Saturday 7th August

This year our pencil plan was to go around the Mull of Kintyre initially to Ballycastle, Islay and Gigha, and then see how things went. Well this plan didn’t last long as the wind was from the North West and would have meant wind against tide in F5/6….not recommended!!

My sister Trisha had also phoned to say that Timothy Spall was apparently moving his barge “Princess Matilda” up the west coast as part of his television series Somewhere at Sea. I only caught one episode when it was last on the TV and thought it was brilliant entertainment and he came across as a genuine warm human being.

We set off for Ardrishaig at the eastern end of the Crinan Canal, but on the way up Loch Fyne we realised that we had forgotten to pick up parmesan cheese without which, one of my favourite risotto dishes would have indeed been sadly lacking an important ingredient. As we had just rounded Ardlamont Point this wasn’t a problem as we could just nip into Tarbert and get some out of the local Co-Op, and also top the fuel tanks up with diesel. Upon arrival I checked in with the Tarbert harbour master who said that the first half hours berthing was free, but as it was a weekend there was no diesel available. Guess all the local boat owners must take time off their work mid week to top up their fuel tanks!!

Anyhow the solution was simple enough, we just went over the other side of the loch to Portavadie, where berthing is free all day with charges only applying to overnight stays. We duly filled up with diesel, and headed up to Ardrishaig and the canal. When we arrived it was low tide, but there was enough water to allow us to berth on the waiting pontoon and wait till the boats coming out had completed their locking out process. When we duly went through the sea lock the inner basin was chock ablock with boats with hardly enough room to manouvre the boat to create space for those exiting………turns out it was the end of West Highland Week.

Note to self: Check the dates of West Highland Week in the future!

Whilst I was holding position mid basin and checking with other skippers as to who was doing what, we had all understood what everyone was going to do at the next locking into the sea lock. When they opened the road bridge into the sea lock everything was going fine until a guy in a big Nauticat decided to cast off his shore lines and head into the same piece of water as me – and I didn’t have much room at all- what a buffoon. The guys trying to get into the lock kept asking me what he was doing, but I had as much chance of telling them the answer, than I had of choosing six correct numbers in the national lottery.

I finally managed to keep clear enough to let the other yachts into the sea lock and berthed alongside the wall – with matey boy in the Nauticat getting in everyone’s way. He then tied alongide the wall next to the sea lock (again restricting the entrance to the sea lock for those going in) while he was being a pest we helped others who were due out next to raft alongside us……..chaos was the only word for all this and the lock keepers were losing patience as this had apparently being going on for two full days. Finally the lock keepers worked on beyond their normal hours and managed to clear the majority out of the basin……..and guess what, Mr Nauticat was not even going out – he was going to stay in the basin for another day!!

We also found out that Princess Matilda had indeed been through a few days beforehand….can you imagine the potential for carnage if she had been trying to manouvre in the basin at the same time as all of this was happening?

Next morning the guys from British Waterways worked hard at clearing the backlog and by the time our rope handler (referred to by BW staff as pilots) arrived the basin had been emptied of the backlog and peace was restored.

Sunday 8th August

Our rope handler was a joy to work with all the way through to Lock 13 where we departed company, but not before I had a note of his phone number. We have been through the canal a few times with some rope handlers opening the sluice gates far too quickly with all the potential damage that can cause. In this case everthing was just as it should be perfect weather and an easy transit. When we arrived at the top of Lock 14 I spoke with the British Waterways guys who said that the Crinan basin was busy and that rafting was the only option in the basin which was filling with more and more boats all the time. We decided to berth at the small jetty above Lock 14 for the night, (you can see Sun Dog tucked in at the right hand side of the photo) and when we walked down to the basin it was clear that we had made a good decision.

We got talking to a nice couple who live in Australia (originally from England) who were going out for 5 days on the old but lovely VIC 32 and there was a chance we would bump into them again as their itinerery included Craighouse in Jura where we were heading.

