Going Nowhere

moored up in Crinan Basin

We got updates every few hours from the Canal staff. There was too much rainwater in the canal and they were purging it out of both ends. By the time they got it under control, it was too windy at the top locks.

Someone saw an otter eating a fish in one of the fender tyres outside the sea loch but it was gone before I got there.

I had a coffee and a cake and did some studying.

A short rally, and a wet sail

All plans change with the weather. The OGA rally dinner on Friday was a great success, only one person who booked failed to get there, and his place was taken by a single handed sailor of a Wylo called Matthew.

However the weather on Saturday and Sunday meant that no on the water activities were sensible, and the band expected to play on Saturday evening cancelled. With an eye on the weather ahead the rally dispersed on Saturday morning, to head home north or south. We left Kerrera on 09:20, heading for Croubh, or Ardfern, or Crinan, depending on how the day went.

Sequoiah in Kerrera Sound

Sequoiah was going to head north for the Caledonian Canal, but she sailed south down Kerrera Sound with us. We were motor sailing, with very little wind, but it was just about worth unfurling the jib as we sailed in company, taking photos of each other before Sequoiah turned back.

We worked out that we should be able to make Crinan before the lock keepers stopped working, and we would have a favourable tide the whole way. I phoned Crinan, and they said they had room for us, although we might need to raft up. So we settled down to make sure we kept up at least 4 knots.

Sender II

Sender II sailed past us, disappearing ahead to go through the Sound of Luing as we furled our jib before heading into Easdale Sound. 

This is a short passage, but full of rocks and mooring buoys to avoid. We went through without problems. As we aimed for Cuan Sound we noticed 2 Bermudan yachts behind us. They were sailing hard, beating into the wind across Easdale Bay, and we soon realised they intended to sail into Cuan Sound. We lowered the engine revs to let the first one get past us before entering the Sound. We were worried that having them tacking ahead of us could make it difficult to avoid them in the narrow channel, but this did not happen as they sped ahead.

Julian was keeping a careful eye on them, and saw how the wind caught them as they turned to pass Cleit Rock, and decided we should reef. This worked perfectly, and we were reefed well down as we came off the wind on turning west of the Cleit rock. We got the jib out, and throttled back, and sailed at 7 knots with the tide under us towards the north end of Torsa. This was the only part of our trip where we were not sailing as close to the wind as possible, and it was over all too soon.

The second yacht came past before we reached the end of Torsa, and was well clear before we turned back onto the wind, heading for Shuna Sound. Another 3 yachts came round the north of Torsa as we watched, and we thought they must be racing. We were not, so we furled our jib, and fully reefed the main sail as the wind became very strong in the gusts. Drizzle turned into rain as we left Shuna Sound, and by the time we were heading for the Dorus Mor it became torrential.

Luckily the sea state stayed slight, nothing to cause Robinetta problems, and we were well up to time on our ETA at Crinan. The strengthening wind caused Robinetta to heel, and I was having to round up to spill wind in the gusts, so we got the main sail down 2 miles north of the Dorus Mor.

Motorsailing on staysail alone got us through the Dorus Mor at 2 knots. The favourable tide was slackening, and the wind was on the nose, but once we were through the narrow passage we could come off the wind slightly and sped up again.

By the time we reached the sea lock at Crinan we were soaked through and cold. Luckily there were two lock keepers waiting to take our lines. They needed patience. I had tied a 5m and a 10 m line together to they would be long enough in the lock as we were close to low water, but I had not tied the stern lines together well enough, and it came apart when Julian threw it. We lost the black line. Meanwhile I was totally failing to throw the bow line high enough until the lock keeper extended a boat hook, which I managed to reach.

Once we were tied on at the bow I headed back to the cockpit, and tied another line on to the stern, Julian was justifiably unhappy with my ineptitude as he fended us off from the other side of the lock with the boat hook.

It took me two goes to get the stern line onto the boat hook, but we were finally secured.

Once Robinetta was floating at the height of the basin Julian went to pay for the transit, and get the codes for the toilets. The lock keeper grumbled that we had not told them about the bowsprit and Robinetta would not fit where they had planned, so I got the bowsprit in, which was the first time I had done it in a while. It did not want to move, and I spotted some paint missing from the deck beneath where it's inboard end had rested.

