Up, Over and Down

Page 1 of 11 Up, Over and Down ‘Sailing always carries a question mark over weather, and Scotland particularly so.’ This year the fine settled July weather in the south spread at times into northern Scotland, but never to where we were, and never to the Northern Isles. It was always cold, we were beset with gales, rain and dismal fog with a few fine days, so we ‘just had to get on with it’ as they say. Though we missed most of the rare fine summer in the south, we did get on with it, and thoroughly enjoyed the cruise. Except for the first two weeks, my wife, Sandy, came for the duration. Otherwise about every fortnight we changed the two others in the crew, all of whom had cruised with us before, and this arrangement worked very well. Owl , a Maxi 1100, set off from Lymington on 6 June, bound for Orkney and Shetland with the first crew being, myself, Sebastian Chamberlain and David Whitley. Stopping briefly at Dartmouth, Newlyn and Wicklow, we made swift progress. We were due to exchange David for Kip Punch at Howth on 13 June and, having arrived a few days early, went into Poolbeg Marina in the port of Dublin and took the tram into that delightful city, taking in Christchurch Cathedral, the National Gallery, the Archaeological Museum and one pub. On the way to Bangor, now with Kip aboard and steering, we clocked up 11.4k max in S7, wearing two slabs in the main and no jib. We had the tide with us on top of that. At Bangor we were lucky enough to visit Brian and Vibse Dunleath’s fabulous stately home at Ballywater Park, where we admired Brian’s grandfather’s remarkable collection of silverware Doheny and Nesbitt Guinness Bar which he obtained when racing his schooner Egeria, and had lunch at Bill and Daphne Montgomery’s grand house at Grey Abbey. The other excellent visit was to the Royal Ulster Yacht Club with its elegant service and good collection of nautical artefacts, especially the Thomas Lipton room. Thence on to Port Ellen at Islay where we toured the new Kilchoman whisky distillery, owned and run by friend Anthony Wills, which is not only doing well, but also has a sailor-friendly wide-based bottle with a low centre of gravity. We then viewed the ancient Macdonald stronghold at Loch Finlaggan in the centre of the Island, where the lords of the islands once held council. On 18 June we left for the Ardmore islands and ashore found bluebells still in bloom, tormentil and marsh bedstraw in profusion. Our chart plotter did not give us a clear indication of the way into the inshore anchorage and established that the bearing of the cairn at Plod Sgein on the way in is 320˚M. There was 4m on this line at LW neaps. Page 2 of 11 Round the corner of Islay we came to Glas Uig - an inlet where a German submarine crew was alleged to have tied up in WW1 and barbecued some local sheep. The bay was too small for anchoring overnight, so we went on to nearby Aros Bay, which was delightful. Next day we spinnakered to Jura, looking in at Craighouse and Lowlandman’s Bay, then over the sound to the tricky little harbour of Eilean Mor owned by the SNP, where we anchored, and explored the medieval Chapel and an anchorite’s one time miserable retreat. We went onto Loch Sween and the lovely Fairy Isles, where we found a buoy to secure to. It was a glorious sunny evening and, when surveying the NE arm, we were thrilled to find an Osprey’s nest at the top of a half dead tree. In the morning we set off up the long finger of Caol Scotnish but, after negotiating Scotnish Rock, ran out of depth 1.25 cables SW of Arinafad Rock and had to return. We left Loch Sween and went over to Jura, poking our nose into Lagg Bay and Tarbert Bay. Then, Fairy Islands looking for an anchorage for the night, we tried Carsaig Bay between Dubh and Traighe, but the mud was soft and we dragged twice, so we picked up a buoy in the bay to the east of Dubh, which was fine. We put in to Ardfern on 21 Jun, dropping Sebastian and Kip and picking up Sandy, David and Jacky Hughes. We dined with Chris and Maggie Elliot that evening and at Lunga House the next. It was forecast to blow hard from ahead when we set off for Loch Buie on 23 June, and indeed on the cockpit display we saw 39k, true, as we beat up the Sound of Luing with a spring tide under us. Through avoiding the shallow patches we found ourselves caught in the race at the top end