Monday 9th August

Next morning I was down at the Crinan office to catch the BW guys early and they agreed to get us down and out into the sea first so that we could catch some of the remaining tide – what a result. So it was down Lock 14 into the Sea Lock and set a course for Craighouse.

The visibility was extremly poor, almost like fog, and the sea was pretty lumpy, so it was not exactly a relaxing trip but we did have our new radar working away and providing additional means of checking what was out there. As we approached Jura the wind eased off and the weather began to clear so we managed to get a good shot of The Paps of Jura.

The wind then increased (quite suddenly) and by this time we were in wind against tide situation and would be for another hour or so – when we reached the cardinal marker off Lowlandsman Bay I decided to go in the shallow route between the small isles and Jura, and this proved to be an “interesting” diversion – not one I would take again in these conditions – even though Jura was breaking the worst of the NW wind it was still 20-24kts true in tight shallow waters. We managed to secured a visitors mooring, and then went ashore to get showered and get some laundry done at the Jura Hotel. Now if there was a competition for the most basic and rudimentary of showers then they would have first prize. This might improve given the hotel has recently changed hands and I do hope so because I do like the whole atmosphere of Jura and these showers (sic) would not leave a positive lasting impression on overseas visitors. We also went to book a table at The Antlers Restaurant just up from the pier, but we were informed that the restaurant is closed on Mondays. This was a disappointment as we had heard good things about this restaurant.

Tuesday 10th August

Next morning we decided to take the Jura Ferry (a fast enclosed rib) over to Tayvallich at the top of Loch Sween as it was somehwere we had thought of sailing into with Sun Dog but as it’s at the top of a Loch with strong tides around the MacCormaig Isles at the entrance to the Loch we thought it might be best to check it out the quick way. The only snag in the plan was that whilst the ferry would pick us up from Sun Dog in the morning, the only return time was on the 1700 ferry back to Jura – but we decided to go ahead anyway.

Tayvallich is one of the places that we have never visited before either by land or sea, and as such we were looking forward to the trip across on the ferry. On the way over the sea was lumpy but the rib was flying across the waves and with it’s power the currents were no real problem either. Once past the MacCormaig Isles and into Loch Sween everything was calm and to our surprise the sun broke out making the scenery even more special. On arriving at Tayvallich it was bathed in glorious sunshine but when we berthed we saw the sad sight of a sunken local fishing boat.

Apparently another fishing boat had brought her in and a diver was meant to be arriving that day with a team to get the boat raised and pumped out. From what we heard they had hit an underwater rock whilst out raising their creels for lobsters – real shame – but at least no one was hurt in the incident.

We really fell in love with the place and walked all around including a walk over to the other side at Carsaig Bay which looks out onto the sound of Jura, and then back to the village to check on the progress on the raising of the fishing boat, which had undergone a repair on the upturned hull in the morning. I am happy to say that by late afternoon she was raised and dragged into shallower water by a sister fishing boat where the pumps could start empyting the hull.

We also met up again with the Australian couple as VIC 32 was having a stopover, and they were enthusing about their trip and the quality of food and service. This is what I love to hear from visitors to our shores. They also said that the VIC was now heading off for Craighouse in Jura so hopefully we could meet up later that evening.

We were so taken with the Tayvallich area that we decided to sail Sun Dog up here after we had visted the Island of Gigha, which was planned for the next day. So it was back onto the packed ferry and back over to Jura where we were dropped off like film stars back onto the boat….excellent day. The wind however was picking up to around F6/7 and we watched the VIC 32 arrive and go alongside the old pier, but no-one got on or off due to the wind and rain, and we hoped the weather would ease a bit so that they could get out and explore at least a bit of Jura.

