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!