#Portree

Firstly apologies for the lack of daily updates. Lack of internet signal, lack of sleep and some longer passages have kept me from writing.

So to catch up, after another bad noisy night, we went to Portree, Skyes capital, where we found a bouy to hook up to, then promptly went ashore, where we had lunch in one of the many pubs in town. Portree obviously has very little interest in visiting yachts. There is a short pontoon which can be used to take on water, for £5. However if there is a cruise ship in the Loch then you cannot use it. There are no facilities for the visiting yachtsmen or women. Although after negotiation at the Iocal backpackers hostel in town we did manage to get a shower for £4.00 pp.

After the last two nights, everyone was in bed by 8.00pm, but the wind hadn’t finished with us, and yet another noisy bouncy sleepless night was had.

Day 61

Sadly Adrian and Jayne had to cut their stay with us short, to make their way back home, to deal with family issues. I took them ashore, early morning for them to catch the bus back to Mallaig where they picked up their car for the return journey.

Gairloch was our next destination, a five hour journey with a decent wind to carry us along. We stopped at the rather rundown pontoons in the Harbour, and took our Calor gas bottle for a walk to the local garage for an exchange. We put our mooring fee in the honesty box and went off to find an anchorage in Loch Shieldaig. A beautiful spot and… QUIET. There was again no internet nor phone signals, so almost as soon as we’d finished dinner we went to bed. We both slept pretty much 12 hours solid!

Day 62.

There’s a bit of a storm coming! It’s due to hit the very top of Scotland on Saturday/Sunday, but before that there are several days of very light winds. We have decided to accelerate our schedule and are pushing North quickly to try and beat the storm round the top of Britain. It’s not without its risks, if the storm comes in early we could be stuck in port for a long time, unable to carry on, or back.

Wish us luck!

Donate

The Wessex Kidney Patients Association is a charity that helps patients and their families deal with the upheaval caused by Kidney disease. If you enjoy reading our blog please consider giving to this cause . Many thanks Louise & Martin

What a night! We had carefully selected Plockton for its position in relation to wind direction. However during the evening there was a change in wind direction and all boats on the anchorage spent the night bobbing up and down in the resulting waves that ran into the bay.

In the morning, after a bright start, it became overcast as we left bleary eyed to find a different safe haven. I chose an anchorage near Dunan on the Isle of Skye which appeared to have enough cover to from the surrounding hills to give us a quiet night. We arrived just before lunch after a comfortable sail and anchored in about 3 metres of water in very good holding.

There were some small wavelets but the wind was due to veer behind the land and reduce in strength. During lunch it rained quite heavily and there was some strong katabatic downdrafts from the surrounding mountains. Far from reducing, the wind just got stronger and the waves grew considerably even though we were only 300 yds from shore. It had turned into a squally evening with huge winds and downpours. We couldn’t see a soul on shore and there didn’t seem to be anywhere interesting to go. Besides getting in a dinghy in those conditions would have been dangerous, so we stayed aboard and played scrabble into the evening as the winds continued to howl.

The hook was holding well, in possibly the strongest winds we have ever anchored in. An anchor alarm was set as an additional precaution. Then just before bed we were treated to a big rainbow and a spectacular stormy sunset.

Donate

4 Kidneys and a Wonky Leg

Sailing around Britain

Day 60-62 Dunan to Portree and beyond.

Day 59 June 26th Plockton to Dunan.