Home

We're back.  1400 miles in 11 and a bit weeks.  20 islands (Scotland and the Scillies), 43 ports/ anchorages.  We've visited lovely places we would never have got to by other means, seen some wonderful wildlife and met many kind and friendly people.  We've been lucky with the weather, and maybe luckier to be back now it seems to be breaking!

We're earlier than we planned having decided not to go west of Ireland, but it's still nice to be home.  The house is spic and span thanks to Alan and Wan's care, and even the garden looks fine.  We planted potatoes and some squash in the veg garden, thinking that they could at least manage a fair fight with the weeds.  The squash definitely won!  No visitor will be permitted to leave without at least two!

Scilly Cruising

Take it as it sounds.

We had an uneventful 24 hour crossing from Ireland to the Scillies, helped greatly by Tim taking a share of the watches.  We had some fog, which is disconcerting, particularly at night (ships you can't see are much more worrying than ships you can), motored some of the time, and arrived in Tresco surprisingly fresh.

Tresco is a small island designed to look like an ideal seaside village.  The result seemed to us to be a bit unnatural and twee.  There are quite a lot of holidaymakers, trippers and yachtspeople and few residents.  The gardens however are superb, making the most of the island's frost-free climate. And even ordinary roadside walls can be spectacular.

St Mary's is even busier and less characterful but the two smaller islands we visited, St Martins and St Agnes were both lovely and more natural and lived in.  In all we had a delightful potter around for four days.

We croosed to |Falmouth yesterday - again a quiet passage of 11 hours or so.  Tim left us this morning and Val and I went on to Plymouth, where we are now.  We ventured a line in the water and out popped a mackerel, then another and ....  They're all pretty small so we think we can manage the five for dinner tonight.

The bad news is the weather.  Just about everything short of gales is in the forecast.  Rain, thunder, strong winds (south - we need to go southeast), fog.  So far we are expecting a locust-free passage but who knows?  None of the forecasts we seen seem to be predicting any improvements, but we're still looking for one that does.  We may stick around here for some time!

Irish Reflections

We've almost done Ireland.  We're in Kilmore Quay in the Southeastern corner.  It's still hot and sunny and we've been motoring most of the way down the coast.  Hot weather tends to lead to more clothes to need washing and machines aren't always available so Val has developed a constructive hobby (above)!  Marion and Grant stayed a couple of days and we did some motoring, some birdwatching and some walking together - all very pleasant and a far cry from some of our Scottish experiences.  We notice a huge variety of places and huge contrasts in relative affluence. Three days ago we were in Arklow; a town that's clearly struggling, with boarded up shops, broken glass on the pavements and drunks in the street in the afternoon.  And now in Kilmore all is bright and freshly painted, with expensive restaurants.

In between we went to Wexford, a historic town with a very large and extremely shallow harbour.  Even with our lifting keel it took a certain amount of nerve to follow the tortuously winding channel for 5 miles, beteen mudbanks laden with large groups of seals, ready to laugh their heads off were we to run aground.  Cry into your Guinness seals!  We didn't!

But a constant feature of everywhere we've stopped has been the helpfulness and friendliness of everyone we've met (and it's very easy to meet people here!).  Nevermore so than in Wexford where we were found a mooring, welcomed into the sailing club, and ferried into town by people we'd never met before.  England isn't often like this!

A recent highlightwas a bird reserve in Wexford where in addition to a large variety mainly of water birds we saw a couple of mountain hares playing.  One came for a drink just across a small pond from us (see below).

We will be here  in Kilmore a few days until our friend Tim arrives from England on Saturday to accompany us on the longish (120 miles, 24 hour) passage to the Scillies.

Foreign Parts

We've been skipping down the eastern Irish coast, through some pleasant places - quite a contrast to the wilderness and emptyness we had in the northwest.  Strangford Lough was lovely; we anchored and pottered happily about.  The people were unvarying friendly and helpful.   And yet...  they do talk rather loudly (and sometimes incomprehensibly).  And their signs seem to indicate something.  On the gate of a fishing lake we saw a sign that said (verbatim).  "Members Only.  Gate nust be Locked  before Leaving.  By Order of The Committee."  You might have thought that to club members "Don't forget to lock the gate" would be better?  There were several similar instances.  Make of it what you will.