Once we were in the basin I changed the fenders over to the port side, and Julian got us into the tight space where the lock keeper was waiting to help us in. It was a real relief to be tied up securely. We pulled Worm ashore and tipped out the rain, then Julian went off to the heads while I got the covers on. Sender II made it into the Canal well before us, and had already headed down the canal to moor at Belanoch before we entered the basin.

We are in for a wet and windy night. Julian complained that it was always raining in Crinan, so I reminded him that we only came here when the weather was bad. That cheered him up a bit, but he hates canals, and locks. There is no Wi-Fi here, or phone signal, so we headed for the pub after dinner, to get some weather information and post this blog

Calm to horrid, and back again

We spent a comfortable and calm night anchored at Salen Bay, although a slight swell began to roll in about 5 a.m. The morning was dry, but not especially warm, and Julian had his Gaelic lesson in the cabin as the wind was a bit too brisk to have it in the cockpit.

We had decided to head straight for Kerrera; after 3 days at anchor I wanted a shower, and we needed to get laundry done. The Met office forecast the wind to be gusting up to force 7 in the morning, and we would be heading straight into it, so we had no plans to sail.

We got the engine on and the anchor up as soon as the lesson ended at 10:30, and soon discovered how well sheltered we had been. The sea state once we were heading between Dearg Sgeir and Mull was nasty, but we had the tide with us, and made it though on engine and nearly centred staysail without being stopped by the waves. Sometimes the wind gusts were so strong that Robinetta’s bow was pushed to port, and bringing her back on course was difficult despite the engine being on full revs.

Provident tacked into the bay ahead of us, then tacked again and came past us inside Dearg Sgeir. She was reefed, but moving fast.

We stayed under engine, keeping to the Mull side of the sound. A Bermudan rigged yacht was sailing down the sound with us, tacking just behind us on each leg. We could not have sailed as close to the wind, but our motoring approach let us keep slightly ahead with her course made good.

The lumpy sea kept our speed down to around 3 knots, but Fishnish Bay gave use enough shelter for the waves to disappear, and the swell was not a problem. We were making 4 knots then, which was lovely. Julian made sandwiches for lunch and the trip began to feel pleasant.

That changed after we passed Rubha Leth Thorcaill and lost all shelter. The waves were back, the wind seemed to strengthen, and we passed though a large lump of seaweed that we were afraid would wrap itself round the prop. Once we checked the prop was clear we realised that the drop in speed was due to the waves. Their wavelength had shortened, and turned them into Robinetta stoppers.

Once Julian took the helm he got the jib out, and we started sailing on jib and staysail to see if that would help our speed. Our first tack, towards Ardtornish Point was exhilarating, although we were soon overhauled by the Bermudan yacht that had been keeping us company. When we tacked back towards Mull on the non making tack our course made good did not increase, and we soon lost sight of the other yacht.

The next hour and a half saw us lucky to make 1½ knots, and not all of that was course made good. Glas Eileanan never seemed to get any closer, and it began to spit with rain. I put my oily trousers on before I took my turn on the helm, but may as well not have bothered. The rain became torrential, and went straight through them, soaking the trousers beneath and even allowing runnels of water into my sea boots. Visibility went down to less than 50m, and we got our lifejackets on. The rain did damp the waves a little, and the wind began to decrease. Our speed crept up to 3 knots, and it looked as though we would get to the south end of Lismore before the tide turned. Julian suggested a mug of soup, which was heavenly.

The visibility began to get better, and I could see Duart Castle, and one of the smaller Mull ferries then the rain became drizzle, then stopped. By the time the ferry passed us on its way back we were past Lismore, and the sky was clearing, and there was even a hint of sun over Oban. The wind was very light now, and Julian suggested we give George a go on the helm. Once one of the big CalMac ferries, with horrible wash had passed us I agreed to give him a go, and handed over the steering.

Not long after that Robinetta was rolling gently towards Oban in bright sunshine. Julian decided he wanted to try sailing, and with the main up and the engine off we sailed for an hour until the wind died totally. That hour made up for the horrid conditions of the previous 6 hours of the trip. We stripped off our sodden oilies and spread them out to dry, had a cup of tea, and generally relaxed. The sky to the north was still dark grey, but that just made the rainbow we could see over Dunstaffinage brighter.