Wednesday 11th August

We were up early to take advantage of both the NW wind F6 and the outgoing tide over to the Isle of Gigha, the trip over was really fast but closing the coast of Gigha the water shallows rapidly therefore the waves then stand up more. Well I had myself all lined up lovely with the wind and waves just nicely on the quarter so that I could cut into the lee of Gigha without having to go broadside onto the (by this time) largish waves. I should not have tempted the Gods by these thoughts as a fishing boat that had been heading away from us at around 90 degrees decided to come back on a reciprocal course. This was going to be right across my bows and unfortunately I had no room to go behind him due to the close proximity of the small island at the north end of Gigha. Which meant I had to turn to port for a bit to keep clear of him before getting back on course – this was the uncomfortable 15 minute part of the trip running with waves more on the beam. However once round and into the lee of Gigha everything was fine and we sailed down to Ardminish Bay fully expecting to anchor as we thought there would be a lot of boats waiting for the weather to change before heading north. Looking through the binoculars there were more masts in view than visitors moorings listed. However the Gods must have felt a bit guilty as when we were on our run in we spotted a free visitors mooring and picked this up, settled the boat and put the kettle on for a well earned cuppa.

We then jumped into the dinghy and headed ashore for a shower and a general look around at the bay that we last saw when we were here on the motorbike some years ago and promised ourselves we would come back via boat – so we were quite excited. This excitment soon dropped as the showers at The Boathouse could have ran the ones in Jura for the ill fated first prize on the most rudimentary of showers – again a real shame that visitors have to cope with these kind of facilities. As far as we were concerned we kind of laughed them off, but they did take a bit of an edge off our pleasure. We then had a meal in The Boathouse and have to say that this was rather better than expected.

Thursday 12th August

We decided to hire bikes and visit Achamore Gardens which were very pretty with some stunning blooms, which not being green fingered we didn’t know what they were – but this did not detract from our enjoyment or pleasure.

The windlife was in abundance and Sara risked life and limb to get her hands on some kind of bird!

After spending a lovely time in the gardens we cycled to the Ferry Pier at the southern end of the island.

We then cycled back up towards Ardminish, when the intrepid Sara decided to head off down a small path towards a beach which was simply lovely.

Across the other side was the pier Boathouse etc so with the tide going out we decided to cycle across – wrong move as Sara fell off and hurt her already damaged knee 🙁 Cycles were duly returned to the shop and we headed back to the boathouse for a coffee and a rethink.

We decided that as the tide was turning we could carry it to Loch Sween and go up to Tayvallich so it was back to the dinghy at the end of the small pier.

This would mean a wind against tide situation but the forecast infered the winds would be easing – or perhaps that’s how I decided to interpret the forecast. Either way we headed north and in truth at certain times were were taking a bit of a bashing, and at times we would get a series of two or three waves that were at least 50% bigger than the average height. One in particular caused us to take green water over the bow which was thrown over the wheelhouse and into the cockpit – there was so much water I could have been in a submarine, but full credit to Sun Dog she took care of us all the way up to Loch Sween where we arrived at the right state of tide to enter Loch Sween and calm waters. Once again the heat from the sun intensified as we headed up the loch towards Tayvallich passing the only rock in the loch which sits around the middle, and is clearly spotted despite no marker.

The rest of the journey was a joy and once again we were rewarded by both visitors moorings being free – lovely jubbly.

Friday 13th August

We awoke to beautiful sunshine and decided that we would make up a picnic and go around to the Fairy Isles and do a bit of exploring on the dinghy, so it was that we set off with spare fuel etc to the Fairy Isles which are just around the corner from Tayvallich and are as pretty as a picture. We had seals basking on the rocks, Gannett diving for fish and birds of prey soaring above. A lady had told us confidentially where the Osprey nest was located but despite a lot of searching we couldn’t spot the nest. However we did see the head of something swimming in the loch, that didn’t look like either an Otter or a Seal – and jokingly we said it looked more like a Beaver. You can imagine our surprise a few days later when we learned that Beavers had indeed been re-introduced into this area – so eat your heart out Davie Crocket!

