Arctica Cruising Blog

Ardmaleish Point & Toward Point

The last island to be visited was Bute. Arctica anchored close to Ardmaleish Point at the foot of Windy Hill, the highest spot on Bute, but a mere 900 ft. It gave a good short outing on a fabulous day with none of the lower ground problems experienced on the Arran Marilyns – thick bracken, tangled brambles, acres of conifer forest, deep tussocks and dense heather. And after all that the higher ground is particularly boggy! Its just as well the main Arran hills are not so hard of access. The last night of the trip was spent at the Holy Loch Marina, much improved and extended over the few years since the last visit. The morning was spent taking off sails, removing boom, kicker and running rigging, slacking off standing rigging and generally preparing for lift-out before motoring the final stretch up river to Dumbarton. Within an hour of arrival the mast was off and Arctica was chocked up ashore. Suddenly it was all over for another season, but we had visited 54 anchorages and climbed 52 Marilyns.

Janice had come all the way from London and wanted to see the skipper. We found Arctica and her tender but couldn’t find the skipper who was on the hill without his phone! The Pierhead Tavern provided the best view of the route to the dinghy so we just had some scampi while we waited. Because we were very concerned about the skipper’s well-being, Janice felt that a bottle of delicious Sauvignon Blanc would help us to keep calm. When he eventually appeared, we bought him a pint shandy to revive him – he didn’t have any money! Just as well we were there…

Ailsa Craig from Mullach Mor, Holy Isle

Adder

Anchoring off the Holy Isle, Arran the Skipper climbed Mullach Mor, its fine little peak. Views from the summit are excellent, with Ailsa Craig prominent to the south. A mooring in Lamlash Bay gave good shelter from strong north-westerlies over the next couple of days. Returning from an exhausting nine hour day on the hill and roads, the Skipper was amazed to find the Mate and Janice waiting at the pierhead. They had made a day trip to Arran, and managed to while away a few hours eating and drinking in the pub until the Skipper’s late-ish return. They had to leave soon after for the ferry back from Brodick, but were back a few hours later having just missed the last ferry – through a combination of a bus not turning up and the ferry leaving early. However, they spent a comfortable night aboard and caught the Sunday morning ferry instead. Adders are rarely seen – the vibrations from approaching footsteps send them slithering for cover – but this one was captured on camera. It is one of only half a dozen sightings over many hundreds of outings on the hills.

Ardbeg Distillery, Islay

Good weather returned for our second visit of the season to these islands. We had a good breeze down the Sound of Jura to Craighouse, where we had a good bar meal at the Isle of Jura Hotel. We went through the snaking channel of the Ardmore Islands on our way down to Port Ellen on Islay. On a glorious summer afternoon we walked to Ardbeg and back – a stretch with four distilleries in three miles (Port Ellen, Laphraoig, Lagavulin & Ardbeg). As our Irish friend Anthony remarked ” there are seven distilleries on Islay and I’ve had a drink in all ten of them”! We were a bit early in leaving to round the Mull of Kintyre thanks to conflicting advice from the Yachtsman’s Pilot and the Tidal Atlas – we’ll be relying on the latter in future. Despite losing time to some adverse tide we were in Campbeltown at dusk. There the Mate left by bus for Glasgow, leaving the Skipper with a few days to take the boat back to Dumbarton to finish the season’s cruising.

Arrived 2030 Thu 26/08/10

Arrived 1140 Wed 25/08/10

Arrived 1310 Tue 24/08/10

Scarba, Luing, Garvellochs and Mull from Cruach na Seilcheig

Despite the strong breeze it was quite warm, and we enjoyed sunshine on a walk across Kerrera to the Oitir Mor. Passing through the farmyard on the way, we were enchanted by two litters of a dozen piglets running round the yard – one set brown with dark spots, the other pink. We regretted not having a camera with us. The other inhabitants of the yard were a pony, goats, ducks and ducklings, hens, guinea fowl and a few collie dogs. Out on the open ground were highland cattle and blackface sheep. The dire weather warning was not matched by the actual weather – the most we recorded were force 8 gusts – and it remained dry and sunny. From Oban we went down through the Cuan Sound to Loch Melfort, which was a new anchorage for us, and arrived just before the rain started. However, it cleared up in mid afternoon giving the opportunity to bag another wee hill. Today it rained steadily until we left on the tide for Loch Craignish, where we dropped anchor at teatime off Eilean nan Gabhar (Goat Island).