We were moored on a pontoon at Kerrera Marina by 18:15 after a very varied day of sailing. It had rained so much that Worm’s duck boards were afloat, but the day ended in bright sunshine.

We will be staying at Kerrera until at least Sunday, as we are hosting a rally for the OGA. More on that in due course.

Salen

The weather was drizzly as we got ready to leave but it dried up and we got some blue sky and even some sun heading out of Loch Sunart.

We got the sails up in the narrows of the entrance to Loch Drumbuie. In theory, the wind was behind us, but it was totally still for long enough.

Other boats were leaving too, taking advantage of today's weaker gusts.

The wind and gusts, and especially the lulls, were quite challenging near the rocks at the entrance to Loch Sunart. But the tide was pushing us nicely south, our of harms way. We reefed down and motor sailed as far as the cardinal and then turned the engine off.

Looking north up the Sound of Mull

We tacked near Calve Island and suddenly it wasn't nice. I don't think the sailing was different but I had the sun in my eyes and reflecting off the water and the view south was horrid, dark and foreboding. I turned the engine on and pointed straight into the wind. That calmed everything down and got the sun out of my eyes.

We carried on like that for an hour and then it felt much nicer again so we sailed the rest.

Coming into Salen Bay we had more swell than we expected. I said "maybe we just have a lunch stop".

But once we were anchored, it all felt nice.

Salen Bay is really sheltered from the west and south but it's open to the Sound and we are getting strong-is sh wash from ferries and shipping. But fewer than one per hour.

Towards Salen

Loch Drumbuie is lovely but it was time to move. I need better internet on Wednesday morning for my class and we need to get to Kererra some time!

Southerly winds will head us in the Sound of Mull so I wanted to go west-about Mull. But there is a huge Atlantic swell at the moment. It's predicted as 5 m off Tiree today and 2.5 m off the north-west coast of Mull. 

So we won't do that.

I fancy going into Loch Don at some point. Bob Bradfield speaks glowingly about the wildlife there on his Antares chart. But it's not ideal for internet.

Our usual stop in the Sound of Mull would be Loch Aline. But Salen looks good on paper with southerly winds. 

The tides run south this morning, so we will get some help pointing. And it's only 11 nm. Time to get going.

Slowing right down

abandoned village on the Treshnish peninsula

Our 2 night stay in Tobermory was used to be true tourists, rather than sailers. On Friday night we went to two concerts and a Ceilidh, and really enjoyed all activities. Getting to our walk required us to get a taxi at 07:20 (the only time one was available). Luckily the Tobermory Stores opens at 7a.m. so we could buy pies for our packed lunches. The walk was great, but really tiring, and we were given a lift back to Tobermory by another couple who had been on the walk with us.

Waking up this morning took a while, and the overcast then rain did not encourage us to move. We had hoped to sail to Coll and anchor, but with gusts of 30knots forecast for Tuesday morning we had already decided against that. Today we might had sailed to Ulva ferry, a much more sheltered anchorage than Coll, but in the end we left Tobermory just before noon, and sailed back to Loch Sunart.

We had a lovely reach over the Sound of Mull and past the Little Stirk cardinal, but then the wind faded away and we were only making half a knot under sail. No problem, this was the perfect time to heat some pies for lunch. The wind even obliged us by increasing once we finished our pies and let us sail into the Loch.

The problem was that the wind was very gusty, 20 knots one minute, and 2 the next, which made helming rather challenging.

Julian had a look at going into the anchorage at Loch Teacuis, but by the time we got to the entrance channel it would be close to low water, and this
channel is less than ½m deep in places. Instead we headed back to Loch Drambuie. There were already 5 yachts at anchor on the south side of the Loch, but we were happy to anchor near to the same spot we had left on Friday. We will probably be here 2 nights, sheltering from the Met office’s noon forecast of SE force3-4 increasing 5-6 later, with force 4-6 still blowing tomorrow.

