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UK Sailing, Sail Cruising and Yachting Guide  |
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UK Sailing, Sail Cruising and Yachting Guide |
Claymore‘s Summer Cruise 2003The week preceding the summer cruise of 2003 got us into optimistic mood as all sources of weather information referred to the establishment of the Azores high and its dominance over British weather for the foreseeable period. We drove the 298 miles to Kilmelford where Claymore has been moored for the past 3 years - in warm sunshine on Sunday 3rd August, correctly thinking that the M74, M8, Glasgow, Loch Lomondside route would be quieter in the early morning. By the time we had loaded and stowed what seemed like a years supply of food and clothing onto the boat, got the dinghy swung into the davits and collected Oscar the Outboard from the Yard workshop, most of the day had passed. We decided to stay on our mooring having filled up with water and diesel and taken the opportunity to varnish some woodwork and so the evening came and went and we settled down to our first night aboard in the absolute peace and tranquillity of the beautiful Scottish Loch.
Monday 4th August Lunch taken, the dinghy was duly lowered and I set about the task of clearing the paddlewheel whilst Liz did a bit of good old fashioned deck swabbing. Berthing in Skippool Creek, the boat always gets quite dirty from rain splashing the mudbanks but it is surprising how much dirt accumulates even when moored in clear Scottish waters. The exertions of this outburst of hard labour combined with the intense windless heat fairly hit us and soon after finishing our tasks we had no alternative but to take in a snooze. This done we raised the anchor - electrically thanks to our new Lofrans Kobra - and set off once more, destination possibly Tayvallich. Success and victory over the log gremlin was immediately apparent as the knotometer sprang to life and began digitising itself up to our 5 knot cruising speed. At the west side of the entrance to Loch Sween is the relatively short Loch Na Cille which the pilot advises is suitable for an overnight anchorage in settled conditions. The 3 day outlook was indeed very settled and so we decided to head up the loch and anchor for the night. Off the old stone pier there is 10 ft of water and a lovely clear sandy bottom with just a few patches of Kelp and here we came to rest. After our evening meal we rowed ashore and walked up to the old Chapel where some fine medieval stones are on display , then up to the top of the hill to look out over the vastness of this part of the West Coast. To the North, Ben More on Mull stood clear in the evening sun while across the Sound lay the Paps of Jura, again clear in the evening light. Southwards we could see Gigha and beyond the coastline of Kintyre as it wandered southwards to the Mull. The Loch Sween area is a haven for wildlife and as the evening still began to settle and dusk fall, the night noises of Seals and Cormorants began to fill the air. We rowed back over still water and took an obligatory nip of the Jura whisky before retiring for the night, God very much in his Heaven.
Tuesday 5th August Coffee taken, a breeze was evident from the North East - excellent news for anyone heading Southish and perfect for a run across to Craighouse on Jura. Loch na Mile - the bay in which Craighouse is situated - has some visitor moorings but these are all old Highlands and Islands moorings and considerable time has passed since they were laid and there is also some speculation about how often they are inspected. Even when there is no wind a swell sets into the bay off Craighouse and so when we are there we normally tie alongside the pier. It‘s a great place to be as there is hardly any tidal range at all, the lowest in Britain at 0.5m (Neaps), so setting the lines is simple and there is water on the pier and loos nearby. The distillery and the hotel are both in easy reach. The Argyll Council yard is just along the lane leading to the Pier and there are always some long planks there to hang outside your fenders so that lying to is a painless and scratch-free process. Now Jura whisky happens to be my favourite and so no visit to the Island can take place without I do a tour of the distillery; there‘s talk that I might be eligible for a loyalty bonus and discount on future purchases so with this in mind I made the usual mistake of going off on the tour and taking the samples on an empty stomach.
Wednesday 6th August.
