At this moment we are moored to a visitors buoy in Tobermory Bay, which is at the top of the Isle of Mull off the West Coast of Scotland. Several of you have commented that my photos always show good weather. Cameras lie! Here is a photo taken just now of the view of the village across the bay and you can see from the water on the underside of the boom that it is raining - in fact it is drizzle, but we had the heavy rain when we were sailing here and we have spend the last few hours drying ourselves and the boat out - yes the boat has a heater!
Today we sailed from Oban, which was a fairly short sail of only 26 miles (measured through the water). I was skipper and sailed the entire route only using our motor to get in to and out of the harbours. We had to "goose wing" the sails (see photo of "goose winging" taken yesterday when there was no rain) - the wind is directly behind us to make this direction of sailing possible. This is also a tricky direction to sail as you have to keep both the main sail and the genoa filled with wind all the time.
A little over half way the wind strength increased and we took the main sail down and sailed on the genoa alone (the front sail). Just before we reached our destination the wind increased to gusting Force 7 (nearly a gale, although we had a fairly flat sea because there was land all around us) and we had too much sail up so it was quite difficult to steer the boat. With this strength of wind and too much sail the boat has a mind of its own, rocking the boat from side to side as you try and keep it on a straight line (remembering you are steering 13 tons of weight through the water at what seems like quite a pace).
On the passage since my last blog in Bangor, we also visited Rathlin Island (an island off Northern Ireland and still part of Northern Ireland); and then in Scotland, Port Ellen on the Island of Islay; Scalasaig on Colonsay Island and Oban on the West Coast of Scotland. As you might expect, the scenery in this part of the world is stunning although some times difficult to photograph as too often it is raining and covered in cloud despite it being August - nevertheless see some of the photos I did manage to take:
Not surprisingly, I have managed to find time to visit a few distilleries, so far one every other island! and there are plenty of islands, and even more distilleries here!! I first of all took a tour of Laphroaig on Isaly, and judging from the photos of Prince Charles, a favourite of his. Next I took a tour and th
is time had time for to sample the whisky as well in a small distillery in Oban. Small yes, but still makes a million bottles a year. Actually, or maybe fortunately, I haven't yet developed a taste for whisky, but who knows what this trip will do for me. I did purchase a souvenir bottle from both tours, although I am told Laphroaig is not a beginners whisky! Here is a photo of the beautiful location of the Lagavulin Distillery on the Island of Islay that I took whilst cycling past, just to wet the appetite of those amongst you who have already developed the taste for whisky:
Tony is our current skipper. I already mentioned his wealth of experience in a previous blog - more than 30 years as a skipper and teacher, generally on larger boats of 60 to 70 feet, and much of the time with the Ocean Youth Trust. I can see he is going to be tremendous at turning us from enthusiastic hobbyists into an effective sailing crew / skipper, able to handle the boat in more difficult circumstances and with a proper regard for all the safety aspects. Also, he is very good reacting to difficult situations and communicating to the skipper (under tuition) of the day in particular what needs to be done, rather than grabbing the controls as many would. As an example, I was motoring on to the pontoon at Port Ellen and because of the large size of our boat we had to go on the end (known as the hammerhead) of the pontoon. There was very restricted room to manoeuvre the boat and we had to do a 180 degree turn to get the boat on the pontoon, in about one and a half lengths of the boat. As I was making the final turn and putting the engine from forwards into reverse to increase the angle of the turn and slow the boat down, the gearbox failed to engage (a recurring problem with our boat). We were about to drift out of the deep water area onto the mud - embarrassing if not dangerous. Without any hesitation Tony shouted "prepare to drop emergency anchor (to stop us drifting out of the deeper water)" and started to move quickly to the front of the boat, when fortunately the gear finally engaged and I managed to motor forward slowly to the pontoon. Many a skipper or boat owner would have grabbed the helm at the moment of crisis - Tony was calm and issued instructions such that as a crew we were reacting together to deal with it even though fortunately the situation didn't develop beyond the initial scare.