 

Back to Tobermory

 We spent two nights at anchor in Loch na Droma Buidhe (Drambuie) off Loch Sunart. It was lovely to just chill out and relax, although we did do some boat maintenance. Julian spend some time looking at things to do on Mull, with the result that first thing this morning we pulled up the anchor and headed back to Tobermory, under engine as there was no wind.

repairs to the stern with undercoated marine filler 

nce tied up on the pontoon I finally got round to repairing the damage to the stern that we had done back in Stronsay in June. Epoxy filler needs the wood to be dry, and we had finally achieved that state!

Tonight we will be going to a Ceilidh at An Tobar, and tomorrow we have booked to join a walking tour in the north end of Mull. Having Robinetta on a pontoon makes both excursions easier, and we can also refill the water tanks.

Tobermory and Loch Drumbuie

We came to Tobermory to make sure I would be able to take my class. I woke up late and got up even later.

We were on a buoy so we had to row ashore for the heads. We got back with 5 minutes to spare. I managed to get online before the teacher!

Then we were just going back ashore to get some lunch and a lovely Australian chap came over in his dinghy and we chatted for the best part of an hour.

It was 12:20 before we got ashore.

We got hot pies and ate them and then it was time for my next zoom call, a conversation session associated with my class.

I started that from the harbour side, but then it started spitting with rain so we went back to Robinetta. It was fun joining one breakout room from the shore, another from the dinghy and a third from the cabin!

We had told the harbour we would be leaving at lunchtime. So after my second zoom session we headed over to the fuel dock and filled up and headed out.

I'd suggested Loch Drumbuie for an overnight. I wasn't expecting any wind but we had a smashing beat around the rocks off Loch Sunart and then a very gentle run in, all the way through the narrows into Loch Drumbuie.

Once through the narrows we turned head to wind and put the engine on to drop the sails. This always drops the volts to the chart plotter and it restarts.

Not this time. It went off and stayed off and the VHF was off too. I swapped the fuses with the cabin lights and the cabin lights still worked so we had a wiring fault. That shouldn't be triggered by a voltage drop.

We had lost depth but we still had a chart plotter and GPS on my phone. We knew where we were on the tide and what the rise and fall were tonight. With the Antares charts, we reckoned it was safe to anchor without a depth gauge.

So we went for it. There was already one yacht in the north anchorage and another in the north east but loads of space left. So I laid out 16 m of chain and we dropped in what we think was 4 m under the keel at high water with 2.5 to drop.

Safely at anchor, I started looking for the fault. I'd worked out it wasn't in the switch box when Alison put her coat away and everything came back on line. 

So there is a loose connection in the wet locker. I'll find and fix it before we leave.

South to Tobermory

An easterly wind got up in the night, and Robinetta was restless on the mooring. Having wined and dined a little too well last night I was not at my best, but neither Julian nor I wanted to stay longer, so dropped the buoy just after 8 a.m.

The harbour entrance was very bouncy, and the wind on the nose and the tide heading into the harbour brought our speed under engine down to 2 knots. We slogged over to the shelter of Rhum before trying to raise the main sail, and did so with a reef in. Julian managed to get a weather update, and the met office forecast took us aback. Variable 2-4. The wind had felt much stronger than that! However the met office was right, and we soon shook out the reef.

Calm after a bouncy start, Canna in the distance

We headed down the west side of Rum, on a straight line course for Ardnamurchan point. The wind came and went, and the engine went on and off, but we had 4 hours of sailing in our 10 hour passage, which was much better than we did on the trip from Canna.

There was not as much bird life as earlier in the season, but we were briefly visited by dolphins. From what we could see they lacked the yellow stripe of common dolphins, and we wondered if they were Atlantic white stripes, which are also on the local cetacean listings. However a local expert I asked later said tht white stripes were very rare, and they were most likely to be Commons, whose yellow stripes can be very pale.

The wind died away as we passed Ardnamurchan point, and the sea became glassy in the sound of Mull. As soon as we were safely past the wash from a ferry coming out of the sound we got the sails down.

An hour later we were on a mooring buoy just off Tobermory marina, and after a light dinner (it was a diet day) I rowed us ashore to the co-op, and for a walk around Tobermory. Nothing seemed to have changed since we were last here, except that Cafe Fish, cooked no fresh fish; smoked fish and shell fish only.

