Obviously not on the same scale as the CC2008, but Joan and I went down to the bottom of the Loch for the first May holiday weekend with the hope that we would meet up with a fellow BM forumite.
We actually met two, and although the weather wasn't wonderful, we had a great time with a couple of evenings of interesting chat.
With hindsight, we left to return to our berth too early. We had to motor most of the way, but the wind filled in late in the afternoon and we would have been able to sail downwind all the way home in brilliant sunshine.
I'm sure that there will be another chapter to this story told next week, but in the meantime find a couple of photos to whet the appetite.
This shot was taken whilst the owner was ashore for a walk
I had to start the iron topsail to catch up for this shot
Ash
"This is a sailing Forum"
Albin Vega "Mistral" is now sold
When you said you visited the bottom of the loch, I had visions of your vessel being a yellow submarine - or simply sunken! But I presume you were referring to the southern end, nearest tae Glasgae and therefore the @rse end of the loch?
Loch Lomond is a grand spot, but I suspect that you knew that already.
Balloch is the @rse end, but the islands are fantastic shelter and pretty.
Shortly after the second pic was taken we (Lady Stormrider and me) scuttled off to Luss to find a shop and I had to get a hat which got some serious use the rest of the week.
The winds up in the Highland bits were just like Windermere, all or nothing, and from everywhere which made things interesting. Ardlui marina has lovely showers/toilets.
At one point we were doing 5Kts off the golf course just with the jib, but tacking was a bitch. I need to try some different options for sailing in a "good" breeze.
I would like to see more wardens enforcing the speed limits where they are now, and making folk take home their crap off the islands. The noise of PWC's doesn't seem to fit the scenery, but they should have an area to play.
We had a right good week, it's a shame it's 2 weeks till the Clyde cruise.
Why all these lies to confuse poor galley slaves? I took home made soups together with beef and ale stews to keep the frostbite at bay. I ended up with milk going off and having to purchase something called salad.
It was blooming warm and sunny all week! I'm not pale and interesting anymore, but sun tanned and had to use my thermal vest as a tee-shirt.
Still - apart from the awful warm weather, many thanks to Ash and his lovelier other half for making two sassenachs very welcome and providing us with some much-needed correct local information.
Can I add my thanks to Mr and Mrs Ash too, most of the info went straight through, but enough stuck to be usefull. Whatever, we had a right good natter about boats and other stuff.
We had a good night out at Tarbert (after a BBQ) with a Shearings group on a coach tour, we could only find the one pub. As we had run out of fresh food we had to eat out at Ardlui and Rowardenen, no great hardship to be sure.
The lack of milk sent us back to Luss for breakfast while trying to decide if it was an Osprey that 2 Gulls were mobbing. We had a hectic day really. When the wind started we set off sailing to the East and had to take the sails down as we were over canvased. Balmaha was very unwelcoming with lots of "no parking" and "private mooring" signs so we decided to run to Balloch under Genoa at about 3 to 4 knots.
We had to go to the only decent shop, the Balloch CO-OP, to get food and Ice for the next 2 days, then went back to where we met Ash to hide and BBQ.
Last edited by aquaplane on Mon May 12, 2008 10:53 pm, edited 1 time in total.
What you have to consider is that Galley Slave is an important but minor role.
When you chat with an Admiral you assume your Chief Medical Officer role, or First Mate role. When I think about it you only let me be Skipper and maybe Navigator, I'm going to have to think of some more jobs for me.
Cork Puller, vital that one, I feel more important already.
Glad to hear that you both enjoyed your week on the Loch.
One of the difficulties of sailing in Scotland is that you need a full range of clothing with you, from foulies through to shorts and tee shirts, often during the same day.
I've never investigated Balmaha from the water, though I enjoy the challange of sailing through the gap between Inchcailloch and the mainland.
I would have thought that Aquaplane lacked the mass to create the momentum needed to tack under jib only. You'd need to turn off the wind and spin through 270 degs, losing some ground but keeping up the speed which would compensate.
The improvement to the Ardlui toilet block is fairly recent, and took some time in the transformation. I assume that you were loaned an entry card as part of your overnight fee.
Hope that the weather is as good for your fortnight on the Clyde.
Looking forward to seeing you again on the Loch.
Ash
"This is a sailing Forum"
Albin Vega "Mistral" is now sold
I'm sorry I can't reciprocate with the images, I don't have a memory stick for my new Video cam yet and so I can't capture stills from it. I do have some video but only at anchor.
I didn't mention before, a double header steam train went through Ardlui late evening while we were there (Tuesday). It was a bit dissapointing after all the tooting to get going to see a wacking great diesel loco pushing too.
The bottom did look a bit aproximate when we were sailing away from Balmaha, but with a lifting keel it's not a big problem. Having said that on Saturday we saw slash and heard a bang followed by loud voices carried across the water, we were about a mile away. A large rib had carried away a propeller on a rock between Inchcruin and Inchfad, the perch was still there but the isolated danger mark was missing. That'll teach them to ignore the channel markers and use warp drive in a restricted speed area.
