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.
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