Ashore on Canna

We spent Monday exploring Canna, walking up the hill from the harbour to see the 9th century Celtic cross, then continuing west along the coast to where a Neolithic Souterrain showed the island had been inhabited for thousands of years. The sun was scorching, and the wind none existent, which made the return trip exhausting. For the first time this year we were too hot. The cool shelter of the Sheering Shed, where we could get cold drinks from an honesty fridge, was a lifesaver as we got back to the village.

Julian by the souterrain

Celtic cross

Rum from Canna

After rowing back to Robinetta we went straight into the cabin to get out of the sun, and spent a couple of hours relaxing. I spent some of that time watching as yachts arrived and tried to pick up mooring buoys. This is never easy to do with an audience, but they made me glad that Robinetta is small, with much lower bows than most modern cruising yachts. Eventually all the buoys were taken and by half six there were at least 4 yachts at anchor as well.

I rowed us ashore via a Cornish Crabber 30 called Wave of Mylor, wanting to exchange greetings with a fellow gaffer. Once Julian and I had showered we met up with her crew and had a drink before going into the restaurant for dinner.

Vatersay to Canna

We poured over the pilot books trying to decide where to go next. The weather was calm but variable for a little while, but we didn't want to get stuck north of Ardnamurchan and miss our own rally in Kererra at the end of the month.

Coll and Tiree are closest to Vatersay but have no anchorages good enough for changeable weather.

We decided to go to Canna, which is a bit in the wrong direction, but nearer everywhere else.

It's about 36 nm from Vatersay to Canna. We didn't get away until 10 am but that felt OK.

We went south around Muldoanich, we allowed us to sail. The wind went very light and we put the line out and caught 4 mackerel instantly. One was huge. I put one of the normal sized ones back.

The trip to Canna was uneventful. We got some wind we could use for some of it and motored the rest.

I split the time between cleaning the fish and scallops, cooking them and eating them, preparing for my first class of the new Gaelic course and reading Johnson and Boswell.

We had the scallops as a starter for lunch. Just fried in butter. Lovely.

At Alison's suggestion, I cooked the mackerel with a sweet apple. That turned out brilliantly. We had sautéed potatoes too and it made a big lunch. George was helming and the weather was lovely.

We got to Canna about 8:30 in the evening and picked up a mooring buoy. It had lost its pickup buoy but it was easy to grab the rope.

North coast of Canna

Canna Harbour is an EE dead spot.

Vatersay

 We thought of having breakfast at the cafe but there was a bit too much swell. So we had breakfast on board, by which time the swell had gone down so we rowed ashore to use the facilities and found that the café was shut. So we were glad we'd eaten!

There is a well marked trail around the island visiting the historical and archaeological sites. It was such a lovely day that we had no excuse! We did skip the last bit which visits the trespass village. Not because we were tired, but because a short-cut would take us past the cake box! We had tray bakes. Deliciously indulgent.

Gorgeous views all along the trail.

Neolithic standing stone

Contrails heading to America

Back at the beach, I went for my first swim of the year. I've wanted to lots of times but there have always been too many jellyfish. It was cold, but lovely.

On the way back to Robinetta, we dropped off boat cards on the two gaffers.

Back aboard, we spotted someone in a dinghy by the gaffers and waved. A while later, he rowed over and came aboard and we had a beer and chatted. They have had Eleanore B for a few years, initially as a lug ketch but this year converted to gaff cutter to be more suitable for couple cruises. They are relief crew for Eda Fransen.

The others had gone scallop diving. They also came to say hello. Later, the skipper of Wild brought us two of the huge scallops they had dived.

Hopefully we will see them again. Two lovely young couples with gaffers!

Too uncomfortable to stay put

Robinetta’s motion at anchor when we went to bed last night was not too bad, but by 02:20 she was rocking so violently that I was wide awake, and unable to get to sleep. We knew swell would get into the anchorage, but this was much worse than we had hoped. There was no way we could stay here.

By 02:30 Julian had the anchor on deck, and I was helming Robinetta back along her outbound track. Neither of us had the energy to raise sail, and with the lines frapped up Julian did not even think of getting the cover of the stay sail as he came back to the cockpit. Only one of us was needed, so after he wet the tea I had boiled the kettle for Julian stayed below, and got back under the covers. Every now and then he popped his head up, and asked if I wanted spelling, but I did not feel at all sleepy, so stayed on the helm the whole way.

