Saturday was wet. After a monster fry-up (will I ever get the new cooker clean again?) we motored bravely out. Jim immediately produced a coil of rope and a bag of blocks and shackles and spent the next 45 minutes trussing Silkie up as if for an evening's bondage fun. Neil piloted us through Cuan like a pro while I took a relaxed overview of proceedings. Perhaps having crew aboard wouldn't be as bad as I had feared.
It had been blowing a bit for the previous few days and there was a bit of a swell rolling in. We turned into Insh Sound to put it and the wind on the quarter and had a fine run, surfing up to Kerrera. Despite what Jim infers elsewhere there was no mention of getting the kite up (that I remember) until we were halfway up Kerrera and both wind and sea had diminished somewhat.
When it did go up though, it was to grins all round despite the steady drizzle and added at least a knot to our speed. One of those delightful instant 90 degree wind-shifts had us heading for Ganavan Sands for a while but the experience of the crew saw us through.
Half the boats in Dunstaffnage were already out for the winter so it was no problem to pick the upwind, uptide, starboard-to berth that we absolutely required if I was to get us in and out without disgracing Silkie. Drinking, eating drinking, drinking, eating, drinking etc.
We woke next morning to mist rolling through the marina. Jim and Neil took us out at the very moment it cleared while I was shuffling charts below. It was one of these mornings
The crew were suitably impressed, the more so having seen nothing on Saturday. We tried the spinnaker for a while but there wasn't even enough breeze to fill it so we motored down to Bach Island in our t-shirts. A pod of 6-8 porpoises entertained us for a couple of minutes and then a charming breeze got up from astern. The kite was up in a trice.
All his own work
Mind that rock now.
The video.
Flew the kite all the way down to Easdale (apart from a minor incident with the drying rocks off Dubh Sgeir, Insh) where we picked up the mooring and had lunch while waiting for Cuan. All too soon we were back on our mooring. Shard was there to lift out and Donald rowed over to mock our progress ashore in the uncomplaining Avon.
Fabulous weekend. Obviously the skipper who planned the passage which gave wind on the quarter for both days must take most of the credit but we should mention the contribution of the crew too.
I still can't quite fathom what made you drive 900 miles for a weekend aboard Silkie but salute you for it anyway. Your spinnaker tuition was peerless and I already have a waiting list for the Silkie Spinnaker Experience as a direct result.
Would 10% of my gross be acceptable?
