Day 31

Jim left the boat this morning. Paul and Nick cleaned everything in sight and rearranged the crew quarters. 

Chris arrived from an overnight stay in Glasgow around 3:30. Paul hired a bike for the day and cycled towards Fort William. 

Sunshine and light winds. Finally managed to get a high corner table at Coast with excellent fish on the menu. Tomorrow we start the next stage of our journey to Stornaway.

Day 30

Last year On the first blog I wrote a fair bit on Oban on Day 14  and 29 here… https://ascotsmananenglishmanandanirishman.blogspot.com/search?updated-max=2021-06-16T14:53:00%2B01:00&max-results=7&reverse-paginate=true

The sunset last night did not disappoint and it stayed light until well past 10.30.

We have spent today yet again replenishing the supplies onboard.  We are struggling to get a Calor Gas replacement bottle and this may require some changes to the supply if Tobermory and Stornaway are as bereft as Oban.

One of the reasons for having a few days here is to change crew.  The last Scotsman onboard (Jim) is about to leave the boat and travel back South.

Joining the boat is Chris Paine (Nick’s better half) and they plus Paul (The Irishman) will be going up ultimately to Stornaway over the next 4 weeks.  On the return trip Chris will leave the boat again in Oban and Jim will rejoin the crew around the 7th of July.

You know your in Oban when you see this

Oban didn’t disappoint

Day 29

 After a very calm night in Crinan we moved from the Visitor’s Buoy to a very small pontoon very close to the rock face of the bay for fuel.  Not for the faint hearted as the wind was blowing us off the pontoon and straight at the rocks.  However we made it without too much drama and filled up with diesel from the pump.

We set off for Oban from the fuel jetty at 9.45am and headed through the Dorus Mor, a vicious tidal race if you get it wrong, but a great shortcut if you get it right.  We did!  Got it right that is……on through the Sound of Luing and into the harbour via the Kerrera Sound.

We Picked up another dolphin escort, first one in a while.  Lunch onboard today was “baked” potato and bolognaise a Paul sauce.  This year Paul has surpassed himself with really fantastic meals.  Not easy to do on a boat galley.

We arrived in to Oban at 14.20pm having covered 21 miles.  Mostly motoring but managed a decent sail towards the end of the leg.

Lunch for three

Arriving in Oban

Day 28

We left Port Ellen at 10am for Crinan, some 40 miles North.  In reality we travelled 38 miles through the water, reflecting the positive tidal flow for almost our entire passage.

Yesterday a square rigger called The Flying Dutchman arrived with a load of Americans on board.

We arrived into Crinan Boatyard at 17.45pm and tied up to a mooring buoy for the night.  On this leg we passed through the 1000 mile barrier, from leaving Lymington.

Crinan Boatyard is beside the entrance lock to the Crinan Canal.  It has a small diesel pontoon that we want to use in the morning to fill up before the boat goes further North as there are only a few fuelling points with pumps as you travel up towards Stornaway.

Port Ellen

The Flying Dutchman arrives

Leaving Port Ellen on a transit 

Day 27

We departed on time at 3am in the dark.  It was however worth it, to catch the tide to get round Malin Head and across to Islay.  Getting it wrong can add 4 hours to the journey, or getting it right can take 4 off!

As it happens we got it very right, the boat literally flew along for the first two thirds of the journey topping 10 knots and averaging between 7 and 8 knots.

The last third was a bit slower as the tide turned but we arrived in Port Ellen on Islay at 12.30pm having travelled 46 miles.  

Port Ellen is a very attractive small town and we are delighted to have arrived in time to go exploring.

The Skerries goodbye Ireland

Islay on the horizon

Day 26

Today is our preparation day to make the jump over to Scotland in the wee hours of tomorrow morning.  Paul went off for his run this morning around Rathmullan.  Nick did the navigation and weather calls to double check we are ok to go.  Jim had a lazy day watching box sets on his iPad after updating this blog.

On his run Paul came across a sign for a Mass Rock, explanation link here….https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mass_rock

We left Rathmullan at 5 pm this evening and motor sailed the 10 miles up to a bay at the head of the Lough called Portsalon in Ballymastocker Bay.  This positions us to set off around 3am into a favourable tide to help us get over to Port Ellen on Jura hopefully by early afternoon tomorrow.

The Mass Rock

Day 25

As we are still stuck with the weather, being waves off Malin of 4 - 5 meters and Force 6 winds.  We decided to catch the bus to the town of Letterkenny that is positioned at the beginning of the Lough.

Letterkenny is a bustling market town and the main centre in Donegal, they have a big Tesco so we revitaled the boat at a reasonable price.

We also discovered a museum in the Town the Donegal County Museam that was very interesting.  In addition to the normal exhibits of Donegal’s history.  We fell lucky that they had a special exhibition for this week only addressing the Anglo Irish treaty of 1921.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anglo-Irish_Treaty

Included in the exhibition are original papers from the London meetings with hand written notes from Michael Collins.  Also an amusing expenses claim as he left for London.

Paul and Nick on the Main Street Letterkenny

Famine Pot

Treaty notes

Expense claim