Monday 12th July, 2021, Kerrera to Duart Castle
The new crew collected from Kerrera ferry terminal, it was time to for the quick hop from Kerrera to Duart Bay on the south-east corner of Mull, our first stop on the circumnavigation of one of our favourite Isles. We have a family history with Mull, of many happy family holidays, and I was really looking forward to experiencing Mull from the sea.
It was a great sail across the Firth of Lorne and in to the bottom of the sound and a good introduction to sailing Azimuth for the new crew. We pulled in to Duart Bay and anchored below the castle. The wind really picked up as we entered the Sound of Mull, but the anchorage at the North end of Duart Bay provided good shelter for the night even though it was a little rolly.
Tuesday 13th July, 2021, Duart to Tobermory
In the morning, the crew took the chance to explore Duart Bay with in the dinghy and canoe, then after lunch we took the flood tide up the Sound of Mull and tacked all the way in to a strong headwind. The crew were great and soon got the hang of the tacking process, which on Azimuth involves furling the genoa to get the sail through the gap between the two furlers (staysail). The Sound of Mull is a busy stretch of water shared by a host of sail and motor boats as well as the ferries leaving Oban and on there way to Mull and other islands, and quite a few cargo vessels. It made for some interesting tacks and judging intercepts. Thankyou for AIS. After 9 tacks in total, we arrived at Tobermory at 1900 and grabbed one of the last mooring bouys in the harbour. Everyone wanted to head to shore to the pub(s) for tea but at that moment, the outboard (which had been gradually dying over the past few days) decided it was not going to start! Crew to the rescue, they took it in turns to row us all in the long haul to the dinghy pontoon. Pub dinner was a hit and then a long row back to the boat!
Wednesday 14th July, 2021, Tobermory to Gometra
The crew braved another trip to Tobermory in the morning with the caput outboard to collect a few more supplies. There wouldn’t be another opportunity for a few days. We departed Tobermory at 1130 close hold sailed round to the South harbour on Gometra just off the west coast of Mull. The wind was quite strong 18-25 knots, and the sea state left a few crew members looking a little green, but all survived Ok. The sea state was quite choppy as we approached Gometra. Offshore we had our first whale siting. We think it was a minky or pilot whale. A large singular fin, much too big to be a dolphin. There are not many safe anchorages on this west side of Mull and as well pulled in to the protection of Gometra’s south harbour, it was obvious that quite a few other people had the same idea. We shared this small anchorage with about 5 other boats that night. Its a protected anchorage, but that night it was a little swelly from the south.
Thursday 15th July, 2021, Gometra to Ross of Mull
We left Gometra and motored the short hop to Staffa. The sea state was very rolly and we didn’t want to risk anchoring off and the crew taking the dinghy to shore. So instead, we did a slow drive by of Fingal’s cave and saw some puffins as well as the other spectacular rock formations
The big swell continued for a rolly trip in to the Sound of Iona past the Abbey and through the shallows and swell with the wind on the nose all the way. At the bottom of the Sound, we sailed East and and Anchored in Knockvologan. The crew took the dinghy and kayak to the beach to explore and even risk a swim in the cold Atlantic.
Later that afternoon, we motored round the corner looking for some shelter for the night and ended up in a narrow bolt hole (Aranaminish Bay). There was no room to swing, and not ideal as other boats had already secured the best spots. It was another swelly night.
Friday 16th July, 2021, Ross of Mull to Loch Spelve
We awoke to thick fog! The Scottish weather is never dull. We had to rely on the previous nights track and instruments to get out of the anchorage and then we headed down the coast. It was a real shame that we couldn’t see any of this spectacular coast! The wind provided a nice downwind sail and got us to the narrow entrance to Loch Spelve at 1700 just right to catch to the rising tide and ingoing stream. The fog cleared at last and we anchored in the beautiful bay at the North East end of the Loch next to the mussel factory. A flat calm loch meant a very comfortable night at anchor.
Saturday 17th July, 2021, Loch Spelve to Kerrera
When in Loch Spelve it felt imperative that we try and secure some local fresh mussels, so we took a canoe trip over to the factory in the morning. Another honesty box allowed us to buy 2 kilos of mussels from the ice box and head back to the boat. We left Loch Spelve at high tide at lunchtime and sailed back across the Firth of Forth on a great beam reach back towards Kerrera. The plan was to drop off the boys at the anchorage near the ferry terminal (to avoid the long walk we had earlier in the week …. although all the beer had been consumed :-)) It had been a great few days with Ethan and his friends and we felt sad to see them go.
A large ship was anchored in the bay so we squeezed in between them and the shore and dropped the hook. A request soon came on the radio to determine when we were going to move, as we were blocking them in. So Caleb rowed Ethan and co to the shore. I went to pull up the anchor to find that the windlass was broken!!! I had to pull the anchor in by hand, which proved to be nigh on impossible. Even with assistance from Caleb, two of us could not get the anchor in. With a lot of effort, we managed to free the anchor from the seabed and then we proceeded to drift through the anchorage nearly hitting other boats. I rigged up the anchor to one of the winches, and we used this to pull up the anchor whilst we drifted down Kerrera sound. Finally it was nearly on board, but only after Caleb had managed to remove about 50 kilos of kelp that was wrapped round the end!
A little stressed then, we motored through Oban harbour, and decided to head North again. Once out of the busy harbour it was nice to raise the sails again and relax, and try and forget the stress of earlier in the day. Azimuth is sailing along nicely when all of a sudden there is a loud bang …. and then the pitter patter of small balls falling on the deck. Looking up, imagine the horror of seeing the traveller, now removed from its track and swinging in the air on the main sheet below the boom! I realised those balls were the torlon balls from inside the traveller, about a hundred of them, now careening overboard. I knew this because I had had a similar experience when I tied to service the traveller a couple of years ago. These balls are stupidly expensive … we had to grab as many of them as we could as fast as possible!
Enough stress for one day thankyou very much! I was there thinking that these things normally come in three’s? What was going to happen next? So taking the sails down we made a beeline for the safe anchorage of Loch Aline just inside the Sound of Mull, negotiated the narrow entrance and breathed a sigh of relief when the hook was dropped in a very tranquil pretty anchorage. Time for a drink and to relax!
New experience every day same as my job lorry driving when I was tramping around UK different load and only ropes and sheets and timbers to work with