Western Isles Cruise 2012
This would be our return to Ardnamurchan
after having to cut short our cruise in 2011. However once again cruising this
area was not going to be straightforward as the collapse of the UK construction
market due to the deep and ongoing economic depression meant that I was temporarily
between jobs (unemployed) and therefore any sailing had to be fitted in with
interviews and any work opportunities.
The
dates of the cruise were between the 1st and the 9th
of June – with the plan being to “meet up in Salen (Loch Sunart) on Friday afternoon/Saturday morning 1st/2nd June. Sailing in Loch Sunart over the weekend. With a longer cruise out to Mull perhaps Coll, or Muck etc between 4th -9th June. Returning to Kentra (Just 2 miles north of Salen ) having rounded Ardnamurchan point”
This sounded like an idea opportunity to not only visit
Mull and Coll where we had been before but also to visit Muck an island to
which we had not yet been. As always though the actual itinerary would depend on
the weather and as we found out in 2011, this is not always favourable for
Drascombes on the West Coast!
While I had time on my hands we were
not able to actually commit to going on the rally until the week immediately before,
as I was still hopeful of arranging some work interviews. By mid week having no
interviews or work arranged, we decided to go to the rally so Kathleen arranged
to take time off from her work.
Our late decision to go and the time
of year meant that finding local accommodation was a problem. I could only find
a B&B for the Friday night. We knew that Tom who was organising the Rally
planned to sail from Salen on the Saturday and Sunday mornings so we were left
without accommodation for the Saturday night. This simply meant another night
camping which was great for me but not so great for Kathleen who is a midge
magnet and reacts badly to every single bite she gets.
As I was currently between jobs I had ample time to get
Braveheart ready to go so we left home in a very organised manner for a change
with all the small jobs that I had been meaning to complete on Braveheart
actually finished and the car neatly packed!
The weather for the weekend looked pretty reasonable and
this year it actually did look as though we were going to get a full weeks
sailing, however I received a telephone call just before we left asking me to
take part on an on-line interview for a position with the UN in Jerusalem on
the following Wednesday. Unfortunately this date which could not be changed
fell mid rally. As finding gainful employment had to take precedence over
sailing which is just a hobby, I confirmed that I would be available for 4 hrs
on the following Wednesday.
As the interview would be held using Skype I considered
the possibilities of connecting during the rally either from an Internet Café,
a pub / hotel or such place with Wi Fi or simply by pairing a laptop with my
phone. Reluctantly I decided to discount each of these options as I could not guarantee
that on the Wednesday we would be somewhere with a internet connection or even
a phone signal. There was no 100% reliable alternative other than to be home on
the Wednesday afternoon.
Friday the 8th June
As Kathleen does not work on Fridays we left on the
Friday morning to make the most of our now limited time away. The drive up to
Salen was made in sunshine and was broken by lunch at the tourist information
office in Balachulish – I know it is an unusual choice of a place to eat but
having eaten lunch there before we know their bacon rolls are good!
Crossing the Corran ferry we drove along the side of Loch
Sunart arriving in Salen mid afternoon.
We easily located the jetty and pontoons in Salen and found that we were the
first boat to arrive. Deciding to leave launching and unpacking until the
Saturday morning we headed off to find Salen House which would be our the
evening.
And now the history bit (thanks Google) - The name ‘Salen’ does not appear on Bruce's map of 1733,
the position of the village is merely noted as the site of a 'Woodkeeper's
House', close to another house symbol labelled 'Tarbert'. Tarbert means an isthmus; in north-west
Scotland it is usually applied to an overland connection between two sea, or
loch routes. It is probable that the village we now call Salen was originally
only known by the name Tarbert.
In
1854 Salen village apparently consisted of the Pirn (or Bobbin) Mill, the
jetty, the inn, a shop and one house.
Salen
House
The residents’ lounge of Salen House was the village store and used to be called 'Matheson's'. A shop is first mentioned in the estate records in the 1850s when it was in the hands of Mrs Owain MacNaughton, a widow of 38 with nine children.
The residents’ lounge of Salen House was the village store and used to be called 'Matheson's'. A shop is first mentioned in the estate records in the 1850s when it was in the hands of Mrs Owain MacNaughton, a widow of 38 with nine children.
On
the opposite side of the road were petrol pumps, a paraffin tank and a coal
store where they would measure out the coal for you.
The
store was connected to an older house and there were some sheds at the back and
a feed store along the road. These were later converted into a house and post
office.
Arriving at Salen house we found that there
was no one at home, but after a few minutes a neighbor who had noticed us
arriving appeared to let us in.
That evening we ate at the Salen hotel which
was just a few hundred yards up the road where we met some of the other boat
owners who would be on the rally.
Saturday 9th June
After goods night sleep and a big breakfast we had to
check out as the accommodation on the Saturday night was fully booked and they
could not accommodate us. This effectively left us homeless but with a boat
tent and a camping tent with us this would not be too much of a problem. By the
time we walked down to the jetty, the other boats had arrived and were either
afloat or being rigged and launched. Being well prepared for this rally,
Braveheart soon joined the other boats moored alongside the pontoon.
As a couple of the boats were only joining the rally for the weekend we had
to remain within the Loch Sunart area for the next two days to allow them to
get back on the Sunday night. Also
suited us as we were limited in how far we could go due to our own recently
imposed time constraints.
Following the morning briefing we headed off up
(eastwards)Loch Sunart for a day’s sailing. After beating our way down the loch
and clocking up circa 10 miles backwards and forwards while the wind shifted
around us we stopping on a beach for
lunch. After lunch with Kathleen on the helm we ran back down the loch past
Salen before turning back up into the wind for a few tacks and then a reach
back in towards the pontoons.