Arrived 1150 Sun 22/08/10

L Spelve from Sgurr Dearg

With mist low over the hills, plans for climbing were abandoned and we made the short trip down the Mull coast to Bunessan. Frequent showers continued for the rest of the day so we remained aboard. The next day started similarly but in a short time the front passed over, bringing excellent sailing conditions – a W breeze, bright sunshine and a clear blue sky. We went down the Sound of Iona, through by the Tinker’s Hole and along the south of Mull, admiring the coastal scenery. We anchored in Loch Spelve, intending to climb Sgurr Dearg, but the next day brought morning mist and rain again so we made for Oban instead, where we got provisions, diesel and water before continuing down to Puilladobhrain for the night. With the weather fair again we returned to Loch Spelve, where the Skipper took to the hill, the Mate to Tobermory. The evening forecast suggested, and the following morning forecast confirmed, the approach of nasty weather from the Atlantic – wind SW 5-7 increasing gale 8 to storm 10, occasionally violent storm 11 (near Ardnamurchan), so we have returned to Oban and a safe berth in the marina while we await developments.

Arrived 1905 Wed 18/08/10

Arrrived 1750 Tue 17/08/10

Arrived 1310 Mon 16/08/10

Today has been just perfect. After a bright, starry night we have had a day of unbroken sunshine with scarcely a breath of wind. Even before clearing Arinagour harbour we came across a young basking shark which approached us quite closely. A few hundred yards further out we met the full size version of at least 30 feet, and managed to take a couple of photos. Our trip across to Mull was over a glassy sea, which gave us sightings of dolphins and porpoises. We anchored in Laggan Bay, at the head of Loch Tuath – well offshore as it is shallow with a scattering of rocks. While the Mate sunbathed aboard the Skipper climbed another hill. In the evening at half flood we went cautiously through Ulva Sound, a beautiful but tortuous shallow passage between Loch Tuath and Loch na Keal, and anchored for the night at its southern end with a fine view of Ben More etched sharp against the clear sky. As the light began to fade, the Mate caught four mackerel for tomorrow’s dinner. Just perfect!

Arinagour

After rejoining Arctica at Loch Creran we motored up wind and against tide to round the N of Lismore, then hoisted sails for a stirring sail down the Lynn of Morvern to Rubha an Ridire and into the Sound of Mull (OK – we were a bit overcanvassed for the gusting conditions). Once anchored in Loch Aline we went ashore to walk round the head of the loch, which had dried out hugely on this, the lowest tide of the year so far. We admired Ardtornish House but gave the gardens a miss, and and continued down the east shore. By this time the wind had dropped and it was a beatiful sunny afternoon. On our return over the bridge at the head of the loch we watched a novice canoeist (no lifejacket) capsize and escape but do nothing more as canoe and paddle drifted gently down river and into the loch. Next morning we continued down the Sound of Mull and across to Arinagour, Coll – one of our favourite islands. We watched as other yachts came in until there were 14 in the anchorage for the night. Today we walked right round the southern part of the island (some 12 miles) then slaked our thirsts at the Coll Hotel before eating well at the Coll Cafe. This evening is perfectly still wth the prospect of a fine sunset.

Arrived 1250 Thu 12/08/10

Arrived 1200 Wed 04/08/10 and moored up for a week

Dunstaffnage Bay

We had an excellent fish and chip dinner at The Wide Mouthed Frog at Dunstaffnage with friends Sheena and Jim, who live locally. At night, Innes and Janice arrived for the weekend. Sadly, Saturday proved dreich in the extreme, not inspiring us to venture out, so a visit to Oban by car was made instead. Sunday turned out better, with a light breeze giving us a gentle sail down through Oban bay and Kerrera Sound. A phone call from the marina announcing more visitors had us retracing our route to meet up with Sheila and Gordon, who had come up to Oban for a weekend break. We enjoyed a drink and chat with them for the rest of the afternoon. Monday morning saw us rising very early to see Innes and Janice off to Glasgow for Janice’s flight back to London and work. After lunch we went over to Loch Aline to anchor for the night. Today we had a cracking sail up Loch Linnhe to Port Ramsay at the north end of Lismore. With downdraft from the Morvern hills we seemed to have even better wind than the West Highland Week fleet, which was sailing up the island shore on their race round Lismore. Tomorrow we leave Arctica at Barcaldine, Loch Creran while we return home for a week.
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Arrived 1255 Tue 3/8/10