We went ashore at a spot where there was a clearing and a picnic table on top of a rise,

and once we reached the rise we could see a sandy beach around the corner, so I nipped back down to the rocks and moved the dinghy around to this secluded spot where families were enjoying their kids playing away on a small but lovely sandy beach that they had named “Starfish Beach”. The balance of the time was spent simply enjoying this lovely area and it reminded me so much of Northern Brittany with so much family based boating activity.

Saturday 14th August

Today we had decided to leave Tayvallich and head for Ardfern at the head of Loch Craignish. Naturally this would mean having to get the tides right at the MacCormaig Isles at the exit of Loch Sween, and I calculated we would be there around slack water – well I got that a bit wrong as we arrived after the tide had turned, and we swept through the gap at 9.6kts SOG. I was at this point very wary of the sea to my port side as on all the charts it clearly states the tides in this part can be strong and dangerous, but all worked out OK and we headed north in around a F5/6. The sun was kind again today as we basked in warm sunshine all the way up to Ardfern Marina. When we arrived the office was closing and we couldn’t see any space on the visitors pontoons, so the office staff were quite happy for us to go alongside on the inner side of the new floating breakwater and they would sort out a berth for us in the morning. We went ashore for a meal at the local hotel and whislt the views from the restaurant were lovely, the food was alright but overall not somewhere we would rush back to again.

We had been keeping an eye on the barometer and it had been falling steadily and Mare’s Tails were in the sky indicating bad weather coming, but the strange thing was the forecast was for things to improve – not something we really agreed with! We were now in a dilema because everyday north would count as two days (as we would have to return) so we had a long discussion and decided that it would make sense to simply head back to the Canal and spend the balance of the holiday going back through the canal and taking a long lazy time meandering back.

Sunday 15th August

We headed off early in the morning back to Crinan and got back through the sea lock and lock 14 and berthed again on the same place. We had phoned the same rope handler and he had agreed to meet us at lock 13 at midday on Monday. This suited us fine as we were not in any rush, and we spent a lovely day wondering around and watching boats coming and going. One boat that caught our attention was a converted fishing boat that was in excellent condition and was clearly a live aboard – a real beauty, but for some reason I never took a photograph of her.

Monday 16th August

We cast off and meandered along to Bellanoch bridge where we went alongside and used the spotlessly clean shower facilities provided by British Waterways and then headed along and tied up at Lock 13 at around 1100. The converted fishing boat arrived along behind us and I helped them tie up to wait on the lock clearing. We had a good chat about the conditions over the past week and unpromted by me the skipper said they took a bit of pounding coming down past Eigg and he said he experienced spells of higher than average waves. This was the same as we experienced coming up from Gigha but we were both in differrent parts of the sea……………..mmmmmm. As we were waiting on our rope handler we helped them off the pontoon and into the Lock 13 just as our man arrived.

We went through all the rest of locks in company with “Sunart” and exited though the sea lock and headed for Otter Spit in company and we rafted together for the night. Sara and I went ashore for a meal at the Otter Ferry Hotel, which is made easy by the dinghy pontoon provided – and the food was also very good.

The bad weather we thought was coming did not arrive until much later in the day, but in the morning when we were running (under engine) down Loch Fyne the weather was calm with our wake radiating across the loch.

The balance of the holiday was spent meandering back and visiting Tarbert, Portavadie, Tighnabruich, Port Bannatyne with the forecast and barometer now becoming more alinged with falling pressure, stong wind warning etc. Our final run back to Largs was carried out in F6 and climbing southerly winds.

It’s fair to say that the weather was most peculiar during our holiday with the weather forecasters constantly refering to a “complex low” – and they were not wrong. This can be summed up because on one day they were forecasting North backing North Westerly – possibly backing to South or South Easterly. Go on, work a passage plan out to that forecast !!

