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.