Arrived 1230 Fri 30/07/10

Lismore Lighthouse

Things have been quiet for the last few days. The predominant feature has been the poor weather – mist, drizzle, rain and contrary winds with a few rare blinks of sunshine. We have come back in from the Outer Isles in four stages : Scalpay – Portree – Isle Ornsay – Loch Drumbuie – Oban. After the peace and quiet of Lewis and Harris it came as a jolt to find how busy at this time are the more easily reached cruising grounds. Loch Drumbuie (off Loch Sunart) was home to twenty three yachts last night, and Tobermory sported a sea of masts as we passed this morning. Oban is busy too, and will be even more so next week with West Highland Week in full swing. We are looking forward to Innes and Janice joining us for the weekend, and hope that the run of poor weather will have ended by then.

Arrived 1615 Tue 27/07/10

Arrived 1615 Mon 26/07/10

Arrived Portree 1420 Sun 25/07/10

Camus Kenmore, Loch Seaforth

Bog Cotton

Since leaving Stornoway we have been in and out of Lewis and Harris sea lochs climbing hills. Lochs Odhairn, Bhrollum and Seaforth gave us new anchorages, while Maaruig was familiar. We lost one day through poor weather, but otherwise it has been fair with intermittent sunshine. Wildlife has been plentiful – sea eagles, golden eagles, red deer, mountain hare and otter have all been seen at close quarters. We are now in Scalpay (Harris) where the north harbour provides good all-round shelter, and has drawn six yachts for the night.

Lifeboat Demonstation – Lochinver

Our return to Arctica did not run to plan – the bus from Inverness to Ullapool (our third of the day) broke down and had to be replaced, so we missed the connection for Lochinver. Fortunately the CalMac office helped us find a taxi prepared to make the 30 mile trip on a Saturday evening. In the morning we were delighted to be joined by John & Helen in ‘Mara’, who had been round at Drumbeg. We enjoyed our morning and afternoon coffees together, and dined at the Riverview Restaurant. The day was blustery and showery, providing the opportunity for some running repairs – reinstalling autopilot controller, restitching sprayhood, unblocking sink etc. It was also the Lifeboat open day, and we had a grand view of the Lifeboat and Coastguard helicoper demonstrating retrievals from the deck and the water. Today in calm and a flat sea we crossed the Minch to Stornoway – plenty of dolphins and porpoises, but still no whales seen. Yotties beware! – Stornoway currently has no provision for diesel fuel, although the local council hopes to have something in place before the end of the summer… The Port Authority has plans to to add more berths (with power) and provide toilets, showers, laundry room and drying facilities, but no date is given.

Jim and Euan on An Cruaidh

We had two days in Gairloch before the arrival of our friends. Sunday was misty and drizzly all day – just fine for catching up on boat chores, reading and relaxing. Monday was a beautiful day and, after finding a taxi when the bus failed to appear, the Skipper took to the hills between Gairloch and Loch Maree. This is a lovely stretch of hills – not high but very rugged, rough walking and with a nice sense of isolation. When Morag & Euan and Jim & Linda arrived we had lunch and blethered for a few hours before taking a short walk up Flowerdale. This sharpened appetites for a bar dinner at The Old Inn, which we can highly recommend – good menu, excellent food and fair value. Next day the men went off for an enjoyable longish walk to a little hill, leaving the ladies to their day of more sociable activities. Again we dined at The Old Inn before returning aboard for a nostalgic singsong. Today we said goodbye to our friends and sailed up to Lochinver, where we are leaving Arctica for three weeks before resuming our cruising.

