Once Alan and Jackie are settled in, we weigh anchor and and with full main and genoa make for Canna, the most north westerly of the Small Islands. Canna is green and fertile due to the Gulf Stream climate and reputed to produce the earliest potatoes in Scotland.
Before long the wind drops and we use the engine to assist our sunny passage. On the way we see more harbour porpoises, seals and puffins. The RAF give us a spectacular display as 3 jets fly low and practice dog fight manoeuvres around us.
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| Anchorage at Canna Harbour |
By 18.45 we are anchored in Canna Harbour at the second attempt. Our first was our first encounter with kelp. Whilst dinner is cooking, we sit in the cockpit and drink a bottle of champagne to toast Derek and Liz and to welcome Alan and Jackie. Sailing does not get much better than this... but it does! We see something swimming behind the boat - not a seal, it swims with a different motion - a sea otter! Then a small fishing boat returns to its mooring and within seconds there are 2 seals alongside, begging for food and being fed. Before long the otter joins them and all 3 enjoy an easy meal. When the fishermen decide they have had enough a large bird arrives for his feed - identified, by reference to the bird book on board, as a Great Skua. A good sail and an magical evening.
Trip statistics: Time - 3 hours 40 mins , Log - 14.8 nautical miles
Day 21: 11th July - We weigh anchor at 09.47 and it took Alan and David about 15 minutes to remove all the weed from it. As we leave the harbour a group of harbour porpoise pass us, on a direct path to the anchorage and we wonder whether they are expecting another fishing boat to arrive!
There is little wind and we motor sail across the Sea of Hebrides towards our rendezvous with the other cruise boats in Loch Harport on the Isle of Skye. A pod of 9 or 10 common dolphins give a display of their leaping ability as they circle, presumably around a shoal of fish. They are not interested in riding the bow wave on this occasion.
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| Loch Harport with the Skye Cullins in the background |
Then
a classic yacht came towards us and Alan casually said "that looks like
Sceptre". As she came closer we realised it was indeed Sceptre, the British challenger for the America’s Cup in 1958. She is now owned and operated by the Sceptre Preservation Society and is believed to be the only UK America's Cup challenger still sailing in British waters.
The wind filled in and we sailed down the Loch past the fish farms to anchor at Carbost in Loch Harport at 13.35.
Trip statistics: Time - 3 hours 48 mins , Log - 22.3 nautical miles
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| Talisker Distillery from Noisette's anchorage |
We
had come to Carbost to visit the Talisker Distillery, the only
distillery on the Isle of Skye. A larger operation than the other
distilleries we had visited, but still only 10 people employed in making
the whiskey.
Lots more are employed in the marketing, guiding and promotion! Nevertheless it was a very informative tour and we found it interesting to compare the similarities and differences in the distilleries. Oh and to taste the ifferences of course!
Carbost
is a small village and has a small shop. Jackie and Chris just managed
to get there before closing to stock up on essentials and the lady
happily stayed open to serve us.
We
always separate recycling on the boat and dispose of if when we can.
In the remoter parts of Scotland this was not proving too easy but we
had been told there was bottle recycling in Carbost. Although we had
seen most of the village we had not seen any sign and asked the lady.
She told us it was a long walk up a steep hill but offered to take our
bottles for us as she was going that way in her car. It is so
refreshing to be in communities where everyone goes out of their way to
be helpful and friendly.
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| Noisette dressed overall in Carbost |
We showered and changed at the Old Inn before boarding a coach to take us to the Minginish Hall
for an informal cruise supper. We passed the bottle bank on the way -
it was a steep hill and it would have been a long walk! The Minginish
Hall is a fabulous resource for the local community and was an excellent
venue for our supper.
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| The bench outside Minginish Community Hall |
We
were greeted by staff trom the distillery with a wee dram or two to
taste before going into the hall for an excellent supper. Claire told us
that they had a problem with the organisation of the evening in Carbost
- the food at the Old Inn is so good but the pub is too small for the group - they solved it by using the community hall
and the Old Inn staff do the catering - perfect! Haggis, neeps and
tatties and venison caserole followed by sticky toffee pudding.
Day 22: 12th July - The next rally event was not untill 15th July so we had nearly 4 days free sailing and so much choice of where to go.
We weighed anchor at 10.30 and hoisted full main and genoa. There was very little wind and we
motor sailed out of Loch Harport with less than perfect visibility -
the fog was back but was lifting. We went close into shore to get a good
look at Macleod's Maidens before turning north east to follow the coast
of Skye.
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| Macleod's Maidens |
The
geology and geomorphology in this area is readily visible and fascinating and we
discussed what we knew of the events that created this beautiful
landscape as we went past.