Thursday 7th August
Friday 8th August We put on our walking shoes and set off along the road towards Ardbeg, past the distilleries of Laphroaig and Lagavulin. I wanted to see if the complicated description of Whisky Bay merited its ferocity in the Pilot book or whether this was just another attempt by some author to discourage people and thus keep it to themselves. We climbed the ruins of Castle Dervaig and looked down into the bay - nothing to it once it all makes sense and the perches and painted rocks became recognisable, but a tight and complicated entrance no less and a wonder to think that around 30 boats had anchored here on the Malts Cruise. Not being lovers of the peaty Islay Malts we forwent the pleasures of more Distillery tours and walking back along the road to Port Ellen were given a lift, which was as well as we were flagging in the hot sun. On our return to the pontoon we began talking to the couple on the boat alongside as you do - Eile Eilean - Gaelic for Another Island, then Dansa‘s crew joined us, then Sea Mead and next thing Gin was being taken and spontaneously the singing began and carried on late into the still warm night. Saturday 9th August An Island Day as we take the bus to explore Islay, going first to Bowmore. We‘ve long had a fascination with graveyards and the Bowmore Churchyard is as rich in history as any. The sad line of military graves of the men of Bomber Command who lost their lives when their flying boat crashed in Loch Indaal, the seamen drowned in enemy action and always sad reminders of the many men who served and died fighting for the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders. One headstone caught our attention - the stone of the Rev. Donald Caskie, the ‘Tartan Pimpernel’. Minister of the Scots Church in Paris at the outbreak of war, he turned down offers to be repatriated, instead choosing to go to Marseilles where he became a key member of the underground that smuggled 3000 servicemen back to England. A little later in the Tourist Information Centre his story was there in a wonderful book which I bought and read in the following days. On returning to Port Ellen we were pleased to see Alex and Christine our friends from Findhorn as had 5 boats from Brittany, each cruising separately and each headed home. Sunday 10th August We decide to cruise in Company with Alex and Christine as far as the Ardmore Islands which look so challenging on Chart and Pilot. We slipped away from the Port Ellen pontoon at 09:45 and with a gentle breeze sailed out of the bay and along the coast to our waypoint then cut inshore to follow the narrow rocky channel. The Clyde Cruising pilots are so clear in detail and on this bright warm day with breezes of F2 -3 we were able to take our time and carefully study and orientate ourselves as the pilotage features unfolded. There are long bands of rocks with entrances and corridor like channels - on one we counted 50 seals basking and lolloping around in the early afternoon sunshine. We found the anchorage and in 10 feet of bright clean water we anchored and rowed ashore to wander through the bracken along the shoreline of this beautiful area. Alex had been fishing as we sailed along and caught 3 mackerel and a haddock which we shared for our evening meal aboard Claymore. The night came and the only sounds were again of cormorant and guillemot and the seals grunting and splashing in the shallows by the rocky outcrops.