Flowerdale House

A fellow sailor, from a boat that was rafted up to Arctica for a night, recommended a walk which starts just across the main road from the pier at Gairloch. He didn’t mention the house! I don’t think there are many like this in Gairloch. A nice leaflet, bought at the start of the walk, says that Flowerdale is part of the Gairloch Estate and has been in the hands of the Mackenzies of Gairloch for seventeen generations. It still looks pretty good to me. Today, in bright sunshine, I thoroughly enjoyed walking around this estate. With the gurgling burn, wild flowers and good paths, I would endorse the recommendation.

Loch Skipport, N Uist

Continuing strong northerlies kept us in Lochboisdale for a day then we continued up South Uist nevertheless. Off the north entrance to Loch Boisdale we almost ran into a basking shark. The sea was fairly rough and only at the last moment did we see the black triangular dorsal fin and the tip of the tail. Throttling back immediately seemed to wake the shark up and it dived with a big swirl of tail. Loch Skipport gave access to a pair of good hills – Hecla, just short of 2000ft, and its sharply protruding neighbour Ben Corodale. Lochmaddy was our next stop , and the Skipper made good use of the local bus connections to climb the final two Marilyns of North Uist. The Mate bussed to Eriskay and Berneray, where by chance she met Fan & James who were over for the day from Harris. Today in quiet conditions we crossed the Minch to Gairloch, an 8 hour trip, and are now settled on the pontoon at Gairloch Pier.

Raasay Sound from Ben Tianavaig

We thoroughly enjoyed our few days at Plockton in the company of family and friends. They had wonderful weather throughout their week in Scotland, and it has continued since then. We went back to Portree for diesel, water, showers, haircut and two more hills, including the very fine Ben Tianavaig overlooking Portree bay, the haunt of sea eagles which we saw. Our next stop was Isle Ornsay in the Sound of Sleat after a lovely sail in a light northerly, from Raasay under the Skye Bridge and down through the Kylerhea narrows with the ebbing tide. Today we gave the new engine its first long run as we motored the 52 miles out past Rum and Canna and across the Sea of the Hebrides to Lochboisdale, South Uist. Perversely, the wind got up on our arrival and we are now swinging about at anchor just astern of the moorings in a gusting fresh breeze (Force 5).

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Dolphins

Dolphin Watching

After a couple of nights at Portree, and hills on Scalpay and Raasay, we returned to Plockton to meet up with family and friends who had taken a house nearby for a week’s holiday. We had dinner and stayed overnight with them. The next day, one of glorious weather, we were joined by Fin and his friends Jules and Anna with their young daughters Liv, Freja and baby Chloe for a trip through the Kyle Strome narrows into Loch Carron. Much to the delight of guests and crew alike we met up with the resident dolphins, which cavorted round the boat for a mile or so. We nosed in among skerries for a close-up view of basking seals, then turned in to anchor off Lochcarron village. The girls were taken ashore for beachcombing, and their parents (hardy Swedes) took the opportunity for a swim. The weather was perfect – Scotland at its best – and we all enjoyed an unforgettable day. The next day started overcast but there was a sailing breeze. Fan and James came aboard for the day, and after topping up with water at Kyle pontoon we sailed up to the Crowlin Islands and went into the inner pool to anchor and have lunch. We made to leave an hour before Low Water Springs but ran out of water at the sill and grounded gently but firmly on shingle. We sat comfortably but slightly off the level until an hour after LWS when we floated off and were able to inch our way gently out and sail back to Plockton.

The skipper and mate have already read several of the library of novels brought on board for this season. One book we both really enjoyed is Case Histories by Kate Atkinson. The plot is complicated, three stories in one with a Cambridge based private investigator as its central character, and combines mystery, family drama,and despair. The action is split between Edinburgh and Cambridge with some very credible characters, a few very unexpected twists – and a lot of humour. Altogether a really good read.

Inverie

We made the short hop up to Mallaig and tied up alongside a fishing boat. The toolkit lacked a 24mm spanner to remove the gearbox sump plug for the 50 hour oil change, so it was straight off the chandlers and back for this simple task. But no! The spanner’s jaws were too thick for the restricted access – so off to the boatyard to borrow a 24mm socket and bar. But no again! The socket was too long for the clearance available – so back to the chandlers to exchange spanner for normal length socket. But no yet again! No metric sockets, only A/F, and size selected was just too large. Swapped again for correct size but still could not shift nut, which was by now somewhat chewed up. Back to boatyard, and kind fellow came to help. After 5 minutes of muttering he managed to free it off at last. All this took a few hours, but we finally got away and spent the night at Inverie, on Loch Nevis. It was really clear and beautiful, thanks to the cold northerly breeze. Today we went up the Sound of Sleat, throught the Kylerhea narrows, under the Skye Bridge and round to Plockton for a recce before our return visit next week. It is a beautiful spot.

