tense few minutes followed as the ferry turned round to retrace its route, then found and recovered the kayak. So far as anyone could tell it had been lost from the shore, and there had been no one on board at any time. The lifeboat was stood down, and the ferry went back on its route, at least half an hour late, having done exactly the right thing. This is a sort of drama that does not get widely reported but was interesting to hear.

An hour later we were almost becalmed in the lee of the Cumbrae islands. The sea was flat, and the wind very light. Julian is still not very well, and spent all his off watch time asleep, sometimes dozing off in the cockpit. I let him sleep for 15 minutes as we drifted before waking him by putting the engine on. Half an hour of motoring brought Robinetta half way up the east coast of Great Cumbrae, where we found the wind again. We should really have shaken the reefs out at that point, but somehow she seemed balanced even with the no 1jib, and the helming was easy so they stayed in until 16:15 when Julian took the helm. We let half of the reef out then, then all of it half an hour later, to head up the Clyde in fine style on a very broad reach.

The wind stayed helpful all the way to the Rhu Narrows, then died. With the tide under us we were able to put off turning the engine on even as we prepared to get the main sail down. This did not want to come as the gaff saddle was caught around one of the topping lifts, but eventually we got it stowed, and picked up the mooring at 20:35.

It had felt like a long day on the water but we were only under way for just over 8 hours. Most of that was sailing, under a variety of conditions. A full on day with plenty of interest!

Tidying up Robinetta after a fortnight away took a little while, but we were back ashore by 22:00. We will he heading off again in two weeks, for a three week trip north to Ullapool. Here's hoping for some gentle winds!

Another day of motoring

We wanted to make the most of the tide up the Mull of Galloway. This turned in our favour at 08:30, which was not too early, but did mean leaving before any of our friends from the night before were stirring. I dashed to the shop for milk and the makings of lunch, and we got away just gone nine.

Another day of steady motoring ensued, this time with a slight wind from the South. We did not bother raising the main today, and once again Julian slept whenever he was not on watch. He was on watch mid afternoon when the engine suddenly failed. A quick check of the fuel tanks revealed that the cut off valve in one of the fuel tanks for closed itself, and the other had run dry. We filled the tank from our cans, but had to bleed the air out of the engine. This was my job with Julian feeling the way he did, but he found the relevant pages in Nigel Caulder, and told me what to do.

After a couple of false starts the fuel was flowing again, and we left Ailsa Craig astern.

Bird life was abundant on the water. Rafts of Guillemots with their just fledged chicks, with the occasional razerbill and Puffin for variety. Gannets, herring and lesser black back gulls were also highly visible. I saw a big seal, which seemed very interested in us, staying on the surface and staring as we motored past, and the usual indifferent harbour porpoises cruised around. The most interesting “encounter” occurred in the distance. A whale sized splash attracted my attention, and a minutes later there was another one, this time with a cetacean coming fully out of the water. While it could have been a dolphin it looked much bigger given the distance. Julian did some online research and found that Northern Bottle Nosed Whales were known to exhibit this behavior in the Clyde. This is not a species we have seen before, or are common in now.

We reached Ardrossan harbour while we still had light, and I got the foresails stowed and ropes and fenders prepared in the approaches. I can called the Marina earlier, and knew to go onto Pontoon F, just inside the harbour, and take any vacant berth. However the pontoons were not labelled which made things more difficult! The first obvious vacant berth had me moving the fenders rather than searching for a port side berth I had set up for, and someone came to help us moor up. He was excited to meet us, saying “Is this the famous Robinetta?” It turns out that he has one of my books on his kindle, and I invited him on board to see her.

Our berth was just across the pontoon finger from an old gaff yawl with Albert Strange lines. There was no one on board when we arrived, but we could see the name Redwing, and we found her on the Boat Register. She turns out to be owned by a current Scottish OGA member we had never met (he lives in England). James and his crew (also a James) appeared back on board just as we were settling down, and we came out on deck and had a chat before inviting them below for a dram. Another convivial OGA evening ensued. Two in a row!

Heading north in calm weather

We had been checking the weather carefully, as we needed to head home after the weekend, and it looked as though the wind would be a bit strong on Friday, Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday. That made us wonder if we should head home early, and give Sails and Sounds a miss. Julian worked from boat yesterday, while I took a bus trip to Newtownards to get some laundry done. He was meant to do the same today, but he woke up with a very sore throat and a stinking cold; in no fit state to work.

We decided it made sense to start heading north today, as while Julian had no mental energy he was up to helming in the windless conditions we expected. We wanted to get diesel which meant a walk to the local filling station with our cans. The 16 litres went straight into Robinetta’s tanks, and Julian decided he was up to another walk to get more while I went to get my pre-booked haircut.

The tide to leave Portaferry started in our favour at 10:30, but we were not ready to leave until 12:20 and the tide was running strongly through the marina. I made a mess of backing Robinetta out of her berth, and had to go back in and try again. Luckily there was no boat beside us and I did not hit anything, although it was far from an elegant exit.

The tide was running hard through the narrows, and we could see the named whirlpool, the Routen Wheel, in motion. We stayed well clear, but there were minor rosts all over the surface trying to take us off course and we were making 7-8 knots over the ground.

What wind there was was coming from the North West, meaning any overfalls were slight, and we were soon clear of the Lough. We had the tide in our favour for an hour, but after that it was a steady motor at 3.5-4 knots in a straight line to Portpatrick. We got the main sail up, but there was no wind to fill it. The sun was out, the air was warm, and the sea state smooth. Motoring for hours on end is not really our thing, but with no way to mount our autohelm we were hand steering the whole time. We took hour and hour about, with Julian sleeping to recover between shifts.

We got the unused mainsail down and neatly stowed, then began to add clothes as darkness fell, with Julian piling on the layers, even when below.

Entering a harbour in the dark is always an interesting exercise, but we did have a cheat for Portpatrick, having been there only the week before. Our previous track was still on our chartpotter and I could follow it in with confidence until we were close enough to use my eyes.

Once we were in the inner harbour I looked round for the best berth. There was only one yacht in, which had taken the berth we used last week, but the one behind it was just as good. I heard a call from the quay side, warning me about a big black buoy. This distracted me enough that I had to make my approach again, but this was not a problem. There were young teenagers on the quay with their father, and they took our shore lines so we did not have to climb the ladder. There was also a call from the yacht “Are you OGA?”

It turns out that the yacht, and the grandchildren, belonged to a Dublin Bay OGA member. We were invited on board for a dram and stayed until after midnight. They were heading South, to Portaferry for Sails and Sounds before returning to their home port.