Monday 11th August. We raised the anchor at 10:00 and followed Alex and Christine up the narrow steep sided canal between the Islands before parting company as they head up the Sound of Islay on their way home to Findhorn through the Caledonian Canal. Addresses have been exchanged and photos were taken then we reached across the Sound of Jura in seas teeming with Gannet, Cormorant, Guillemot and Porpoise, gracefully arching their way through the gently rippled waters. We rounded the island of Cara and headed up towards Ardminish Bay on Gigha. The 15 or so miles are covered in 4 hours and it‘s a good day for varnishing so we are taking turns at keeping watch and sailing whilst the other wields the sandpaper and does a spot of maintenance. On arrival we went ashore, rowing past Eile Eilean whom we‘d left in Port Ellen. We walked around the bay and sunbathed and paddled and swam in the clean waters, walking in the warm pure white sands awestruck by the beauty of this little Island. We relaxed on board in the evening and working up the tides we calculated an 05:45 start to catch the favourable tides for our journey south to and around the Mull. Tuesday 12th August Several other boats had come into the bay and we reckoned several would be heading south in the morning, but we were the only ones to see the sunrise as we slipped our mooring at 05:40 and motored south. By 08:00 we had the Mull lighthouse in our sights and 2 hours later the log shows that we were clear of the Mull and heading for Sanda, where we anchored at 11:00. 3 other boats eventually followed us down including a Grand Banks trawler yacht who must have made short time of the passage as he blasted past us at around 15 knots. Sanda has been developed over the past few years, we‘d read of the Byron Darnton pub, named after a ship wrecked on the south side of the Island, and so rowed ashore to look around. Indeed some hard work has gone into developing the properties on the small quayside and we had a drink in the bar before wandering back aboard Claymore. The Coastguard forecast came on the VHF and was predicting Westerlies F5, locally 6 so we had a think and decided that Campbeltown wouldn‘t be a bad spot for the night. We left Sanda at 18:15 and were tied alongside the Campbeltown pontoon at 20:45. That night the wind came in and all those rare sounds of halliards tapping and water lapping against hulls and wind moaning through the rigging came to disturb us, but it had been a long day and little short of a hurricane would have kept us awake. Wednesday 13th August. For some strange reason we really like Campbeltown and so we had a day at rest, walking into town where I love to look around the 2nd hand book shop - then I took a cold hard look at Claymore and decided that there are still some tatty bits of string here and there, guardrail ties and the like, so I took stock then set about replacing them all, splicing on new lines and getting rid of 2 or 3 redundant fittings.
Thursday 14th August. The wind was fresh as we nosed out of Campbeltown Loch and in the west. We turned to go up Kilbrannan Sound under full main and with the Genoa poled out and fairly rattled along the miles covering the 30 or so miles in just over 6 hours. The wind followed the shape of the sound before coming onto the port beam as we entered Loch Fyne for a beam reach up to Tarbert. The Pontoon has been extended as have the shower and toilet block - evidence I suppose of the establishment of this lovely little village as the host to Scottish Week. There was ample room to tie alongside the Pontoon - no need to raft - and we were charged £12:50 for the overnight stay. We did our usual thing in Tarbert, walked around the village, chatted to others on the Pontoon and took drink in the Victoria later in the evening. Friday 15th August. The final day of this part of the cruise dawned bright and sunny and we had a wonderful sail down to Ardlamont Point. Here we met and chatted on the VHF with Dansa, who we‘d last seen at Port Ellen - homeward bound having come through the Crinan the previous day. The wind went around and straight onto the nose then died to a whisper going up the West Kyle. We motored up past Tignabruich and then found the breeze filling in again once we were approaching Caladh harbour by the Burnt Isles. We cut the engine as we bore away and unfurled the Genoa. We ghosted past Wreck bay then gybed our way past the Bunt Isles, crossed the ferry then ran right down the East Kyle beyond Rothesay and right across the Firth of Clyde to the tip of Cumbrae. The Clyde is so much busier and there seems to be more powerboats than I remember; it‘s sad really because they are such a nuisance when they come screaming past and bring everything to a sail cracking standstill and yet they are so friendly and enthusiastic when they wave! Another advantage to being on the West Coast is the quietness of the VHF. The Clyde seemed full of radio checkers and intrepid souls logging ‘outine traffic’ calls for voyages that would take them all the way from Largs to Rothesay or Lamlash to Inverkip. Surely Clyde Coastguard must get heartily tired of such nonsense? And so concluded the first part of our Cruise. The 2nd part came the following Bank holiday weekend when we picked the boat up from Largs to take her back through the Crinan and up to her mooring at Kilmelford. Alex had come 7th in the Nationals so he was pleased and he brought one of his friends along to help us back through the Canal. We had a sunny trip once more and although we‘d deliberated hard about whether to keep Claymore in the Clyde for the remainder of the season, walking around Crinan basin and looking over to Jura, Scarba and Mull with the sun setting in the evening sky we knew we were right to get her home to Kilmelford.
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