Doirlinn Castle, Loch Moidart

We awoke to thick fog and the sounding of horns from the Calmac ferries, invisible from our mooring, as was the shore only 40 metres away. We went ashore early to the supermarket and the fog was already thinning on our return aboard. We left to catch the tide down the Sound of Mull, by which time the day was bright and sunny. We continued past Tobermory, round the NW corner of Mull, and down to Gometra, anchoring in the pool there. A quick ascent of the hill above (also called Gometra) helped work up a good appetite for dinner. Although still without wind, the next morning had fairly good visibility and we went north, past Ardnamurchan Point and through the tortuous entrance into Loch Moidart, anchoring just off Shona. An energetic afternoon saw ascents of Beinn a’Bhaillidh on Shona and Beinn Bhreac further up the loch. Then wind at last, but from NW, right on the nose for the short leg up to the sheltered anchorage at Arisaig, where it continued to blow Force 5/6 for the rest of the day.

After four nights in Portrush we had to get away and left for Islay despite the initially rough sea, motorsailing to Port Ellen where there are visitors’ moorings and a small marina.

The Crown Bar

We headed further along the Antrim coast, past the Giant’s Causeway (less impressive than its spectacular other end at Fingal’s Cave, Staffa) and round into Portrush. Of somewhat faded seaside glamour, the town was mobbed with many hundreds of bikers who had come to watch a major road race over the weekend. We took the train into Belfast and had a good wander round although it was cold with the occasional shower. Unfortunately, the City Hall was closed to visitors that day, but its Edwardian exterior is most impressive. We were also impressed by the Crown Bar, largely unchanged since Victorian times, and billing itself as the only pub with a webcam and still lit by gas! We also took a trip to Londonderry – a very attractive train journey, first to Coleraine and then along the coastline to Derry itself. We did the charity shops, bookshop, walk round the Walls and had lunch (Irish Stew, of course!) in a tearoom.

From Campbeltown we made for Rathlin and caught the tide just right at the Mull of Kintyre, reaching 9.9kts as we were swept out into the North Channel. Church Bay, Rathlin has a pontoon inside a large breakwater and provides good shelter (and showers).

Arran Peaks from Beinn Bhreac

A short passage south to Arran (first sighting of porpoises) took us in to Lochranza, always an attractive port of call. We spent two nights there while the Skipper added three more island Marilyns to his tally. The first day was gloriously warm and sunny with a superb sunset, but the next day reverted to being unseasonably cool in the prevailing northerly airstream. The weather was brightening as we headed south again down the Kilbrannan Sound to Campbeltown. Most of the shops were closed for a local holiday, but we were able to restock at a supermarket.

Toward Point

The wind got up overnight and by morning a steady Force5 was sending white horses right across Rothesay Bay. It was not uncomfortable, but too rough to go ashore in the dinghy. We set off in mid-morning and with the wind gusting erratically between F3 and F6 had a short sail down the Easy Kyle, past the Burnt Isles and in to Tighnabruaich. The afternoon was spent on doing a few minor jobs around the boat – little things which were not necessary before the launch, but which need to be kept on top of. Boat maintenance is never ending! The sun shone in the afternoon, but the NE breeze kept the temperature low.

Cloch Point, Arran in distance

After her winter layup at Dumbarton, which saw a new engine installed, Arctica put in to Rhu Marina for a few days. A flying visit from the Technical Wizard saw further upgrading to the navigation, communication and blog systems.After the final loading of personal gear and yet more food and drink, we got underway from Rhu at 1530 on a fine but calm afternoon. We ran the required engine checks at 50%, 75% and 100% throttle on the way down to Cloch Point and found all to be well with our new Beta28 and feathering propeller. On rounding Toward Point we decided that Rothesay would make an easy and convenient anchorage, and picked up a visitor’s mooring at 1800. It is a nice location, but somewhat rolly as the ferries come and go.