Despite the weather we had a really relaxing time and whilst our mileage wasn’t high at 200NM, the pace suited our plan and mindset for this trip. It was also good to have all the new kit working as it should, and the new bracket just fitted for the outboard worked a treat, and again Chris of DDZ had pulled out all the stops and done an excellent job.

Finally, and I hate having to admit this, but the other thing I learned on this trip is that I now fully realise that manually lifting the anchor needs to be a thing of the past, and that I definitely need to invest in an electric windlass, or a cardiac arrest might just be lurking around the corner 😉

Wish I had taken the photograph below, but the truth is that I pinched this photo from a relations Facebook page…..hope you don’t mind Gerry?

The Waverley is (as most people know) one of my favourite ships and to see her totally dwarfed by Cunards Queen Victoria in the Clyde – makes this quite a unique and exceptional photograph – and therefore worth sharing.

This weekend I had the pleasure of my nephew Liam coming onto the boat for the weekend…………he decided to bring his dad Gordon along so that they could do some fishing 😉

Unfortunately, his mum (my wee sister) Tricia get’s a bit squiffy on boats and therefore decided to stay at home.

We set off on the Friday night and managed to slip the lines out of the marina by around 1845, with a view to picking up a mooring in Rothesay Bay or anchoring in Kames Bay for the night so that fishing could commence in earnest.

When we arrived in Rothesay Bay we discovered that all the visitors moorings had been taken (I keep forgetting that we are in the holiday season) therefore we decided instead to go round the corner into Port Bannatyne marina for the evening. We got into the marina, put the rods together, and Liam and his dad headed off around to the breakwater to fish,………..they eventually came back to the boat, but sadly they were empty handed.

We then decided to fish off the pontoon nearest the exit/entrance to the marina, where the skill of the angler came to the fore with Liam catching fish – while his dad struggled. This ended up being a late night before the rods were finally rested.

Next morning after everyone was all showered and fed, we headed over to the local shop for the important task of replenishing the stocks of Chunky KitKats, Tunnocks Caramel Wafers etc, as on the trip over the previous night these had somehow seemed to evaporate from the ships stores. On the way back Gordon couldn’t believe his eyes because one of the old boats neglected and lying on a trailer at the side of the road, was one that he had owned a long number of years ago. When he owned her she was called “Tallulah” and he was able to identify her from the parts he had fabricated and fitted to her himself………………now what’s the chances of that happening on a wet weekend fishing trip?

Here are the anglers all set for a busy day…

We left the marina and headed out into Kames Bay where we slowly drifted across the bay catching quite a number of fish en route, until the time when we arrived at the entrance to the East Kyle. At this point we decided to rest the rods and instead we would do a bit of sailing up to Colintraive in the hope of seeing our friends Roger and Hilary who were up here this weekend; and I was hoping they would still be on their mooring.

Liam took the helm while I adjusted the sails, and I have to say that he did a fantastic job steering the boat, especially as it was busy with there being a fair number of boats moving up and down the narrows confines of the Kyle…..good job Liam.

When we arrived at Colintraive I was delighted to see that Roger and Hilary were indeed still on their mooring, and over we went to say hello. Hilary informed us that they had not managed to catch any fish, but said if we provided the fish from our catch, that she would make lunch……deal!

We duly rafted alongside Doucier and went below out of the rain to enjoy a lovely lunch. It was good to see that Hilary is recovering well and getting back to her usual cheery happy self. We had a good “catch up” with Roger and Hilary and then came time to slip our lines and head off for some more fishing. However just as we were heading off, Liam said he liked being here, and with that being the case, we simply stopped there for the night. Off went the engine and out came the rods…..

Gordon tried to catch fish……

Whilst Liam did catch fish………

That night we were all a bit tired and went to bed at a sensible time. The next morning while Liam was fishing away in wet and misty conditions, we had the joy of seeing The Waverley coming down through the Burnt Islands. I simply love this old paddle steamer, and as it turns out Gordon had worked on her while employed at Ailsa Shipyard.