The half moon was reasonably clear of cloud, but no stars appeared for a long time. I kept on the line as I steered past the dark shapes of Mingulay and Pabbay simply enough, by keeping the moon’s glow on the starboard bow. At some point I would need to leave that line, to head for the anchorage at Vatersay, so I called Julian up to put in a course to steer.

The clouds to the north cleared away at about 04:30, and I suddenly had a star to steer by, or at least a planet, as I was pretty sure this was Venus. The horizon began to brighten, and by the time I called Julian up at 05:10 it was light enough to pick out the yachts at anchor in Vatersay Bay. Spotting the crab pot markers was not nearly so easy, and Julian thinks we ran one down. Nothing wrapped itself round the prop….

By 05:32 we were anchored again, in 6m under the keel at the bottom of the tide. Julian put 30m of chain down, which should be enough to hold us with a rise of tide of 2.5m. To our surprise we were not the only gaffer there, in fact the gaff rigged yachts outnumbered the bermudan ones!

Once I was sure we were secure I went to bed, and slept like a baby until 09:30. When I woke up the sky was blue, the sun was shining, and there was a slight swell running...

North Bay, Vatersay

 

 

A short sail south to Mingulay

We spent Thursday in Castlebay, repairing Worm and putting Danish oil on Robinetta’s cabin sides. The weather was overcast, with mist wreathing round the hills, and we did not want to do much. Today was clearer, with a light breeze, and we decided to head for Mingulay. It is only 11nm from Castlebay, so we were not in a hurry to leave, and caught the 10:30 bus, which goes to the ferry and airports, then returns in a circular route.

Leaving Castle Bay

Once back at the marina Julian launched Worm, and we set off for Mingulay at 12:30. We raised sail in the Castlebay approaches, and headed for Mingulay under sail, not minding that we were doing less than 3 knots on a run.

Once we turned south we were broad reaching and sped up.

Robinetta at anchor in Mingulay East Bay

The sea was calm, and the light wind kept us going past Vatersay Sandray, and Pabay. It was a lovely sail until the wind went very light as we approached East Bay on Mingulay. We headed into the bay under engine, to see a flock of sea kayaks sitting just off the beach as they decided where to land.

I headed us slowly towards the beach, hoping to get to 4m beneath the keel before we dropped anchor. We seemed to be getting very close to the steeply sloping beach, and I lost my nerve, and told Julian to drop anchor with 6m under the keel. We had 25m of chain ready, and Julian let out another 10m when I told him our depth. We were only an hour before low water, with 3m rise of tide expected.

Once we were secure on the anchor I rowed us ashore. The pilot book warned about problems with landing due to the swell, so we picked our place and moment carefully. We got ashore without problems, and had a short walk. Low clouds were drifting in over the hills from the west, and we spent less than an hour ashore. Still, we got to explore the deserted village of East Bay.

Relaunching Worm as carefully as we had come ashore, we got back to Robinetta with sandy feet, but no water in the dinghy.

Deserted village on Mingulay

Onward to Barra

We decided that we might as well go straight to Castlebay, Barra, today. There was very little wind in the forecast, so it would be a motoring day. As long as the waves from yesterday's sailing breeze had gone we would be able to put George on the helm and sit back.

That is almost exactly what we did. We did get the main sail up at the north end of Rum, and had half an hour under main and jib as we headed to the south end of Canna, and another hour sailing after lunch, but George had no problems helming when we were motor sailing.

The sitting back bit did not quite happen. When Julian got the sail cover off the stay sail before letting go of the mooring buoy at 07:45 he discovered that the tape we had used to mend the stay sail in Mallaig had come off along half its length. I spent over half the trip to Barra sitting in the cabin sewing it in place. I knew I should have sewn it on in the first place, rather than just relying on the self adhesive!

Motor sailing towards the hazy horizon

We did the 45 miles from Rum  in just over 11 hours. The light breeze kept the sails full, but with that distance to cover we wanted to keep above 4 knots, and that meant having the engine on as well. This meant George could be used, and all our tech got a good charge. The horizon was hazy, but the sky overhead was bright blue, and the sun sparkled on the water.

