Monday 13th 2012: Got up to Oban (about six hours) and left the car at Dunstaffnage. Got a bus to Oban and waited for the ferry ride to Kerrera.
One of the ferries was broken down and had to be brought in by another one. Couldn’t get on that one – I was twelfth and he was only taking 12 (though on the way out last time he took 14!). Waited on the next – a relief vessel! Then got to the office too late – everyone had gone! So had to await the return of the ferry to ask if I could win back my keys. Got the wrong ones to start with but eventually got sorted and then rushed back to get the ferry so we could eat in Oban! Went to ‘Room 9’ and had an excellent sea bass. Got the ferry back and slept on board.
Tuesday 14th 2012: Left a disappointing Oban Marina – no car parking, poor ferry service and v. substandard. Dunstaffnage Bay is a sheltered inlet at the mouth of Loch Etive, Dunstaffnage Bay is located 2 miles (3 km) west of Connell, (near the Connell Bridge)
and 3 miles (5 km) northeast of Oban in Argyll and Bute. The settlement of Dunbeg, the Dunstaffnage Marine Laboratory and Dunstaffnage Castle all lie around its shores. The island of Eilean Mor lies at its entrance. Sailed to Dunstaffnage Marina where all seemed excellent in comparison to Oban. Got messed about a bit on berthing but all ended well – especially when I got a power cable extension. We explored the castle after trying out the new outboard and tender. (A bit embarrassing – we ran out of petrol on the beach near Dunstaffnage Castle!). After drying out etc. we ate at ‘The Wide Mouthed Frog’.
Wednesday 15th 2012: Tried to sail north up Loch Linnhe (known in Gaelic as An Linne Dhubh upstream of Corran - and known as An Linne Sheileach downstream of Corran). It’s a sea loch just around the corner (turn right after the two headlands of the western edge of the mainland in Ardmucknish Bay) – out from Dunstaffnage Marina.
Loch Linnhe is about 30 miles long and opens out from the Firth of Lorne (South West edge) past the large island of Lismore - a part known as the Lynn of Lorne. Loch Eil feeds into Loch Linnhe at the Northernmost point, while from the east Loch Leven feeds in the loch just downstream of Corran and Loch Creran feeds into the Lynn of Lorne. The town of Fort William lies at the northeast end of the loch, at the mouth of the River Lochy.
A few ferries operate hereabouts – one from Oban to Achnacroish on the Island of Lismore. Another to reach Lismore is the Corran Ferry (one of few remaining mainland vehicle ferries in Scotland), which operates across the Corran Narrows, (it is about nine miles south of Fort William).
Nowadays there are about 150 people living on Lismore – one of the most fertile islands of Scotland, (especially considering the presence of Dalradian Limestone over almost all over the island!).
Probably due to it's fertility the island once supported a much larger population. By the start of 19th Century the island was inhabited by 900 people, half a century later around 1,400 and then population numbers gradually declined to its current level of around 150.
We motored up the loch, watching a yacht come flying by … (as Stan said then “at a rate of knots!”). All sail out in quite high winds – gusting to low 20s. We thought they had too much canvas out and were heeling quite a bit.
A second boat behind seemed more circumspect and tacked quite a bit … but still caught us up. He went into Linnhe Marine - situated in Dallens Bay - sheltered by Shuna Island.
We passed the Northern end of Lismore, (heading to port would have taken us to Port Ramsay) and Port Appin on our starboard side. (We had passed by then the Port Appin North buoy – fairly close at hand too).
By then we figured it would be wise to turn around and so we headed back. After berthing we went to Oban to Tesco’s for supplies and then ate a splendid supper of steak etc. that Stan made for us.
Thursday 16th 2012: Storm bound – quite high winds today so we did quite a few jobs around the boat including checking out the chutes, (cruising and spinnaker) and the storm jib.
Photo below stolen from the Web to show Stan and I how a spinnaker should look on a Contessa! - From http://www.yachtsandyachting.com/news/17536/Contessa-32s-at-Hamble
I think we had an early dinner in ‘The Wide Mouthed Frog’ again and had an early bed.