In the morning, with Liam at the helm, we went through the narrows at Burnt Islands (From the photo in the link you can see the buoys between the islands) and headed over to the delightful anchorage in Caladh (pronounced Kala)

( Michael Caine moment: Caladh was used during WW2 for landing craft training….not a lot of people know that!)

It was also used for X Craft – the midget submarines……..not a lot of people know that either!

From there we went over to show Liam the Maids of Bute which have been well known local point of interest for a long time, and indeed occasionaly feature in the wonderful “Para Handy” stories by Neil Munro.

From the boat they actually look better than in the close up shot.

They have, over the years, been painted as different subjects, and it must be said, that as there are no roads round to the maids, it is a fair hike (carrying all the tins of paint etc) for those who decide to re paint/re style them – so full credit to all for keeping a bit of local colour going for 100 years.

From there we went around Buttock Point passing Wreck Bay and then back down the Kyles and headed over towards Largs.

Some of crew were having a well earned rest while “off watch” from their sailing responsibilities, and also no doubt tired after catching all those fish.

The nearer we were getting to Big Cumbrae the sea seemed to be alive with a huge number of small white sails – this was due to the World Laser Championships being held at Largs.

Not wanting to get too close we had to pick a sensible route around them, and once passed and around the northern end of Big Cumbrae we headed into the lee of the island for a final hour of angling – but sadly no more fish were caught – so it was time for home.

It was really good weekend with Liam being an excellent crew member, and really good company…………….PS. So was his dad 🙂

This weekend it was time for a “Jolly Girls” weekend as opposed to the recent “Jolly Boys” weekend so the crew this time was Sara, Eilidh and little ol’ me. Everyone managed to get finished work mid afternoon on Friday and get through to the boat and away by around 1830.

One of Eilidh’s favourite places is Loch Ranza in Arran so that was where we headed out through The Tan between the “Cumbraes“. On the way over to Loch Ranza we noticed what looked like one of the container ships that had been “parked up” at Loch Striven was heading south – could this be a small indication that there has been an increase in consumer demand?

When we arrived at Loch Ranza I was astonished to find all, and I mean all, the visitors moorings had been taken! I mistakenly thought that with us getting away smartly on the Friday night that we would have been OK for a mooring. Anyhow as light was fading I didn’t think there would be an issue in picking up a “members only buoy” which seemed pretty substantial. For the life of me I cannot remember the letters of the club marked on the buoy but I am due them a suitable donation. I could have asked to raft up to someone using a visitors buoy, but Loch Ranza can get a bit uncomfortable so this was not a good idea. In truth I could have anchored but I suppose I was being a tad lazy in going for the easiest option.

There is now a pontoon for short stop overs, but in reality it’s mainly for tying up ones dinghy to get ashore and you can see this in the shot below to the left of the ferry.

With the sky having been so clear, the setting sun was simply stunning.

In the morning we awoke to a beautiful sunny morning with a weather forecast of NE backing NW F4/5 occasional F6……perfect!!

As I was looking around the boats bobbing on moorings I saw a relation of mine with the same name on his boat “Backdraft 2″….you would never know he had spent his working life in the Fire Service would you? Anyhow when Gerry was leaving he called over to say hello which was a lovely start to such a gorgeous day. He was sailing solo along with three other boats doing the same and were heading off to Campbeltown, while we at the time hadn’t even finished breakfast!!

Certain other creatures have found a way of obtaining breakfast before human beings. All you need to do is look cute and hold your head at a jaunty angle…………..