Tomorrow we will probably be staying in the bay of Tobermory because there are gale warnings and the wind is from the South West, which will make the next planned anchorage next to the "remotest mainland pub" in Great Britain uncomfortable at best and possibly also unsafe. You can see we have our priorities right ... bye for now ....
Addendum Saturday 15th August..
Well we did stay in Tobermory, but we managed to find a space on the pontoon. In the morning the weather was better so I went for a cycle to the fairy tale type Castle Glengorm - see photos of Tobermory in beter weather and Castle Glengorm. In the afternoon we did some learning for our Yachtmaster / Coastal Skipper qualifications.
Addendum Sunday 16th August..
We woke early to get ready to set sail at 8:30am but the weather had deteriorated which would have made sailing today uncomfortable (rough sea for an exposed section once we moved North of the Isle of Mull), so we are staying put in Tobermory today. Also the forecast for the next few days has winds from the South, which probably means we will have to sail the inner route around Skye (ie sail to the East of the island) so we have shelter from the land. To sail to the West of Skye is exposed to Southerly winds and therefore rough seas.
is time had time for to sample the whisky as well in a small distillery in Oban. Small yes, but still makes a million bottles a year. Actually, or maybe fortunately, I haven't yet developed a taste for whisky, but who knows what this trip will do for me. I did purchase a souvenir bottle from both tours, although I am told Laphroaig is not a beginners whisky! Here is a photo of the beautiful location of the Lagavulin Distillery on the Island of Islay that I took whilst cycling past, just to wet the appetite of those amongst you who have already developed the taste for whisky:Tony is our current skipper. I already mentioned his wealth of experience in a previous blog - more than 30 years as a skipper and teacher, generally on larger boats of 60 to 70 feet, and much of the time with the Ocean Youth Trust. I can see he is going to be tremendous at turning us from enthusiastic hobbyists into an effective sailing crew / skipper, able to handle the boat in more difficult circumstances and with a proper regard for all the safety aspects. Also, he is very good reacting to difficult situations and communicating to the skipper (under tuition) of the day in particular what needs to be done, rather than grabbing the controls as many would. As an example, I was motoring on to the pontoon at Port Ellen and because of the large size of our boat we had to go on the end (known as the hammerhead) of the pontoon. There was very restricted room to manoeuvre the boat and we had to do a 180 degree turn to get the boat on the pontoon, in about one and a half lengths of the boat. As I was making the final turn and putting the engine from forwards into reverse to increase the angle of the turn and slow the boat down, the gearbox failed to engage (a recurring problem with our boat). We were about to drift out of the deep water area onto the mud - embarrassing if not dangerous. Without any hesitation Tony shouted "prepare to drop emergency anchor (to stop us drifting out of the deeper water)" and started to move quickly to the front of the boat, when fortunately the gear finally engaged and I managed to motor forward slowly to the pontoon. Many a skipper or boat owner would have grabbed the helm at the moment of crisis - Tony was calm and issued instructions such that as a crew we were reacting together to deal with it even though fortunately the situation didn't develop beyond the initial scare.
Tomorrow we will probably be staying in the bay of Tobermory because there are gale warnings and the wind is from the South West, which will make the next planned anchorage next to the "remotest mainland pub" in Great Britain uncomfortable at best and possibly also unsafe. You can see we have our priorities right ... bye for now ....
Addendum Saturday 15th August..
Well we did stay in Tobermory, but we managed to find a space on the pontoon. In the morning the weather was better so I went for a cycle to the fairy tale type Castle Glengorm - see photos of Tobermory in beter weather and Castle Glengorm. In the afternoon we did some learning for our Yachtmaster / Coastal Skipper qualifications.
Addendum Sunday 16th August..
We woke early to get ready to set sail at 8:30am but the weather had deteriorated which would have made sailing today uncomfortable (rough sea for an exposed section once we moved North of the Isle of Mull), so we are staying put in Tobermory today. Also the forecast for the next few days has winds from the South, which probably means we will have to sail the inner route around Skye (ie sail to the East of the island) so we have shelter from the land. To sail to the West of Skye is exposed to Southerly winds and therefore rough seas.
