Category: Season 2021

Monday 26th July, 2021, Mallaig to Loch Hourne

Its a sad day today because Caleb was leaving us and heading back to Stirling. It had been great having him onboard for over two weeks, sharing our sailing adventures. We had to get him to Mallaig to catch the train which should have been simple. We called the harbour to find out that they were full! So we had to anchor just down the coast and walk two miles in to town. The town claims that Mallaig is the jewel in the crown of the western isles???? I didn’t agree as we fought our way through the crowds of tourists, the ice cream and fish and chips shops. It felt a bit overwhelming to me after the remote places we had been visiting for a month. We ate our fish and chips whilst defending ourselves from the over friendly seagulls. We put Caleb on the train and stocked up at the local coop, and then headed back to the solitude of the boat.

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We raised the anchor and set sail North from Mallaig up the Sound of Sleat with Skye on our port side and mainland Scotland to starboard. Then we headed in to Loch Hourne to soak up the views. There are many anchorages in the loch but the one we had in mind was already occupied so we kept going. It was well worth the effort, because this loch just gets more and more special. There are two narrow sections that open out again in to larger waters. We anchored next to the first narrows nestled between 3 small islands all on our own surrounded by steep sided mountains and misty views. It had the feel of a remote Norwegian Fjord. I realised that I had visited this Loch many years ago when I walked the Cape Wrath Trail with two friends. We had walked over the Noydart peninsula and come down these steep mountains and stayed at a little farm on the edge if Loch Hourne at a place called Barrisdale. I could see Barrisdale from this anchorage and it was great to be back again!

Tuesday 27th July, 2021 – Loch Hourne

The next day we took the canoe out to explore more of the inner Loch. It was very sheltered and we drifted down with the tide to the second narrows and spent a great day exploring this wild place.

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Wednesday 28th July, 2021 Loch Hourne to Balmacara Bay

It was time to head North again and so we needed to do some careful tidal planning. At the top of the Sound of Sleat is the the Kyle of Rhea where the water gets squeezed through a very narrow section and the tidal streams can reach up to 6 knots. We needed to arrive at the entrance when the tidal stream was heading North. Leaving the anchorage at Loch Hourne we had strong wind on the nose funnelled by the mountains so we had an exhilarating sail, short tacking our way up the loch doing nine knots on flat waters. The winds here are completely dominated by local effects and bear no resemblance to the forecast, so you have to just ad-lib! Leaving Loch Hourne then we shifted from a close hold to almost dead down wind in light airs, a complete change to the feel of the day. We had got out of Loch Hourne a lot faster than anticipated anyway, so we ghosted slowly up towards the Kyle of Rhea and managed to arrive just as the tidal stream turned.
Once through the Kyle, the water opens out again in to Loch Alsh, and we dropped the anchor on the North side of the Loch in Balmacara Bay for the night.

Thursday 29th July, Loch Alsh to Isle of Rona

We left the anchorage at 11am and head up towards the Kyle of Loch Alsh with some trepidation. The chart says the bridge to Skye across the Kyle is 29m high at the centre. Azimuth’s mast is 24m high. It was going to be close, no room for an error! We slowed right down under the bridge, but the tide was quite strong. I lined us up to with the right heading and the marks on the bridge. It felt VERY close!!

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We sailed out from the Kyle for a couple of hours until the wind died and then motored up the inner sound until we were called by “Range control” on the radio. I hadn’t noticed in the chart, but it appears we were about the enter a live firing range! We were instructed to divert to within a 1 nautical mile of the coast of the Isle of Raasay to avoid being hit by shells! Once past Raasay, we sailed through the tight gap of Caol Rona between Raasay and Rona and arrived at the entrance to Acairsaid Mhor anchorage. This is a very sheltered place with a very tight entrance winding through rocks and reefs. We sneaked in slowly and dropped the anchor in this popular spot, although in the end we had the whole place to ourselves!

Friday 30th July, 2021, Isle of Rona to Loch Torridon

In the morning we took the dinghy in to the Isle of Rona, bumped in to the nice bloke that runs the hostel and the Rona ferry, on his advice we went for walk round the island. We climbed the track up the highest point on the island. We stopped for a rest and whilst Ailsa was checking her messages on her phone, I decided to walk the last bit of the path to the trig point to take some pictures. I was gone for 10 minutes, and when I got back, Ailsa had disappeared! We then spent the next hour trying to find each other again. Finally meeting up, she blamed me … and I blamed her …. oh well! Rona is a pretty place and worth a visit. It has geology that looks very similar to Iona, and the Ross of Mull, with pink granite and serpentinite.