We dined en-mass at the Salen Hotel later that night
before heading back to the pontoons where we slept on Braveheart under clear
skies watching the stars until we fell asleep.
Total mileage fort the day 15 miles (all under sail)
Sunday 12th June
Waking early I went for a wash and a swim before everyone
woke up. Returning to Braveheart feeling refreshed and clean I met Kathleen
walking down the road towards me and so I turned around for another walk before
breakfast.
The plan for the day was to sail down Loch Sunart
stopping for lunch in a hidden bay behind the isle of Carna before heading
through the narrows and into Loch na
Droma Buidhe. There we would spend the night. We set off mid morning after everyone
else had left as Kathleen had wanted to go for another walk before sailing.
Afloat at last we gently ran down the loch in light winds arriving at the chosen lunch stop after everyone else.
While others had chosen to stay at anchor we decided to go ashore where we
enjoyed our lunch lying on the rocks in the sunshine.
Just after 3pm with tide now having turned in our favour we headed through the narrows (and shallows) around the south side of Carna and back into
the main part of Loch Sunart.
Loch na Droma Buide
is accessible from the north via a very shallow seaweed choked channel.
Being the smallest boat on the rally we managed to ease our way down this
channel whilst the other larger boats (apart from Tangram who joined us) took
the longer open sea route.
By dinner time we were all lying at anchor within the
shelter of Loch na Droma Buide. I was then marooned on the boat as Kathleen
took our inflatable and went exploring along the loch side for an hour or so.
Having initially
anchored in about 8m of water within 50m of the shore, it soon became apparent
that in “no wind” conditions 50m was not a deterrent to the sea going midge and
soon we had moved not once but twice until we were some 200m from shore with all
80m of warp and chain out. This put us out amongst a number of yachts which had
come into anchor, one of which had various musical instruments and musicians on board so we were entertained by live music
during dinner.
After dinner we rowed ashore and spent a couple of hours
exploring the small island, the top of which did offer some fine views over the
sound of Mull.
Total mileage fort the day 10.3 miles (9 under sail)
Monday 13th June
On Monday morning we woke to a lovely clear sky –
directly overhead as we did not put the tent up- but very little wind. Leaving
our anchorage mid morning we gradually tacked our way out of Loch na Droma
Buide beating the small tidal current at the loch’s narrow entrance which tried
to push us back into the loch.
Once out we were into the area which forms the entrance
to Loch Sunart from the Sound of Mull where after making reasonable if not sporadic
progress for a mile or two the wind dropped to nothing and we sat on a mirror
like sea going nowhere. As usual in sailing the wind effects different boats in
different ways and we soon became well spread out as the boats behind us became
becalmed first while the boats in front
sailed on a bit further and then seemed to benefit from a light breeze in the
Sound of Mull.
After drifting for an hour or so we decided to put the
outboard on but no sooner had we done so than our sails began to fill and we
were off again straight across the Sound of mull and into Tobermory.
More History - Tobermory is the capital of, and the only burgh on, the Isle of Mull It is located in the northeastern part of the island, near the northern entrance of the Sound of Mull. With a current population of approximately 700, the town was founded as a fishing port in 1788, its layout based on the designs of Dumfriesshire engineer Thomas Telford.
Legend has it that the wreck of a Spanish galleon, laden with gold, lies somewhere in the mud at the bottom of Tobermory Bay - although the ship's true identity, and cargo, are in dispute. By some accounts, the Florencia (or Florida, or San Francisco), a member of the defeated Spanish Armada fleeing the English fleet in 1588, anchored in Tobermory to take on provisions. Following a dispute over payment (or possibly, according to local folklore, a spell cast by the witch Doideag), the ship caught fire and the gunpowder magazine exploded, sinking the vessel. In her hold, reputedly, was £300,000 in gold bullion. Other sources claim the vessel was the San Juan de Sicilia (or San Juan de Baptista), which, records indicate, carried troops, not treasure. Whatever the true story, no significant treasure has ever been recovered in Tobermory Bay.
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During World War Two, Tobermory was home to the Royal Naval training base HMS Western Isles.
Many of the buildings on Main Street,
predominantly shops and restaurants, are painted in assorted bright colours,
making it a popular location for television programmes, such as children's show Balamory.
Tobermory is well equipped for yachtsmen (and Drascombe owners) with new ish
pontoons, toilets and a good selection of shops. We had been to Tobermory many
times before but never by boat so seeing the town from a new angle was
interesting. Having slept on board for the last two nights it was time to spoil
Kathleen by staying in a proper hotel and so we booked ourselves into the
Tobermory Hotel for the night.
Total mileage fort the day 7.9 miles (7 under sail)
Tuesday 14th of June
Tuesday morning saw us splitting away from the rally as we
needed to head home. With a light wind blowing from the north east we decided that as we had to go mainly upwind and against the tide we would motor back to
Salen some 16 miles away as we also needed to drive back to Glasgow that
evening and time did not permit us to sail.
The rally planned to sail further round Mull
(anticlockwise) delaying crossing out to Coll until more settled weather was
forecast – high winds were forecast later in the week. As we left the harbor we
headed north east under motor while they headed north west under sail.
The 16 miles back to Salen took us just under 4 hours
against both wind and tide so it was early afternoon before we arrived back at
the slipway.
With Braveheart back on her trailer we headed home arriving there in the early
evening.
Total mileage fort the day 16 miles (0 under sail)
It was a great rally as the weather was pretty good and
we were sailing amid great scenery. We will definitely be back!
Total Mileage –
Saturday 15 15
– under sail
Sunday 10.3 9 – under sail
Monday 7.9 7 – under sail
Tuesday 16 0 – under sail
49.2 31 – under sail
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