We're now in Carlingford, a very pretty town on another large inland waterway, this time surrounded by mountains.  Val and I climbed one - Carlingford Mountain (588m) today, and a good walk it was in the heat.  Yes heat!  It finally arrived, so now we can complain about that,  It's lovely and hot and sunny unless you actually want to do anything.  And there's no wind (but please don't anyone pray for rain and gales!).  But we're finally abroad!  In Euroland! After only 8 weeks!

We plan to explore the lough some more tomorrow then go down to Malahide, just outside Dublin, where we're meeting Marion and Grant.  No photo this time - it's all too slow loading, I'm afraid.

Farewell Scotland - and a Change of Plan

We left Scotland yesterday (Monday) and are now in Ballycastle, N Ireland.  We felt we'd had a good go at Scotland:  14 islands, inumerable lochs on islands and the mainland, birds, dolphins, seals in quantity.  And more good food and even good beer than we might have expected.

We met White Magic in Coll and sailed together to Bunessan in SW Mull and then Colonsay.  That took us through the Threshnish Islands, where we stopped to see the puffins on Lunga (see above) - amazingly not at all shy of people (one theory is that the people deter the the skuas - their real enemy).  Then past Staffa and Fingals cave and through the complex rock-strewn tide-races of the Sound of Iona.  All memorable stuff.  Our last Scottish harbour  was Port Ellen on Islay, where they have a rough approximation to a marina!  It was only the second time in the month of June that we could step ashore without using the dinghy!

The point of plans is to change them.  And we have.  Continuing passages and stays in remote places, with worries about whether the anchor will hold when the gale hits, where we will get water, whether we can get ashore to buy food, not to mention whether we can get some washing done, take their toll.  More on Val, who is still suffering from a frozen shoulder, than on me.  And the thought of another 7 weeks in western Ireland, in broadly similar conditions, with the added bonus of the exposed Atlantic coast was uninviting.  Val finally decided she'd had enough halfway from Scotland to Ireland so we whimped out, changed course and will return down the east side of Ireland where there are several marinas and smaller waves (we hope!).  We're still working on the plan, but it will mean missing some of the people we had hoped to see in the west.  Luckily the timing is right so we will still see Marion and Grant, but now in Dublin.

Slowly does it

We're making progress, but at a gentler pace.  My cousins Peter and Sarah stayed a couple of nights with us in South Uist and ferried us around for this and that.  They had been canoeing and camping in some of the most exposed parts of the Hebrides and were the first people ever to treat living on board and sleeping in our tiny forecabin as a luxurious treat!

Then to Eriskay, a lovely little island near the bottom of the chain, with a very sheltered harbour.  We were so comfortable there that we couldn't be bothered to take the boat to Barra, the next island down.  We got the fery instead - now that's luxury!  Then we had the gale.  It blew all day and half the night, and we couldn't get ashore.  But we were comfortable enough in the harbour.

 And so to Coll, where we are now, 40 miles SE and out of the outer chain.  Small, flat and very friendly, 2 shops (more luxury) and an excellent hotel with showers and washing machines (yet more luxury) and a very good restaurant.  And wireless for the blog!  The beaches look beautiful (see above), but sadly are much to chilly to tempt a swim! Jim and Mae arrived today in White Magic, our previous boat, and we plan to sail on somewhere together tomorrow.

We've had no mobile phone reception for the last week or so, which also pretty much means no internet.  You realise how much you get dependant on these thigs.  We feel quite alone at times.  But we can get the Today programme so we know there is a world out there.  It just doesn't know about us!

Island Hopping

What a busy social whirl we live in!  Almost as soon as David and Hilary left us in Stornoway, Alistair joined us.  He's leaving us tomorrow (Wednesday 19th) and my cousin Peter and his wife Sarah join us briefly - in an intermission from their sea-kayaking in places we don't dare to go.  And then we meet Jim and Mae in White Magic - our old boat - next week.

