motoring home

 Julian got up at 1 a.m. to look for meteors, and did see two, but the sky was partially overcast, and there was more light pollution than we had hoped. However we spent a very peaceful night at anchor, with Robinetta and Worm hardly moving.

The overcast night meant there was no point getting up before dawn to have another look for meteors, but we were awake by 6, and the anchor was up by 06:30. This gave us a little helpful tide past Colintraive then slack water down the East Kyle. Julian got the main sail up after we passed the ferry, then went below and cooked porridge for breakfast. I was being spoilt, as there was nothing for me to do except keep on eye on "George" to make sure he was steering straight. 

Julian went below to get more sleep after breakfast, while I stayed on watch until we were nearly at Toward. There was finally enough wind to be worth trying to sail, so I called below to warn Julian, and he came up on deck. George went off duty, and Julian took over as the engine went off. Unfortunately the wind did not last. We managed to sail until just after the Toward Cardinal, and then the engine, (and George) took over again.

We saw only one yacht trying to sail in the Clyde, yhe other three yachts we saw were motoring. Waverly steamed past us again, then as we reached Cloche Point there were the ferries. I had hoped for a little sailing breeze at this point, but the air seemed still, and we lowered the main without going head to wind. We even took the jib down and stowed it to save time once we got back to our mooring.

We were back on our home mooring half an hour before high water, and rowing away just after, with a fully laden dinghy. Julian had been away for 6 weeks, and I had for 4. It felt good to be home again.