When we were finally fed and watered, we decided that we would hoist full canvas and head over the the West Kyle. Initially the wind was so slight that we were tickling our way over at 2/3kts – you can see in the shot below just how relaxed the crew were at this point 😉

The winds duly picked up as forecast to around 15kts, and Sun Dog was loving it (so were we) she was sailing about 40/45 degrees to the wind under full canvas – words cannot express how happy I was. As the wind climbed into the high teens, I left up the full main and took in a reef on the genny, and when it was getting towards and over 20kts she was still balanced with full main and a second reef in he headsail. Perhaps she would have been OK with just one reef in the genny but the wind was steadily climbing and we were approaching the headland so this seemed fairly practical and comfortable. So in essence, we had clear blue skies, good winds from the north in the F5/6 range…….simply hard to beat.

After entering the Kyle we decided to stop for a late lunch about halfway up the Kyle and picked up a mooring courtesy of the Kames Hotel. The sun, it has to be said was baking hot, and while we were having lunch we were treated to a bit of a cabaret. A certain member of the crew was watching some Royal Marines take to their ribs from their mother ship and head for the shore……..and I think it’s fair to say that this “certain member of the crew” was taking a wee bit more than a passing interest…………weren’t you Eilidh?

From there we headed up towards Burnt Isles where we found the anchorage in Wreck Bay absolutely chock a block – something must have been happening this weekend that I don’t know about, because there simply wasn’t room for another boat! Normally there are a few boats anchored at Wreck Bay but I have never seen this many.

We went over to the other side of the Kyle and spent the Saturday night quite comfortably as the wind had died down to almost zero. An early night seemed in order as everyone was yawning away by the time we had finished our evening meal.

Next morning we set off early, and with the wind still from the North it was up with the canvas, and we a lovely sail down towards Rothesay Bay. We looked up Loch Striven to to where the five container ships had been parked, and it looks like there are now only three parked up in the Loch.

We also checked out the new marina at Port Bannatyne and then sailed around for a bit before heading off to Millport on big Cumbrae. The sail down was superb and I think Sun Dog must have been close to hull speed because we were doing steady 6kts + all the way down with Sara achieving 6.2kts in 13kts of apparent wind – fantastic.

We stopped for a long lazy sunny lunch at Millport, and from there it was over to Largs to clean the boat etc and then head for home late afternoon, after what had been a fantastic sailing weekend.

Our overall track for the weekend can be seen below.

This weekend the crew consisted of two of my grandsons, Reyce and Prentice, along with their other Grandad Louis – making it a real jolly boys outing.

Louis had not been out on a boat with sails before, and Reyce and Prentice had to keep him right when it came to us slipping the lines and heading out for a weekend on the Clyde.

We had a super time albeit I have to admit that I cocked up a bit with the food supplies i.e I was a bit light on the “snacks” perhaps a bit light on the “meals” and also a bit light on the “juice” department – so in truth if this was a school report it might have read “could do better” . Lesson learned ,and never to be repeated, or the boys will no doubt have me keelhauled! 🙁

Louis quickly adapted to being on the boat and I’m afraid he had a bit of a baptism of fire in that he had to pick up moorings at different places with and without pick up buoys, and get the lines underneath everything and onto the cleats – a task he did well. He also sailed the boat (with me controlling the sheets) and had us gybing away down the Kyles of Bute.

A sign of the terrible economic situation lies up Loch Striven; where the Maersk Line have five large (container?) ships all rafted/anchored together half way up the Loch, and it’s fair to say that they have been lying here for sometime. Perhaps we just need to keep an eye on them as some kind of economic indicator, in that when they move away from here it would indicate that demand for container traffic has increased due to a more vibrant economy. We have passed by the bottom of this Loch numerous times, but this time we decided to travel up and have a good close look at them, which we did with Reyce controlling the situation admirably from the helm.

While Reyce was slowly taking us around these boats, Prentice was trawling away to try and catch our supper.

Strange to think that there are similar ships parked up at various deepwater locations across the UK – hopefully it won’t be too long before they are all busy on the high seas again!

