 |
| Handling the lines going down |
Shetland, Orcadian and Scottish weather
this year have been true to their reputation. The wind has been blowing
constantly from a southerly direction and we have had rain most of the time.
Looking at recent weather charts, the north of Scotland seems to have one
weather front after the other passing over it. Today we seem to be ‘stuck’
within the warm sector between two fronts. There was an impressive display of
thunder and lightning yesterday evening (19.7.16) followed by fog today in Oban
(56º 25’N 05º 29W).
Christian, Sydney and Andy have arrived as
planned on Sunday (17.7.16), welcomed by a serious downpour of rain! We were
soaked through by the time we came back from the train station in Banavie, only
a short walk from the Neptune Steps and the boat.
 |
| Christian and Sydney in the 2nd lock |
With only six days on board Easy Rider, we
were all eager to leave the next morning early and lock in for the first
descent. It was still pouring down and it didn’t stop the whole day. Christian
was at the wheel for the 10 remaining locks of the Caledonian Canal, Andy,
Sydney, Stephan and I were handling the lines. How comfortable it was to have
suddenly so many crew.
As we arrived at Corpach, the canal
attendant asked us twice whether we really want to leave the canal in this
weather! We did.
Visibility was poor and the wind was weak
from the south-southwest and the tide was against us for six hours. It was one
of the most miserable days sailing under engine for a long time. Andy was at
the wheel a lot of the time getting more and more soaked through.
 |
| seafront of Tobermory |
There was no point spending a night in an
anchorage in Loch Creran in this weather and we decided unanimously to proceed
straight to Tobermory (56º 37’.1N 06º 03’.8W). It stopped raining and we
suddenly could see the tall hills around us when we entered the Sound of Mull.
By the time we reached this beautiful small town the clouds were gone, the
water was smooth as glass and the spirits lifted after a smooth docking by
Christian into the last remaining spot right in the corner of the marina (not
officially a mooring space as we discovered the next morning) and the prospect
of having a nice warm dinner in a pub nearby.
 |
| Good weather, happy crew |
What followed the next day seemed to be a
small ‘miracle’ within the morass of foul weather. The sun was shining and it
was warm! The wind direction was not favourable for us still blowing from the
southeast, but with between 9-13kn we had a perfect sail, tacking 19 times
within the Sound of Mull southwards. All our spirits were high. Sydney who just
started sailing before she embarked on this journey did a wonderful job helming
the boat and tacking. She was beaming with pleasure. We were competing (in our
mind) with other yachts beating out of the sound until they gave up and rolled
in their genoas and put on their engines (giving us an easy victory…)
Whatever may follow after yesterday’s
perfect day, our journey together will be remembered by our sail towards Oban.
When the wind died completely we were
already out of the sound. The next remaining six miles, we had time to admire
the beautiful landscape which we hadn’t been able to see the day before. Looking
towards the west, the clouds were already gathering.
 |
| Eileen Musdile on SW Lismore Island |