Loch Lomond 2010

Loch Lomond -  September 2010

We decided that it may be worth going along to a Drascombe Association Rally to see what it was all about. The attraction of the Association was the pretty full and varied events calendar that they ran annually which would potentially allow / encourage us to sail in new waters. From my brief contact with Niall Wardrop (the Association’s Scottish Representative) when I was looking for information on Luggers during the period of Bravehearts’s rebuild a favourable impression of the Association had been made. So we thought let’s give it a go and see what it is all about.

The Loch Lomond Rally which was the last rally on the 2010 calendar, was being held during the second weekend in September. As Loch Lomond is fairly local for us we arranged to go along on the Sunday and sail with the rally for a day.

Arriving at Millarochy Bay on the east side of Loch Lomond early we pulled on to the beach to start rigging. A couple of other boats were already there. Shortly after our own arrival, other boats were arriving by water having spent the previous night at anchor amongst the nearby islands.

We were soon talking to the other crews who were interested not only in who we were but where we got our trailer – Braveheart travels on an ex MOD “Rigid Raider”, which is well engineered (over?) has a break back facility and complete with Landrover wheels was bigger than any of the other trailers there.

The sail planned for the day was to Luss for lunch / ice creams. Luss is on the west side of the loch and is visible from Millarochy Bay about three miles away between the islands of Inchlonaig and Inchconnachan.

With the wind generally blowing from the east we would be able to run to Luss but our return would involve beating up wind.

Once launched we set sail and quickly found ourselves at the head of the group. Not wanting to arrive first we headed to the right of Inchlonaig and continued north to pass behind Pilot Rock one of the Ross Islands which lie just south of Ross Point, before turning back towards Luss. A number of other boats had followed a similar course but turned back for Luss before reaching Pilot Rock. With our Batten Roach Main and mizzen sails, it appears that Braveheart has a pretty good turn of speed for a Drascombe! Our non direct rout gave us a 5 mile sail to get to Luss and we arrived about the same time as the boats which had taken the more direct route.

Lunch was a pleasant hour or so spent on the beach eating our sandwiches after which we had a quick walk around Luss. Everyone on the Rally was friendly and obviously shared a common interest in Drascombe boats. It was amazing to see the interest that other visitors to Luss took in the boats as the wooden masts and tan sails attracted a lot of attention.

After lunch we headed back to Millarochy Bay taking a more direct route this time. Loch Lomond is famed for its ever-changing winds that are affected by the mountains around it and the islands on it. When sailing towards Inchlonaig we were tacking in a gentle breeze, however when passing between  Inchlonaig and Inchconnachan we were battling white horses and a wind that was gusting probably a force 5.

Back at Millarochy we thanked the organiser for having  us and said our farewells. No doubt we would be attending some more rallies in the future