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The sail across the inner sound to Loch Torridon was nice with light winds. Happily the range was not firing, so no hassle either. Eventually the wind died, and we headed for Loch Diabhaig a little loch on the north side of Torridon. It proved to be way too deep and difficult to anchor in and there was a strong local wind making the conditions choppy. So we decided to sail downwind to Loch Shieldaig and anchor off the village. We took the dinghy to shore and went for dinner at the little local cafe. It was an excellent meal!

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Saturday 24th July, 2021

Another glorious day of blue skies and sunshine. We decided to sail over to Loch Kinloch on the Isle of Rum about 20 miles from Loch Ailort. The winds were very light, and the sea conditions completely flat which meant an awesome sail across to Rum, skirting past Eigg on the way. The wind picked up on the beam as it accelerated between the Eigg and Rum and the we whisked in to Loch Kinloch on the East coast of Rum and dropped the hook in front of Kinloch Castle at the foot of the Rum Cullin.

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Sunday 25th July, 2021

Yet another fabulous day of blue skies and sunshine … is this really Scotland?!

We took the dinghy in to shore and tied up to the old stone Pier. A short walk round the bottom of the Loch and we arrived at the castle which was unfortunately shut and looking in quite poor repair. It is a Victorian folly of a rich industrialist who owned the whole Island. There are a number of short walks on the island and we took a path that headed up a stream at the back of the castle. The islanders generate their electricity from a hydro plant that we walked past. The path lead up to a view point with views over Loch Kinloch.

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We got back to the boat, and made a plan to go and visit the UK’s most remote pub, the Old Forge at Inverie. Only accessible by boat and famous for its fresh local seafood. If you eat at the pub then they let you stay on a free mooring for the night. We booked our table, pulled up the hook and made the sail back to the mainland and Loch Nevis, sailing past the bottom of Sky and the Black Cullin, past Mallaig on an exhilarating close hold and in to the entrance to Loch Nevis.

We picked up a mooring buoy off the village and took the dinghy in to shore and had a really good meal at the pub. All local seafood, highly recommended.

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Wednesday 21st July, 2021

It was supposed to be another glorious sunny day, but we woke to thick pea soup fog! It wasn’t showing much sign of burning away either. There was no wind, so we edged out of Sanna Bay on on instruments, following our track in and motored along the North side of Ardnamurchan Peninsula and edged very slowly in to Loch Moidart. The entrance is a twisting route between rocks in to this Loch and it was definitely made more interesting by the thick fog. We dropped anchor in a bay very close to the entrance, but away from the main route in. Moidart is very shallow in places, and difficult to navigate helped greatly if you can actually see the shore!

Thursday 22nd July, 2021

We woke again to fog! However this time, the sun won the battle early in the day to reveal a cloudless blue sky, and then we realised what a spectacular place we were anchored in. We took the canoe and paddled with the tide about 2 miles down the Loch to reach Tioram castle. Tioram is a faily complete ruin, but its position commands views of the whole Loch and this was a really special day to see those views. Ailsa decides that this is to be our next home when we hang up our sailing shoes. Might need a little bit of work though?

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We sailed out of Moidart at 1500 with the intention of the heading to the Borrowdale Islands, a little further North up the coast. However we changed our minds when we saw the huge mountains behind Loch Ailort and diverted to another amazing anchorage off a white sand beach in front of the bothy in the outer loch.

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Friday 23rd July, 2021

Caleb and Dom decided today was the day to conquer Rois-bheinn. This is the Munroe mountain at the edge of the loch that stands at 876m. So we loaded the rucksacks with supplies and lots of water, cause it was a hot day and set off across the loch in the dingy to the South shore. We pulled the dinghy up on a rocky beach walked along the shore until we came to track past a house. We didn’t have a map, so we were doing this by feel, but lucky for us we came out on the road right opposite a sign saying this was the access footpath to the hills.

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It was a pleasant and easy climb to about half way up. Then the path disappeared and we were faced with a STEEP climb to the top. It was an exhausting climb with many false summits and the heat of the day kicking in, However the effort was well worth it with the huge views from the top.

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Sunday 18th July, 2021

Loch Aline is a very protected all weather anchorage, surrounded by hills on all sides and a very narrow entrance at one end. We anchored at the far end from the entrance not far from the Aline Estate castle(s), one of which looks very much like something out of Disney. So after fixing the windlass (broken switch) and the outboard engine, we took a trip to shore and walked right round the loch to the little village. Its a beautiful estate and a nice walk along the shore of the loch past the sandstone mine where they produce crystal white fine sand. We watched the Mull ferry leave through the narrow channel and arrived at the village to find the shop shut!