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| Weather improving as we go North |
Once
we were clear of the shipping lanes we headed west and had a good sail
across the Little Minch to North Uist in the Outer Hebrides where we
found that the 2 visitors moorings near the ferry slip that were free had signs on them
saying "do not use - chain depleted" and decided that, should the chain
fail, it would be too interesting a conversation to have with the
insurance company and we anchored in the South Basin.
The
scenary of the Outer Hebrides immediatly appears more stark and remote
than that if the Inner Hebrides - less green, less lush and even in this
sheltered anchorage leaves you with a feeling of being exposed.
Trip statistics: Time - 8 hours 16 mins , Log - 33.5 nautical miles
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| Leaving the anchorage in Loch Maddy looking towards Skye |
Day 23: 13th July -
We weighed anchor at 06.40 and were watched by seals as we left Loch
Maddy. There was very little wind today but good visibility.
We hoisted the main sail and motor sailed back across the Little Minch and across the north of Skye. There had been one other Malts Cruise boat in Loch Maddy and as we got closer to Skye we could see other yachts emerging from Loch Dunvagan and Loch Snizort.
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| Skye from the north |
We
had decided that Loch Gairloch would be our destination for tonight and
when Skylark called all cruise boats to announce their destination as
the anchorage on the South West of Rona with a nosing planned, we were
too far committed to turn back. A whiskey nosing is the equivalent of a
wine tasting and Jeremy (WCC) was progressively trying to offer the
crew on each boat an opportunity to share some malt with him and
explore/discuss the flavours. Tough work but someone has to do it! We would have to wait our turn.
We
heard reports from other boats of sightings of Minke Whales and were
all on look out. Jackie at one stage was sure there was something large
in the water not far from the boat, which could have been a Minke but
it did not surface and we were not able to get a definitive sighting.
We did however see a large number of puffins - both adult and juveniles
and some large birds which could have been sea eagles - though again not
confirmed.
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| Gairloch |
We
entered Gairloch and decided to go to the pontoon in Flowerdale Bay to
enable us the fill the water tanks easily. We rafted alongside Aros Mor,
a yacht making its way to Stornaway for the festival.
We
have long been party to the tradition that if you raft alongside
another boat you invite them aboard for drinks and we had a happy hour
chatting with the crew before retiring to the local pub for an excellent
meal.
Trip statistics: Time - 7 hours 35 mins , Log - 43.7 nautical miles
Day 24: 14th July -
One of the many advantages of inviting neighbours aboard is that you
learn from their experience and knowledge. The crew of Aros Mor told us
of their favourite anchorage, Poll Domhain which was within easy reach
of where we needed to be the following day and sounded ideal. That was
plan A. The forecast was for strong winds and we would be beating into
it. We decided to see how we fared.
We
slipped the pontoon at 10.50. We hoisted full main. Gailoch is quite
sheltered and even in the loch conditions were blustery. We decided to
reduce sail and put one reef in before leaving the loch. We had a good
stiff sail, visiblity was not good and it was cloudy and overcast. If
the sun had been shining it would have been champagne sailing!
Throughout the afternoon the wind steadily increased and when we were
consistently seeing over 21 knots we agreed it was time for the second
reef. This did not slow us down but made the boat more managable and
gave less heel so galley activities were easier. We did however notice
that the genoa leach had begun to tear and decided to change to the smaller jib (that we have not yet had out of its bag) asap.
We abandonned the idea of the 'ideal anchorage' for tonight, aiming to
get to Plockton in Loch Carron. Although we were enjoying the sail it
was hard work and we agreed that we would sleep better tonight knowing
that we were where we needed to be for the next rendezvous rather than
knowing that we had to get up tomorrow and do a similar sail. The
forecast wind strength was still increasing.
Fortified by a meal of pasta we sailed on and anchored securley in Plockton at 21.00.
Trip statistics: Time - 10 hours 10 mins , Log - 52.7 nautical miles
The
crew have earned a day off tomorrow! and so has Noisette - a VMG
(velocity made good) of 3.3 knots beating into a lumpy sea is very good
going.
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| The Plockton anchorage |
Day 25: 15th July -
When we went ashore next morning we heard about theexperiences of
another boat, Santa Maria, who dragged her anchor several times, leaving
the crew on anchor watch all night.
We were glad we had invested in the Rocna anchor which was holding well everywhere so far!
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| Monday walkers |
The
Plockton Hotel had made showers available for the cruise crews - very
luxurious compared to what we were used to. They also served a good
lunch!
After
getting supplies from the local shop and visiting the information
centre, we went for a walk, exploring the entrance we had negotiated
last night, the local schools, the natural amphitheatre and the railway
station.
There were wild orchids growing along side the path.