Oh yes - and we've been exploring the Outer Hebrides.  We've passed most of the chain and stopped in Lewis/Harris and several Uists.  For the most part we've had lovely weather, which has been great for walking - we made a good attempt at Hecla, but were thwarted by a combination of cloud, lack of paths and Val's frozen shoulder.  And sheer indolence of course.  We've stopped in some lovely wild and isolated anchorages - and made rather closer acquaintance than we intended with a rock in one of them!  No harm done, we think. On the western side of the islands there are a succession of long white sand beaches - where we have not ventured into the water!  Communications have been non-existent, which should excuse the lack of blog activity. 

We're now in Loch Boisdale at the bottom of South Uist.  A tiny but pleasant place - and well sheltered against the weather which seems to be breaking.  As usual we try and eat and drink well between excursions but have been disappointed that all the fish and seafood from hereabouts goes to the mainland - literally without touching the ground.  It's particularly irritating, given the amount of effort we spend in avoiding lobster pots, that we don't even get a chance to pay for their contents!

Highlands and Islands - Scotland Rocks

...well Scottish rocks anyway.  There are a lot.  So far we've missed them, but you don't want to let your guard down....

We've visited some fairly remote places in the last week or so and also managed to collect provisions, water etc in the towns of Portree and Ullapool.  We're now in Stornaway on Lewis.  We thought it was lucky that we were in the town of Portree when Val broke a tooth.  Getting a dentists appointment though turned out not to be easy.  The dental receptionist mentioned that her dentist was in Fort William - about 50 miles away!  However all turned out well and the tooth was fixed.

One highlight was a stop at Gairloch where we met friends who were there for the trout fishing.  We had a day fishing with them and they had a day sailing with us.  They learned a bit about how to do it.  We on the other hand....  It was memorable however, tramping into the mountains to find lochs and streams where the trout might lurk, and eating our friends' catch on the mountain, cooked on an open fire in the sunshine.

That wasn't a typo.  SUNSHINE.  Every day.  Almost all day.  And warmth!  We even had a night without the heater last night.  More (non-sailing) friends - Hilary and David - joined us in Ullapool and sailed across the Minch to Stornaway with us.  Idyllic.  But the forecast is now for rain and wind - Alistair joins us on Wednesday and he may be less lucky than the others.

Back in touch

Well we now have communications again.  Mobile phones work.  Even the internet (at around 3 bits/sec - no photos this time).  We even got a newspaper!

We're properly in the  north now, having rounded Ardnamurchan point - incidentally it's the westernmost point of mainland Britain.  We've spent a day and a couple of nights on Canna.  Surely you know Canna (population 13 and lovely)?  It's in the Small Isles, along with Rum, Muck and Eigg. It was an unexpectedly hard sail to get there, but worth it.  Sea Eagles, Golden Eagles (we think) and other wildlife abound.  Surprisingly we found that they are converting an old Church there as a theatre.  Now Farnham can't support a theatre - Canna though...! 

And then back to southern Skye, with dolphins escorting us and dinner in a remote hotel.  Now we're in Plockton, near Kyle of Loch Alsh.  We're roughly on schedule, though we've chosen some different stops to the "plan" (which was only ever conceptual).

The weather's been a bit mixed, breezy, cold - very cold at times - and showery, but no gales.  It's a bit too unsettled for us to follow our plan to get into one of the lochs around the Cuillin mountains on Skye.  Unfortunately our friends Steve and Mandy couldn't be with us around Skye, but we hope to meet with other friends in Gairloch on Wednesday.  Betwen now and then...we haven't decided!

Better Weather

Well the weather did improve.  Apart from a wet morning near Oban we've had some pretty good conditions in the last few days.  From Craobh (pronounced "Crove" but you knew that) south of Oban, we went to Loch Spelve on Mull - a lovely place with deer grazing by the lochside and otters swimming about.  Oh yes, and jellyfish.  Which is what the abstract work above is.  I don't know who wins in the battle between otters and jellyfish but the jellyfish seem to be doing fine!