and, though we were soon carried past, we had to use the engine to maintain steerage way in the steep foam covered seas. In the evening we were kindly entertained by Jim and Patience Corbett at Loch Buie House. Next day the wind had become gentle as we passed though the extreme western side of Iona sound at an hour after low water springs, when we found an adequate 4m. Staffa was awash with people from a cruise liner as we sailed past, and we went on to anchor at Entering Loch Buie Craigaig Bay, Ulva. Page 3 of 11 There we found a Hampshire man called Dominick Griffin staying in the bothie close by. He advised us on our walking route, invited us in for a drink and responded to a reciprocal request. We learnt a lot from Dominick about Ulva’s history and status. The next day we explored Inch Kenneth before heading north under spinnaker for Moidart. We went into the North Channel, finding good holding at the Craigaig Bay, Ulva east end of the loch. In the morning we walked across Shona to view Castle Tioram, and then sailed for Kilmarie in Skye, the summer home of David and Diana Johnson, who generously invited us all to dinner. The next anchorage was at Loch Scavaig which looked as dramatic as usual in the evening light, as did Loch Coruisk when we took a walk there but, after heavy rain in the night, a multiplicity of roaring streams covered every mountain face, making Scavaig seem almost alive. We moved on to Soay in the morning and just before crossing the bar, to our delight, saw a sea eagle on the ground Loch Scavaig only 150m way, being mobbed by a brave herring gull. We anchored opposite a small heronry. We experienced WNW7 winds, but the holding ground was good, and the harbour attractive. We took two walks, the first to the NE side of the harbour when we inspected the entrance at low water, and the remains of Gavin Maxwell’s basking shark factory. Being north of Arndamurchan, we picked some white heather for the pulpit. The second walk took us through birch and rowan woodland to the south east facing bay, Camas nan Gail. Soay Harbour The weather remained cold, wet and windy when we joined up with friends at a buoy on Loch Harport, and we used the Old Inn as a shore base for showers and an evening meal. We also went over to Portree for dinner at the Gathering Hall. We left Loch Harport on I July, going northabout Skye, bound for Badacro, where Tony Greener had kindly offered his mooring. The dull weather turned to occasional sun as we reached past magnificent scenery, and a black, sinister yet elegant Vanguard Class Page 4 of 11 submarine passed silently not far ahead off Rona as we came into the range area. We had a good sail. Next day, in ‘dreich’ conditions, we explored the island of Horrisdale, and then had lunch at the Badacro Inn, where Martin from Yorkshire is still going strong. We slipped our mooring on 3 July and headed north for the Summer Isles, again accompanied by dolphins as we were often to be over the next two months. We anchored in the northerly of the NE-facing bays of Tanera Beg, an attractive island which we energetically explored, then went on around the headland to explore Enard Bay where we found some lovely scenic but rather exposed anchorages. The forecast was offering W5-7, so we didn’t like to anchor there overnight, though Loch Salainn would have been suitable if it were not for its many fish farms. Thus we ended up at Loch Inver where we had planned the next crew change. As it happened it blew hard over the next couple of days so we were happy to be there. Sandy made friends with the fishermen - an enviable talent - and came back with heaps of langoustines at a most modest outlay. Linda from the harbour office was absolutely sweet, even stopping her car to help us on seeing us carrying a full fuel can. The Tourist office had a marvellous Loch Kirkaig at the north of Enard Bay display of matters of local, particularly geological, interest, as well as a live picture from a camera mounted at a nearby golden eagles’ nest. Moreover, there is a most beautiful woodland area beside the harbour where we had two enjoyable walks. The paths can lead down to pretty little white beaches where a remarkable variety of stones can be found such as 3 billion year old grey gneiss, pink quartzite, red canisp porphyry and brown sandstone.

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