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Monday 19th July, Loch Aline to Loch Drumbuie

We found the spare parts for the traveller buried deep in a locker and we fixed the traveller, reinserting the 100 torlon balls without losing any of them. Then we took another trip to the village, this time in the dinghy and with about half of the beer bottles (at least two sacks!) that Ethan and co had kindly left us on our trip round Mull! This time the shop was open for supplies, including lots of local produce from the Aline Estate. Also open was the local cafe called the snack shack that serves the people waiting for the ferry to Mull. It was busy but we enjoyed a local venison burger. Get back to Azimuth, we pulled up the anchor and sailed the North going tide up the Sound of Mull past Tobermory and in to the narrow entrance of Loch Drumbuie, on the south side of the entrance of Loch Sunart. Its another enclosed all weather anchorage, although due to its depth, its difficult to find an anchorage. All the good spots had already been taken by other boats.

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Tuesday 20th July, One month out!

Time to head further north, and today we planned to round Ardnamuchan point, the most westerly point on mainland UK. We left Lock Drumbuie at 11am in bright sunshine. The winds were very light and fickle and made sailing interesting in the busy Sound of Mull. Winds from 2 knots up to 13 knots at times meant a lovely relaxed take your time sail through spectacular scenery. Huge mountains and blue skies.

At one point we watched a 250m metre cruise liner edge its way in to Tobermory harbour entrance, presumably so all the tourists could take pictures? Not sure why you would bring a boat this large up the sound? Still they had to observe the rules of the road and give way to sail! Then we got buzzed by the Isle of Lewis Ferry steaming past at 20 knots.

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The wind was kind and we had a lovely sail past Ardnamurchan point lighthouse and by mid afternoon, we edged in to the anchorage behind the reef at Sanna Bay. We were lucky that the weather was so nice, as its a very exposed point, and the anchorage is open to the west. The outer reef kills the atlantic swell, but it was still rolly. Worth staying though for the fine beaches, the views of the the small isles and the mountains of Rum, and what turned out to be one of the best sunsets of the trip.

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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!

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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.

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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.

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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!

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Wednesday 7th July, 2021

We woke up in the anchorage at West Tarbet to find the cloud had descended. A plan to walk from the anchorage and climb the biggest of the Paps of Jura was thwarted, as it now sat with its head in thick cloud. An exciting week was ahead though, as our son Caleb was coming out to stay on the boat. We had arranged to meet him at Gigha in a couple of days, so it was time to make our way back that way.

We left Loch Tarbet after lunch and motored for a couple of miles to the entrance to the Sound of Islay to catch the south going tide. Then we put the sails up and took the light downwind airs to about halfway down the sound until just the tide was carrying us with no wind at all. Motor back on again until the end of the sound where the wind picked up and let us sail all the way across the Sound of Jura to the North end of Gigha. We anchored on the east coast of Gigha in Drumyeon bay at 8pm just in time for the England versus Denmark football match. Right next to the local mobile phone tower… good signal!

Thursday 8th July, 2021

We chilled out on the boat … waiting for Caleb!

Friday 9th July, 2021, Gigha to Loch Keills

We collected Caleb from the Gigha ferry terminal and headed back to Azimuth. Pulled up the anchor and started North up the Sound of Jura. The wind was light again, so we had to resort to motoring. A short trip took us up to Loch Keills, a small tributary loch on the East side of the sound of Jura. We anchored at the end of the loch in lovely calm conditions.

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Saturday 10th July, 2021, Loch Keills to Achanarich Bay

We decided to visit the chapel at Loch Keills. Its the 12th century St Charmaig’s chapel (after St Cormac, the Irish Saint) which has been beautifully restored, albeit as a quite dull box-like structure (which presumably it once was). The roof is new and inside there is a marvellous collection of medieval grave slabs now protected from the erosive Kintyre elements.

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We returned to the boat and pulled up the anchor at 1400 and took the tide North up the Sound of Jura. The tide here was crazy, especially as we transited past the end of the Gulf of Corryvreckan and Loch Craignish headland. We arrived at Achanarich Bay at 15 30 and negotiated the narrow entrance between reefs and rocks to this fine anchorage. No wind!

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A great place to explore with the canoe and many resident seals who took great interest in us!