The weather during the weekend was sunny and warm (ish), and we all had a good time together. While playing cards we were taught a new game by the boys, and had a really good laugh. However I will refrain from naming the person who ended up being “Scabby Queen” more times than any other…………………….OK you twisted my arm it was …………Reyce 🙂

You could twist my arm further and I would be forced into telling you how many fish the boys caught between them over the weekend, but that might well be a step too far!

On the way back into the marina late afternoon on Sunday, it was fairly obvious that the wind was going to be blowing us off our pontoon, and I have to say that Louis and Prentice did an excellent job of getting off the boat smartly and getting her tied up quickly alongside the pontoon; all the more impresssive really as Louis had never done this before.

Another bonus over the weekend was that the autopilot seems to be behaving itself since it was recently checked out and reset. Fingers crossed that this has finally cured what has been an irritating problem.

With all the work on Sun Dog pretty much finished we have been really keen to get her out of the marina, and to familiarise ourselves with the new equipment and changes we have made to her since last year.

The work carried out by Chris (of DDZ Marine) was to his usual high standard with no snagging work required. This attention to detail and customer satisfaction should be the norm in the marine industry, but sadly it’s NOT!! Chris is an employee (not director/shareholder) of DDZ, but should he ever set out on his own, he could be pretty confident of receiving the order for any business I could put his way.

By the time we got through to the boat on the Friday night and got everything sorted out, we were running a bit late but decided to set off that night, so Sara took us out of the marina, with our options being to nip into Rothesay (where there has been considerable investment) and on this link you can see the lifting bridge to access the inner harbour – the alternative being to carry on till we reached Colintraive; and we opted for the latter. This is one of our favourite spots, and as we arrived after the ferry had stopped for the night, we had a night of total peace and tranquility in a really beautiful spot.

Next day the forecast was for the wind to go round to the North/North East Force 5/6, but when we set off the sun was shining as we explored down the coastline of the West Kyle, and then we turned the corner at Ardlamont Point, which separates the Kyles of Bute from Loch Fyne, and had a really good sail, (with Sara still on the helm, willing the wind God’s to give us more than the 15-22 kts we were enjoying), down to our planned overnight stop at Portavadie Marina. The development of this marina continues, with the investment being substantial, and it’s fair to say that the marina was the busiest I have ever seen. We took the opportunity to refuel, booked a table for a meal (a “must do” at weekends) and took a berth for the night.

Note: The longest pontoons with the widest turning areas are to be found nearest the entrance/exit. The further in you go the shorter the pontoons.

We enjoyed our night, and had the unexpectant pleasure of bumping into our friend Roger who was up in Scotland for the week sailing with his friend Paul, whilst his better half Hilary, is over in the USA.

The weather forecast was still the same the next morning, but as we exited the marina we were in glorious sunshine, with flat calm conditions, and pretty clear blue skies. Not being a “sailing purist” I simply put up the mainsail, stuck her into gear and motorsailed back down Loch Fyne. Roger on the other hand, who came out at the back of us, hoisted all his sails and must have intended waiting on the breeze to fill in!!

As we were gently meandering back down Loch Fyne, and really enjoying being out on the water, we came across the largest pod (?) of porpoise we have ever seen, and assume they were Harbour Porpoise – I can only image there must have been a sizeable school of fish that they were all hunting – a simply wonderful sight – the sea alive with the tantalising glimpses of their back and fins.

We decided not to go back through the Kyles but instead headed for Millport on the Isle of Cumbrae (big Cumbrae) and pick up a mooring. There are some good photographs on the header within the above link which show the anchorage. I have to say that the wind never filled in at all during the day and we enjoyed a lovely (almost) summers day…….and for all we know Roger is still out there on board Doucier patiently waiting on the wind filling in 😉

From Millport it was back into the marina, where we carried out some further work, re-marking off the chain at 10 metre intervals, giving the boat a good old wash down, and then left for home feeling better after our first trip of the year, and absolutely delighted that everything worked as we had hoped.