Friday 17th 2012: Sailed down to Loch Linnhe again – and used the wind quite a bit this time! We passed the end of Lismore and this time head to port in to Port Ramsay (note the two ‘a’s), where we anchored and had lunch! It was serene … pretty poor visibility by then and still – both wind and waves.
Port Ramsay is a small village to the north of the Island of Lismore. It was built to house the workers of the limestone; lime was processed in lime kilns and then used for agriculture and in mortar for buildings. The village is situated on a sheltered bay guarded by a series of skerries and small isles.
We upped anchor and motored back … Later on in the day we motored into Oban in the car – to Waterstones, had a coffee and then ate at ‘Room 9’ (Pork Loin and Pancetta) again.
Saturday 18th 2012: Sailed out towards Mull which has a coastline of 300 miles! It’s climate is moderated by the Gulf Stream and it has a mountainous core - the highest peak on the island being Ben More at 3,169 feet! Radiating out were various peninsulas, which are predominantly moorland. Numerous islands lie off the west coast of Mull, including Erraid, Inch Kenneth, Iona and Ulva. Even smaller uninhabited islets include Eorsa, Gometra, Little Colonsay, as well as the Treshnish Isles and of course Staffa of Fingal's Cave fame. Calve Island is an uninhabited island in Tobermory Bay. Two outlying rock lighthouses are also visible from the south west of Mull, Dubh Artach and Skerryvore. The Torran Rocks are a large shoal of reefs, islets and skerries, approximately 15 square miles in area and are located two miles to the South West, between the Ross of Mull peninsula and Dubh Artach. During the Highland Clearances in the 18th and 19th centuries, the population fell from 10,000 to less than 3,000.) The Sound of Mull is a deep trench carved by retreating glaciation that separated Mull from mainland Scotland some twelve thousand years ago.
Stan’s idea was that we would have lunch at anchor, (allowing us to practice our technique!), in Loch Aline. We sailed into the Sound, with it’s Eastern entrance’s tidal gate which was fun … (West of here the tides are typically less than one knot). We saw the Oban to Craignure ferry (the CalMac) and stayed clear of her. We sailed quite near the former Royal Yacht ‘Bloodhound’*, which took the southern channel – which seemed less disturbed.
We sailed on up, (once we had sorted our sails out!), on past Duart Castle, the ancestral home of the Clan Maclean. The castle stands on a crag at the end of the peninsular jutting out into the Sound of Mull at the intersection of the sound of Mull, Loch Linne and the Firth of Lorne and within view of the neighbouring castles of Dunstaffnage, Dunollie, Aros and Ardtornish -part of a chain of castles up the Sound of Mull to Mingary Castle.
*The classic and elegant 1930s ocean racing yacht Bloodhound, owned by The Queen and Prince Philip in the 1960s, is now moored alongside The Royal Yacht Britannia in Edinburgh. Built in 1936 by the famous Camper & Nicholsons yard in Gosport, Bloodhound was one of the most successful ocean racing yachts ever built, winning scores of races in the south of England and also crossed the Atlantic to compete in Bermuda. On the back of this outstanding race history the Royal Family acquired Bloodhound in 1962 and Prince Philip had much success competing with her at the famous Cowes Week regatta around the Isle of Wight.
We anchored in the Scallastle Bay area, quite close to shore … in about 3 metres. I put about 25 metres of chain out with the anchor – more than enough! We had lunch and looked around – so peaceful and relaxing.
Reluctantly – as the sun was quite lovely by now – we packed in after an hour or so and headed back. We motored through the tidal gate, (though we kept the main up), and sailed across quite a bit of the Firth of Lorne.
We did a MOB when Stan lost his baseball cap but unfortunately the 'man' died – drowned probably as the cap soaked up water and drifted below a disturbed surface.
I realised Newcastle vs. Spurs was on ESPN and tried to ring Margaret, (didn’t get through but she had recorded it for me! … 2-1 to the bad guys too!). Ate fish & chips at ‘The Wide Mouthed Frog’.
Sunday 19th 2012: Drove home at 9:30. Got in about 3pm.