Sunday 11th July, Cuan Sound

After a peaceful night at anchor, we awoke to another windless day. Leaving at lunchtime, we drifted up the sound of Shona and then gave up on the sailing and motored in to Cuan Sound. The tide is incredibly strong through here, and negotiating the rocks in the anchorage was a challenge. However, the anchorage was very sheltered once with lots of sealife. Good phone signal which meant we could watch the England final…. doh!

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Monday 12th July, Off to Kerrera for more crew!

We had to do our sums right to get out of this anchorage and through the Cuan narrows. I calculated when slack tide was, and we left to find it was no problem at all in comparison to difficulties of the previous day. Finally some wind too, and a glorious sail out in to the Sound of Mull and up to the Isle of Kerrera where we dropped the hook, took the dinghy to shore on a beach populated by cows, met some locals and determined the route to walk across the isle to get to the ferry terminal where we were due to meet Ethan and friends Jo & Tom.

It turned out to be quite a trek, and the sun beat down on us as we negotiated the rough track and hill in the middle of the Isle. A steep descent too down to the ferry terminal and a welcome rest while we waited for the new arrivals. They arrived shortly after laden down with stuff and enough crates of beer to supply a small army! Now we thought how the hell do we get the 1.5 miles back to the boat over the hill again with all this stuff. Fortunately there was enough of us to split the load. The journey back was strategically helped by a stop at the local ice cream shop for cold drinks and ice creams where you helped yourself and left money in an honesty box, very nice. We all finally arrived back at the bay where Azimuth was lying at anchor, and several dinghy trips later, all crew was installed, and cold beers had been opened!

Sunday 4th July, 2021

After a couple of days exploring Gigha and a trip to the local pub and shops, we decided to head for the remote spot of Loch West Tarbet on the Isle of Jura. This involved crossing the Sound of Jura, and sailing up the Sound of Islay. Both sounds have strong tidal streams, so we had to plan the time to hit the Sound of Islay to get the North going stream. We left at 9am on a beautiful sunny day to find no wind at all in the sound. Our faithful friendly wind app, Windy had got it wrong again…. a common occurrence in our experience since this time it had predicted 10-12 knots from the SE. So we motored across the Sound of Jura for 2 hours, dodging the fishing boats and the Ferries enjoying the spectacular views of the Paps of Jura. As we entered the Sound of Islay, the tide increased our speed up to 10 knots through the narrow channel and whisked us up past the whisky distillery and steep hills until finally the wind kicked in. Time to get the sails up, and sail round in to the entrance of the Loch with views of Colonsay to the West. The wind was short lived, and referring to the pilot book, we got the engine on and prepared to negotiate the inner narrows of the Loch and reach the fine sheltered anchorages. The instructions are thankfully easy to follow as you weave your way between some nasty looking very close rocks. It turns out the narrow channels are nice and deep and you breathe a sigh of relief as you exit in to the wide open inner loch.

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We chose to anchor on the south shore just past the narrows. What an amazing place! We took the dinghy to shore and tied up at a small dam for a fishing pool and walked along the coast to take in the remoteness of this spot. Climbing a ridge gave us some great views of the surrounding area.

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Climbing even higher, and we came across another land bound loch with views out for miles. This loch had a natural dam at one end formed by a raised stone beach, which we decided to go and explore in the dinghy about a mile away from the anchorage.

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Monday 5th July, 2021

Typical of Scotland, one day its sunny, the next its pouring with rain, so we sat and read our books and looked at the views. Eventually it stopped and we took the canoe out for a trip around the inner loch.

Tuesday 6th July, 2021

Now the sun came out again, and we took the dinghy to explore the north shore of the inner lock where we visited the bothy and climbed up the ridge to take in more of the breath-taking views. We met some fellow sailors and compared notes on the loch. Although the climb up the ridge was hard work with no footpaths to follow, it was well worth the effort for the views and when we stopped for a rest, three golden eagles were keeping watch on us soaring on the thermals over the ridge.

When we got back to the boat, we decided to move to another of the many anchorages in the Loch. So we raised up the anchor and renegotiated the inner passage in to the outer loch this time with the advantage of having our track to follow. We dropped the anchor again in Glenbatrick Bay right at the foot of the Paps. Another glorious anchorage!

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Friday 2nd July, 2021

We had an early start to catch the strong tide that flows round the Mull of Kintyre. There was no wind, so we had to motor. We hit 11.5 knots on the SW corner of the Mull. Once we reached Machinish Bay the wind picked up a little, so we got the sails up and sailed / motored up to Gigha Island through the sound and anchored in a spectacular little bay with a white sand beach at the North end of the island. A really nice anchorage with a view over the sound of Jura, and the mountains of Jura in the background.

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