We were tied up in Castlebay Marina by 19:00, which gave us enough time to walk up to the Fish Box Kitchen and get scallops and
prawns for dinner which we ate in the cockpit with a glass of wine. Lovely.

Sun plus wind

I've been pretty down in the dumps since Stornoway. We haven't had a decent day's weather on the boat. Either too much wind or none at all and no sunshine to speak of. Some days the visibility has been less than a mile and the cloud base has been a few hundred metres.

This afternoon promised sun. The forecast wind was 8 knots gusting 12 from the south. A bit calm to move Robinetta but more would have created too much swell.

It was a flat calm with a hint of blue sky at Inverie this morning. So we put the No 1 jib on and raised the main on the mooring and motored off. Next stop Rum.

We picked up a pod of dolphins near Bogha Don (or Bodha Donn as I think it should be). Lots of young. We normally think of them as common dolphins but I saw a picture today that makes me think these might have been Atlantic white sided. They followed the boat for a while doing lots of jumps but we didn't get any pictures.

Then a second group came to play near Mallaig.

After that there was a huge group of mixed seabirds on the water. We tried fishing but we weren't very patient.

Then a third group of dolphins and a Minke.

Breaks in the clouds came and went but the blue seemed to be winning.

We could feel a tiny bit of wind. As we got out into the Sound of Sleat, it got more noticeable. After a while we were heeling a little so I throttled back and put the jib out. The sea was still glassy but there was enough wind to move us at 3 knots! The engine went off.

Entering Loch Scresort, Rum

mThe trip to Rum was lovely. The wind dropped away for a few minutes and then started building. Two miles from Rum we needed to reef but the sea was still slight. Eda Fransen was there at anchor and gave us a wave. We dropped the sails, shaking out the reef, and picked up one of the new visitors buoys around 2pm.

After a cup of tea, we rowed ashore and walked to the shop, past the “castle”. By now, it was brilliant sunshine and the woody path’s shade was welcome.

Rum has excellent walks but my toe is still a little sore, although it is healing well. So after an ice cream, we headed back.

Aboard, we caught up on emails and read it for a bit and then I cooked the venison meatballs we bought at Inverie, with spaghetti and a jar of Ragu.

After dinner, we rowed ashore again to visit the otter hide.

We didn't see any otters but I did see a heron.

This is the sort of day I desperately needed.

 

A bumpy night

The Inverie moorings lived up to their "not sheltered" label but Robinetta was secure on her mooring. We tried tying Worm alongside to stop her bumping the stern, and it worked for a while, but at 2 am the line was making a lot of noise. I got up and let her off astern, and the rest of the night was quieter.

We woke up to heavy rain, and noticable swell. The mooring was not exactly comfortable, but moving  did not appeal either. By lunch time the swell had died down enough to contemplate rowing ashore, so after a sandwich lunch I bailed Worm out, and we headed ashore to spend the afternoon in the Old Forge Inn (they do not serve meals on Mondays).

The coffee, beer, and whisky were excellent, and we spent the afternoon there. Visibility was poor, but we were snug and dry in the Inn.

Setting out again

After breakfast on board I went hunting for the cloth tape I use for taping the mast boot on. I used this for a temporary repair to the stay sail. There was not quite enough to tape both sides of the sail, but I reinforced it with some Gorilla tape, and hopefully it will see Robinetta as far as Oban. There is no sail maker at Mallaig.

We headed ashore to shop, then Julian put the stay sail back on its boom, and lashed it in place. After a full set of engine checks it was time to turn the engine on, but we left it for a while, and ate lunch before heading out. This also let one of the ferries leave its berth without us need to worry about being in its way.

I set in a course for Rum while the engine warmed up, and Julian set up the no2 jib, then he let the mooring go at 13:10 and we headed out.

The sea state did not seem too bad while we raised sail, but as soon as we were on course towards the Point of Sleat it seemed to kick up. We were on a fine reach, but not heeling too badly, and the sails seemed well balanced. Then I actually look at the main, and it was luffing horribly. It was time to pull it in to set properly, and reef down to balance the no2 jib that way.

The sky was grey, the sea state was uncomfortable, Rum, only 14nm away, was indistinct and covered in cloud. I could see sunshine to the north of the Sound of Sleat, and when I mentioned it to Julian he just grumbled that it would be gone by the time we got there. It was time for a rethink.