As
Plockton was a cruise rendezvous, we were there for a reason and we
met on the lawn of the Plockton Hotel at 17.30 as requested to find that
the ladies from the Talisker Distillery had made the journey to the
mainland with more supplies of Talisker Malts.
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| Anchorage from the garden of the Plockton Hotel |
We were treated to a nosing of 3 whiskeys: The newly introduced Talisker Storm, the Distillers Edition and the 57 Degrees. All very different, all very drinkable.
By
this time Chris had decided that it was not a question of which you
prefer, more which occasion or which mood would suit each
whiskey. Not either/or, but both/and! (and then some more).
After the nosing we walked
along the road to the Plockton Boat Club where the members had prepared
a feast of a barbeque for us. Venision sausages and burgers,
a host of salads and a 'bake in' fest for dessert. The traditional (of
course) music was provided by a local band and inpromtu dancing broke out
in the street! The fiddler was also the local brewer and responsible
for the beer that was being enjoyed - including the "Fiddler's Fancy".
Not available in too many places but if you still need an excuse to
visit Plockton - tasting the Plockton Brewery beer is as good as any.
Day 26: 16th July- Today we need to time our departure and passage carefully to arrive at the Skye Bridge (Kyle of Loch Alsh) and the tidal gate of Kyle Rhea to allow us to pass through the narrows with the tide. Even more important today as we will, again, be going into the wind and we do not want to encounter the effect of wind over tide, which increases the sea state considerably.
The very last of the foul tide and slack water as we enter Kyle Rhea is what we are aiming for. Not as easy as it sounds as the 'knowns' are, at best, predictions and subject to variation depending on the prevailing conditions. But that is why we enjoy sailing - the uncertainty! the challenge!
We weighed anchor at 09.45 and removed much weed from the anchor - at least it is penetrating the kelp and burying itself in the mud beneath. We sailed under the Skye Bridge at 11.25 (actually sailed - engine on tickover in neutral charging the batteries!) and
then proceeded to motor sail in very variable winds, along the narrows. By
13.30 the wind had filled in and we were sailing with one reef in the
main. Unfortunately repeated tacks meant that the small tear we had
noticed in the genoa leach became considerably bigger. We should have
looked at it in Plockton but conditions were not really suitable for a sail change (or so we claimed, as we were actually preoccupied with more fun things!).
We
decided to head for Inverie, Knoydart - a place we wanted to visit and
reasonable progress towards Tobermory, our destination for tomorrow. The
Knoydart Peninsular is only accessible by sea or by foot. It is run by the community through the Knoydart Foundation.
We
picked up one of the pub's visitor''s mooring at 17.30 and changed the head sail. As we
were doing so we noticed that the port navigation light was completely
missing. There was a wire where it used to be! We presume that the
loose leach tape had got behind the catch and dislodged the clip and
before we had noticed it was gone!
Nothing we can do now so we went
aboard Skylark for a nosing. Jeremy presented us with 2 very different
Malts and helped us to explore the flavours and differences in each.
We also discussed the plusses and minuses of adding water or ice and the
enhancing values of certain foods to certain flavours. A very
enjoyable session.
We went ashore to visit the Olde Forge and had another very good meal.
Trip statistics: Time - 8 hours 15 mins , Log - 39.7 nautical miles
Day 27: 17th July - We slipped the mooring just after 08.00 and with one reef in the main had a great sail (beating again), tacking close inshore to Eigg, then to Muck before we were sure we would pass south of Ardnamurchan Point and back into the Sound of Mull.
We picked up a visitors buoy in Tobermory at 18.15 as all the pontoon berths were full.
Trip statistics: Time - 10 hours 12 mins , Log - 52.7 nautical miles
Day 28: 18th July - The final day of the Malts Cruise was spent ashore. We gathered by the distillery at 09.45 and followed the Pipe Band of the Oban High School, through the village and up to the Golf Course where the games were to take place.
There was something for everyone.
Dancing,
running, jumping, bag pipe competitions and the heavies - throwing all
manner of things and tossing the caber.
A grand day out.
We had time for ice cream before we changed and reclimbed the hill this time to the Western Isles Hotel for the final Cruise
gathering.
We met on the terrace where the views over the harbour and
on the the Sound of Mull were spectacular.
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| Noisette's crew at the Western Isles Hotel |
The gathering began in traditional style with a few drams and a piper
and after some thanks and formal good byes led by Andrew (WCC) we entered a Seafood Extravaganza.
A superb evening to end a superb cruise.
We have been priviledged to be welcomed by so may communities.
During the Cruise Clare was busy taking photos
and they have been posted on face book and tell the whole story. Take a
look if you have time and see if you can recognise anyone.
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