Then on to Dunstaffnage, near Oban, where we met friends, and then on again to Tobermory in Mull.  We stormed up the sound here, aided by our new spinnaker gear, beating several bigger boats (all right,Val points out that they didn't know they were racing!).  Tobermory is a lovely, colourful, picturesque town with a famous fish restaurant - fully booked!  That's what fame does.  But we did have a superb walk over the cliffs.  And tomorrow we'll be off again - somewhere or other!

Thanks for the comments on the blog.  Others (well the right kind of others) always welcome, but no obligation at all.  The blog is mainly to keep friends informed, not to seek support!

Sailors are a bit like farmers.  We''re always moaning about the weather.

 We left Campbeltown on Sunday and had a long motor in no wind around the infamous Mull of Kintyre - above - (Infamous if only for being the worst song Paul McCartney ever wrote). But we got to Gigha - a pleasant little island west of Kintyre. Then on to Craighouse in Jura (no wind again). Jura is a large island - maybe half of the Isle of Wight - with a population of 188.  We were on a mooring, and there was a shop and a hotel, but no mobile phone or wireless or showers.  The people were very friendly and welcoming, the countryside however is harsh and the walking dificult. With 188 people, surely they could build some decent paths? And then there are the Paps (not pictured due to limitations on explicit material in Google Blogs).  Steep, scree covered and very inhospitable. We got some of the way up - but I've definitely seen nicer paps!

Oh yes, the weather.  It started to blow. Hard.  From the wrong direction.  We waited a day for it to improve, but it blew harder.  And the forecast was harder still.  So we had a very strenuous morning sail today in a near gale northwards to a little marina 15 miles south of Oban. We passed within spitting distance (for good spitters) of the famous whirlpool of Corryvreckan but managed to avoid it.  And we now have showers, wireless and phones - all a bit iffy but better than nothing.

All this means that we had to miss our planned stop in Oronsay (population 5) but that's cruising,  We're more or less on schedule, but still at the mercy of theweather!

Well, we've started!  We left Troon on Thursday 16th - a day late, delayed by strong winds in the wrong direction.  (light winds in the wrong direction, we can do, motoring if necessary.  Strong winds in the right direction we can do within limits - gales are always better avoided.  But strong winds in the wrong direction mean a hard slow slog.  For which we lacked enthusiasm)  And we had a good sail to Campbeltown on Thursday, past the snow-capped peaks of Arran.  We were a bit rusty though - remembering what to do and how it all works wasn't our strong point.  Luckily the boat worked fine and we made it with no serious problem - barring a touch of green about Val's gills!

Campbeltown is a mid-sized town near the botton of the Kintyre peninsula - a long droopy peninsular between the Firth of Clyde and the coast further north.  And today it got warm!  And sunny!  And we had a glorious walk in the Kintyre hills with views every which way - to Ireland, to Islay, to Aran, back to Ayrshire. Val is enjoying it in the photo above.

We still need to get round the Mull of Kintyre - the bottom end, which sticks out towards Northern Ireland.  It has quite a fearsome reputation for the tide that rushes past and the seas that that can produce.  So we need a calmish day, and that's not tomorrow, according to the forecast.  Maybe Sunday.  So we're at least a day behind schedule, but we'll catch up.  Honest!

Preparations

Well the boat is ready - as far as we know!  And we have a plan (see the link bottom right of this page).  Val has had some late scares with treatment on-going for a frozen shoulder and for glaucoma, but neither look like show-stoppers at the moment.

Goodness knows what we've forgotten, but we're hoping that it doesn't matter too much.  Val's brother, Alan, will be living in our house for much of the time that we're away, so hopefully will be able to attend to unexpected events (and to their mother!).

We plan to travel to Troon on Monday 13th May and set off on 15th - or as soon after as weather, boatyards and critical items we've forgotten allow!  The current forecast is pretty dire!

We'll be maintaining this blog on an occasional basis, mainly to help  people who plan to join us or meet with us to keep track of our progress.  There is a link to a list of "what to bring" on the bottom right this page.  Others who are interested - welcome - and watch this space!