We got to Dunstaffnage at around 4pm where I got the keys and we transferred all the relevant gear to the boat, which seemed in good nick. We did a shop at the Coop in Oban at around 6pm and then had dinner in Room 9 Restaurant and turned in when we got back after a drink in the Wide Mouthed Frog.
On the Wednesday we motored out and sailed across to Loch Etive to stay the night at the new Pontoon/Shower Block.
Walked to the Ardtornish Estate
Thursday saw us sailing up the Sound of Mull to Tobermory, where we stayed two nights, one full day. On the first night we ate on board - really nice .... The next day we spent going around the area of Tobermory - for example the Mull Museum in Tobermory crams a great deal of information into a very small space. They could have a room three times the size and it would still be full. ... We also strolled around the front, buying some beer at the Coop. Stan bought a fishing rod set and we went to the Ferry terminal. Then we went up to 'An Tobar' to have lunch and saw Fred Schley's painting exhibition and Sam Jones' photography exhibition.
Then a lazy afternoon sorting out some sail issues with the genoa, and at night we went to see "Why Do You Stand There in the Rain?" at the Mull Theatre is based at Druimfin, just outside Tobermory. The play is about the "Bonus Army," who, 80 years before the current "Occupy movement," marched on Washington DC. WWI vets, as part of compensation for war wages, were promised bonus compensation when they died or retired. Hundreds of thousands of veterans were out of work during the depression. They asked the government 'give our bonus to us now.' There were protests. In 1932 they occupied Washington D.C. Veterans and their families built a Hoover town. They called it the 'Bonus Army.' It was just like the occupy movement. In the end, the military was called in, and the protesters were cleared out by troops commanded by Generals Douglas MacArthur and George Patton. A cavalry charge, followed by troops armed with fixed bayonets and canisters of adamsite gas-an arsenic-based tear gas-were used to disperse the protesters, while spectators reportedly called "shame,shame! According to newspaper reports, approximately 10,000 men, women and children took part in the Bonus Army protest, 55 were injured and 135 arrested. A 12-month-old baby allegedly died from tear gas exposure and a woman miscarried. The Senate defeated the bill that would have allocated the bonus funds to the veterans by a vote of 62 to 18. The play was excellent!
Displays include the geology of the island; prehistory including Standing Stones, Duns and Brochs; the visit of Johnson and Boswell; the wreck of a Spanish galleon from the Armada fleet; the arrival of a ship from Newfoundland which had been blown off course across the Atlantic; the planned development of Tobermory in the nineteenth century as a fishing port; crafting, farming and other trades; the village school, etc.
On the Saturday we sailed across to Salen in Loch Sunart.
On the Sunday we came back down the Sound after motoring out of the loch and sailed to Dunstaffnage (though we motored the last bit).
On Stan's 60th we had to motor to Port Appin
Back to Dunstaffnage and stayed the night - then tidied up on the Monday and left at 11:00ish an got home at 4:30ish and then after some time at home wnet to Westbourne Spice for a curry. Stan & Jane left next morning.
