21st Sept 2009, The Flying Visit & Loch Feochan

The flying visit was really very strange – we were going to at anchor in East Tarbet Bay near the Mull of Galloway, the sun was shining and there was a strong (cold) wind blowing – there was also a large grey ship further up in Luce Bay earlier. Anyway, quite amazing – an Admiral came past us quite close, we weren’t sure what was happening, it looked like he was heading for the shore but then turned towards us again but then turned again to the shore. We just watched wondering what was going to happen, we first thought that he was going to come aboard then when he turned to the shore (we had mixed feelings) but then he must have changed his mind ( maybe saw us watching) and actually came aboard. Couldn’t believe it at first! See the pictures below – must have stayed for about 3 hours in all just resting with us in the sunshine – didn’t say much about why he was here, but we saw quite a few that day, maybe even the occasional female one…..



OK – so we have a wild imagination.. There were dozens of them that day all heading in the same direction (I’ve been told it’s all to do with the fairy moans) but the wind was very strong and cold and it did look like a few of them would have ended up in the water. We carried the one from the front of the boat out of the wind so that he (she?) could recover in the warmth of the wheelhouse. We did notice that when they were resting in the sunshine they would have their wings in the closed position [this seems to be the normal resting position for butterflies, moths normally rest with their wings open] – but if you move your hand across to create a shadow (not too close as to frighten them) they open up the wings into to open position.

So there we are – the story of the Flying Visit…. We have forgotten to relate quite a few additional experiences but will hopefully remember to add some of them when we have time.

We are now in Loch Feochan from where we left in July 2007. We got ashore in Gigha and had a nice meal in the hotel and after checking the weather thought that we could head up to Tobermory before some bad weather that is due, via an overnight anchorage on the way. So we left on Saturday morning a couple of hours before low water so that we could go up with the flood tide. A good blow of 20 knots from the south – southwest then coming round to the west, so that was ideal. There would only be a couple of parts of the trip where the waves would be big (but not like the Atlantic big) where we would lose the protection of an island. It started off overcast but then brightened up and we had a fantastic sail up – just like how we remembered it. We had a cracking sail and speed over the ground, because we had a Spring Tide with us, was brilliant. Anyway – on the way up we had been talking & texting with friends from Feochan , checked the tides, we could go into the loch and back out and up to Tobermory next day without any problems. We spoke with the marina to arrange a buoy and were met on the way up by Evantu and the rest of the reception committee were on the pontoon when we got in.

So that is it I suppose – we will just have a few days sailing when the weather is decent and remain on the boat until after the end of the month, go home and restart the land-lubbers life – work etc. There’s still a bit more to tell but that will do for this post…. More in a week or so…..

18th Sept 2009, Gigha

Arrived Gigha last night after a good sail up from Stranraer. Also had a good radio contact with J&B while they are about 1/3 of the way across Biscay on the way back south to the sun from Holland. We are on a mooring buoy, limited electric so will update more later - we forgot to tell you about the flying visit that we had......

14th Sept 2009, Stranraer

We got away from Kirkcudbright a couple of hours before high tide ( left at 1pm ) on Wednesday 9th and only went as far as the Isle of Whithorn where we anchored overnight. That was a whole 4 weeks in Kirkcudbright and we were really getting quite settled there, it is a great wee town made especially welcoming by the locals who are very sociable and hospitable. [ You know who you are – Thank You ! ] It was a gentle sail and very enjoyable in the sunshine, and after Isle of Whithorn the next stop was at East Tarbet Bay by the Mull of Galloway, we could have gone on round the Mull but decided to park up and waste a day instead of going over to Ireland. We had decided that we would put into Stranraer rather than head too far up so that Carolyn could easily get over to Dumfries and Lockerbie to see her Mum & Dad while her Dad went into hospital for an operation. [ Press Update – operation was today and all OK ]. So when we left E Tarbet bay to round the Mull the wind never came far enough to one side or the other to make it a decent sail and we had the motor on all day. We also had to wait for the right time of the tide because the current around the Mull is about 4 knots and rather than leave in the dark about 3am we waited for the afternoon tide. Of course that meant that we didn’t arrive in Loch Ryan until about half past nine at night – an hour into darkness. As you’ll see from the pins on the route – we anchored in the part of the bay call ‘The Wig’ overnight before coming into the new pontoons at Stranraer on the Saturday morning.
We’ll see how the weather goes over the next few days but I think we should be able to get a little bit up the coast here before heading around the Mull of Kintyre – maybe Rathlin – maybe Sanda…… and get up towards Loch Feochan for the end of the month.

24th Aug 2009, Still in Kirkcudbright

Who would believe this weather! The amount of rain and strong wind is - OK, with some small breaks in between – is really trying. Now that it is spring tides the range of the tide is just over 9 metres, the amount of water rushing out of the river on the ebb is phenomenal, and with the added extra water from the heavy rains it is mesmerising to watch the water flowing past the boat, it really makes you quite dizzy.
We would have liked to have been into the Clyde by now as the initial idea was to go up to Rhu and then back down before going towards Oban, but the weather is not giving us confidence that we can easily get back out of the Clyde before the end of the season and the small breaks between the bad spells are not quite long enough to get between good shelter. So, we are still here in Kirkcudbright – not a bad place to be though – the town has everything you would expect in a small rural town and there are buses if you need to go further afield. The people are very friendly and the summer entertainment has been good. On Friday night we went on a historical walk with ‘Maggie’ who took us around the town and explained how it was and what was happening in the town in the 17th century. She and her friends, about 30 of them, were all in period costume (and all volunteers), put on a great show and the whole tour was very educational, entertaining and highly recommended to anyone visiting the area. Thankfully it stayed dry!
So, we are settling into an easy existence here and will wait until the beginning of next month before moving on, when we will head northwards in a more direct route without going too far into the Clyde (if we do).