We tacked round, and headed for Loch Nevis on a very broad reach. With the waves on the stern quarter not the bow Robinetta’s motion became a lot easier. There was sun on the mountain we were heading towards, and the views were much closer.

The wind was very gusty, and as we approached the entrance to Loch Nevis we were going from 3-5 knots with the gusts. It was fun at first, much more enjoyable than heading to Rum, but I was beginning to get tired. Julian took the helm, and when the strongest gust yet hit us and it was time to gybe away towards Inverie I could not bring the main sail in. We held our course for a little, then tacked round instead.

We were getting close to the Bogha Don beacon, and the wind had gone lighter, so we rolled the jib away, ready to gybe. The another gust hit us, and we had to put the engine on to get Robinetta head to wind to put a bigger reef in.

Bogha Don must be an 18th century mis-hearing. Bogha is a bow. Bodha is a submerged rock that water breaks over. Don could either be dona, or donn. Julian's money is on Bodha Dona, "badly breaking rock".

Sailing away from Inverie to get sea room we though about heading towards Inner Loch Nevis instead. There was a strange shape in the distance, so I headed below to have a look at the pilot book. I should have known better. The strange shape was Eda Fransen, heading towards us with her main sail up and no foresails set. Once she was past us Julian checked on the anchorages available and decided they were too far up the loch.

 The sun came out, and Inverie was calling us. There are moorings there, and we saw a large pod of dolphins leaping out of the water. We turned our engine off as they came towards us, but they were not interested in playing, just fishing. We sailed for 15 minutes before putting the engine back on to get the main sail down and pick up a mooring. We hoped to do this under stay sail, but the gusty wind made it difficult. Even after getting the stay sail down it took 3 goes to pick up the mooring. We had been out less than 3 hours, but it was definitely time to stop.

Inverie is not well sheltered with wind from the south west, and we are bobbing about on the mooring with no desire to get into Worm for a bouncy trip ashore. The sun was soon lost behind the clouds, and it began to rain. Hopefully the weather will be better in the morning!

Returning aboard

When we got back to Mallaig this afternoon the first task was to rescue Worm from the dinghy park at the end of the pontoon. The rubber dinghies surrounding her had not prevented her from being pushed against or under the pontoon, and the top of the gunwhales were scuffed. The rope fender had done its job on her sides though, and although the fender looked squashed the wood was fine. The duck board was afloat, but the rain water had not reached the level of the thwarts. There was not really room to haul her up and tip the water out, but Julian managed to get some out by tipping her where she floated, and the rest got bailed out with the milk carton bailer we keep tied to her. Once she was empty enough for us not to get our feet wet we put the luggage in, and I rowed us out to Robinetta.

We knew that the stay sail cover had been blown off during the storm, but luckily it was still in the foredeck. Unfortunately the stay sail had been damaged while free to blow about, and the leech of the sail was ripped for over half its length. We will need a new stay sail this winter.

Julian had tied the boom crutches securely in place, and although they were not exactly where we had left them they were still doing their job of keeping the boom from moving. There was no damage to the main sail, and both jibs had been stowed below before we left so were in no danger.

All in all Robinetta had come through the storm well.

I rowed us ashore again after a cup of tea, and we had takeaway fish and chips for dinner.

Aproaching Storm

We spent a day in Mallaig, doing laundry and boat maintenance, intending to head off to Rum or Canna the next day. The weather put us off, as it was damp and sunless, and when we looked ahead we saw the weather was about to get really bad, with strong winds. We could get to Castlebay, on Barra, before the storm hit, or Lochboisdale where we had sheltered in 2015, but instead we decided to head home. Julian had not been home for over 3 months, and I had only paid a couple of flying visits.

The rules at Mallaig marina are that boats on pontoons have to have someone in attendance, but they could be left on the moorings. There are only 7 moorings, and three already had boats on them, so we moved Robinetta onto a buoy before having lunch. By 3 pm all the buoys were taken. I rowed us ashore in Worm, and we left her tied up in the dingy mooring area, and caught the afternoon train home. 

We will not be back on board until Storm Floris has passed over.