Our 3 month trip from Portishead up to Lewis in the western isles of Scotland and back via the west coast of Ireland
Set Off!
Sunday June 20th, 2021 Portishead to Dale, Milford Haven It had been a long time coming! The lead up to to this trip had been a long slog. 28 years of working came to an end on Friday 20th June…
Milford Haven to Bangor, Northern Ireland.
Wednesday 23rd June, 2021 After a days rest to the recover from the rigours of the Bristol Channel overnighter, we left Milford Haven and sailed North through Jack Sound, across Brides Bay and transited Ramsey Sound hitting 11.8 knots past…
Bangor to Sanda Island
Wednesday 30th June, 2021 After a few days exploring Bangor and enjoying the local passion for ice cream, it was time to head North again. Typically the wind was still blowing from the North making progress up the North channel…
Sanda Island to Gigha
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…
Exploring Loch Tarbet, Isle of Jura
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…
New Crew! & Gigha to Kerrera
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…
A Circumnavigation of Mull
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…
Loch Aline to Sanna Bay
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…
Loch Moidart & Loch Ailort
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…
Loch Kinloch, Rum & Inverie
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…
Loch Hourne, Isle of Rona & Loch Torridon
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…
Outer Hebrides
Saturday 31st July, 2021, Loch Torridon to Lewis. Today we planned to do a long sail across the Minch out to the Isle of Lewis. The wind was stronger today than it had been for a long time, finally blowing!…
Isle of Skye
Tuesday 3rd August, South Harris to Skye Our jaunt to the Outer Hebrides had been fun, but the lure of Skye in the distance was stronger and with the favourable winds we decided to sail back across the Minch and…
Back to Northern Ireland
Friday August 6th, 2021 Back to Sanna Bay We had been thinking about how to get back to Portishead for the last few days and we had a few options. However, we didn’t think that we would be up in…
Coleraine to Aran Island
Wednesday 11th August, 2021 Coleraine Marina We woke up to rain! The storm was starting to build, so it was good to be in a marina on the river Bann well away from the worst of it. We ordered the…
Exploring Donegal Bay
Monday 16th August 2021, Rossillon Bay, Aran Island We had a rough night at anchor. At high tide, the swell came over the reefs that protect this bay and the wind picked up from the North West. It was time…
Clew Bay, Killary Lough & Inishboffin
Friday 20th August, 2021 Broadhaven Bay to Achill Sound Another headland to go round … the west coast is littered with them and none of them are easy! Today was a drizzly rainy day with poor visibility. We sailed downwind…
Aran Islands to Brandon Bay
Tuesday 24th August, 2021, Inishboffin to Inishmore After the embarrassment of keeling over in Inishboffin harbour (read about it in the previous post!) we made a quick exit from the anchorage at 0600 that morning, with a long sail planned…
Exploring Dingle Bay
Friday 27th August, 2021, Brandon Bay to Ventry Bay The west coast of Ireland is certainly fickle and changeable! The previous day had been a cloudless blue sky and warm sunshine. Today we woke up to thick pea soup fog….
Darrynane Bay to Kinsale
Monday 30th August 2021, Darrynane Bay to Crookhaven Time was moving on! We had to be back in Portishead for early September in time for Vinnie to go back to college. Today we checked the longer term forecast, and saw…
The Long Sail Home to Portishead
Saturday 4th September, 2021, Kinsale to Dale, Milford Haven We woke up with thick heads! Both feeling hung over and had not slept well. So we headed in to Kinsale to get some supplies for the trip back and then…