Malts Cruise, Second Half

Well, we are now back in Oban for a while, to recover from the Malts Cruise, and to refresh ourselves before we start the trek back south.  It has been a good trip so far.  We tasted quite a bit of whisky (not too much, mind you), ate some good food, met some interesting people, visited quite a few interesting places, and also discovered something new about Dante’s capabilities(see next post).

Rona

We left Loch Dunvegan on July 15, with a nice NW wind, and hoisted the sails about 30 minutes after we left the anchorage.  The sun came out, and we sailed close-hauled  up to the north, and then the NE, around the tip of  Skye.  We made it all the way to 57° 43’ N before we turned SE towards Rona.  Interestingly enough, this is NOT the furthest north we have been so far.  We actually made it to 57° 44’ north outside Lossiemouth, on the way into Inverness.  But it did seem a bit further into the wilderness rounding the top of Skye.  We could see the Outer Hebrides to the west and north, but they will have to wait for another trip, alas.  It was a glorious sail, with no motoring till we got to Rona.

We had decided to stay the night on Rona, which is an island to the east of Skye.  At the northern tip of Rona there is an inlet named Loch a’Bhraige which seems to be quite snug and protected, unless the wind is from the NW.  Well, it was from the NW, but we thought we would at least stop in and see how the conditions were.  This inlet is the home of a small detachment of Royal Navy personnel/contractors who seem to work in the submarine range on the east side of Rona, and they have built a pier and installed some other infrastructure, as well.  We thought that we might “borrow” the use of their pier for the night.

This turned out to be a bad idea, under the conditions.  The pier was a steel piling/concrete structure with high walls suitable for a large vessel, not a yacht, and the tidal range was high, so we would have had to adjust the lines all night.  And the wind was blowing us off the pier, and we would have swung quite a bit.  So we decided to look for an anchorage in the bay, but it was like a fjord, with deep water all the way to the shore.  Not good for anchoring.  Alas, off to the other anchorage on Rona.

This anchorage is named Acarseid Mhor, and is at the head of a tortuous channel thru the rocks at the SW side of Rona.  We arrived just past low tide, so we could see the rocks, which was good.  There were already about a half dozen boat there, but we took a spot that everyone was afraid to occupy, because of rocks, and didn’t have any problems all night.  It was quite pretty.

Plockton.

Next day, we slept in a while, because the leg was going to be relatively short, and left around 10AM.  It was a mildly exciting exit because the compass for the autopilot decided to stick on one heading, so there was some confusion about which way to go, but we got out OK, and the compass eventually settled down.  It will be fixed here in Oban, which is one of the reasons we are here.

The sail to Plockton was a continuation of the sail to Rona.  Great wind on a nice point of sail, sunny, no rain.  We made it to Plockton in about 4 hours and found a nice mooring to tie up to immediately.  This was an official gathering of the Cruise, and we had a nosing of Talisker whisky that night in the public square, followed by a nice BBQ with venision burgers and other tasty consumables.  It was quite spectacular.

Loch Moidart

Next day (July 17) everyone got up early, because from Plockton south around Skye you have to make a passage thru the Kyle Akin, then the Kyle Rhea, and down the Sound of Sleat. (These names really make it sound like we were sailing in a Lord of the Rings world, and it sometimes really seemed to be like that).  The current thru these passes can be quite ferocious, and it is important to time your passage accordingly, so we left Plockton at 7:00 AM to be able to make the most of the tide.  It was a fun ride, with currents running from 2-5 kts, whirlpools, and overfalls.  Almost all of it was motoring, though, because the winds were flat.

We had decided to head for Loch Moidart, just north of Ardnamurchan Point.  We did not get to see this this last year, and we bypassed it on the way north this year, so a stop-over on the way back was warranted.  And it was a good stopover.  We also saw two minke whales as we passed Arisaig!

The entrance into Moidart is twisty and tricky, with lots of rocks and patches of shallow water.  Thankfully we entered on a rising neap tide, so we could see the rocks reasonably well, and the chartplotter had good charts.  We passed two anchored boats to find a nice large pool NW of RIska Island, where we anchored, and soon several other boats from the fleet joined us. 

We have become good friends with the owners of Arcarius, and we did a nice walk around the SE side of the LOCH in the afternoon, and then we went over to their boat for dinner.  It is a Southerly 42RST, with a swing keel, so they can drive the boat up on the beach (literally), or take the ground, if they wish.  It is also a “deck salon” boat, and it was interesting to see how the state-of-the-art has advanced since out boat was designed in the later 90s.  A lot of fun was had by all.

Tobermory

We left Moidart on July 18 in dismal conditions.  It was drizzling, with low mist and poor visibility. We did another instrument exit from Moidart, and headed SW for Ardnamurchan Point, following Arcarius.  The weather did not let up till we rounded the point, when the mist lifted, and the sun finally came out when we reached Tobermory.  Luckily, we found a slip in the marina across from Arcarius, and started to do a needed cleanup of the boat.

July 19 was another day of cleaning, including some major laundry activities, but we also got a chance to head up above the town to the golf course where they were holding the local Highland Games.  Young lads and lassies ran and jumped and danced, and very large burly men tossed rocks and hammers and telephone poles(!) into the air. The weather was glorious, we got a good deal of laundry done (but not enough, due to the slowness of the dryers), and we also entertained the crew of Arcarius for drinks before we headed up to the grande finale of the Malts Cruise.

The finale was a large seafood spread in the grandest hotel in Tobermory, with lots of whisky and wine and good company.  A good time was had by all.

Oban

We had originally planned to meet some friends in Tobermory and spend a week cruising around Mull before the Jeanneau Rally in Dunstaffnage on July 28.  However, they could not make it because of a family medical situation.  So, our next plan was to go off ourselves to the Outer Hebrides, or maybe even down to Islay for a few days.  This plan did not survive contact with the weatherman, however.  

The predictions were for strong winds from the SW this weekend, and for once, the Met Office was right.  We also need some down time from the press of getting here on schedule, and we need to do so boat chores, so we have decided to stay in Oban till the end of the week.  We have contacted Raymarine and the local dealer, and a technician will be out on Monday or Tuesday to take a look at the autopilot, and pack it off for service.  We will just have to steer by hand for a few weeks and pick it up in Troon.

We have also looked at the schedule and think that we will have to take the Crinan Canal to Troon.  The weather is too iffy to chance a trip down to Islay, much as we would really like to go back to Port Ellen, and visit Caol Ila.  Sigh.