Blog updated 27/9/2011

27 Sept 2011: Last 2 days and tracks added

26 Sept 2011: Boat tracks for September added (all except for today)

25 Sept 2011: several days added. Tracks for walks for September added

10 Sept 2011: Added tracks up to 7 Aug.  Also the last few days

26 August 2011: Added some more pics (for late June) and also some video clips on various days.

23 August 2011: Added tracks of all walks.  Aslo boat tracks up till mid July. Many pages affected.

14 August 2011: Added video clips to 1 August 2011

10 August 2011: Uploaded 9 Aug 2011 and 10 Aug 2011

8 August 2011: Uploaded 8 August only

7 August 2011:
At last a 3G connection.  I have uploaded from 28 July 2011 to 7 August 2011.  I suggest you go to 28 July and start from there.

Tracks up until 27 September 2011

Tracks from the Scottish part of the cruise up to 27 September 2011

See all the tracks at once on Google Maps. Or to see detail of individual tracks, go to the day in question and click on the link. You will then see the track on Google Maps.

Tuesday 27 September 2011 – Holy Loch to Kip Marina

Another morning of low cloud and occasional rain.  We watched 3 Ocean Youth Trust boats leave the outer pontoon of the marina and then slipped our mooring with 1 reef in the main.  We soon decided a second reef was necessary and carried on into the Clyde proper.  We found the wind much stronger there – about F6 and from the south and right on the nose, so decided to return to Holy Loch and try again later.  We picked up another mooring and had a slow lunch and then left again with 3 reefs.  This worked much better until the wind dropped a bit, when we started to go rather slowly.  It seemed strange to keep wishing that the wind meter would show 22+ so we could sail properly again. We eventually found that the “buoyed channel” to the marina only covered the last few yards, but soon found our allocated space, which seems quite sheltered.

Tomorrow we do a bit of tidying up and a few jobs, then start to go home on Thursday. Follow the track on Google Maps.

Holy Loch during a bright interval

Approaching Kip

Monday 26 September 2011 – Rothesay to Holy Loch

A fine morning with the barometer a little higher at last.  After a bit of shopping we took a quick look at the old Winter Gardens which have been converted into a tourist information office.  However it is better than the usual sort as it actually tells you something about the area.  Sailed up the Clyde past Dunoon and into Holy Loch, where we picked up a mooring.  Too idle to go ashore.

Tomorrow we go to the marina at Kip. Follow the track on Google Maps.

Rothesay Harbour with ferry on its berth

Leaving Rothesay Harbour

Sunday 25 September 2011 – Isle of Bute

Forecast was for wind and rain and it was raining.  We decided to take the advice of a neighbouring boat and take the sightseeing bus round the island, stopping off at Mount Stuart.  The bus was an open-topped double-decker, with the first few seats on top under cover.  We had the first of the open seats but as the rain had stopped we did not get wet, just cold.  After the other islands Bute is remarkably green and cultivated, so we saw more cows in the space of an hour than ever before.  At Mount Stuart we were taken on a tour of the house (home of the Marquess of Bute), which is an amazing pile of different types of marble built in Victorian Gothic style.  Well presented and an interesting tour but of course there were many interesting things which were not explained, in particular the special clocks.  One had at least 4 dials and 2 had 24 hour faces.  They hire out some of the rooms for weddings and other events – quite a venue!

After a brief lunch we started to explore the gardens, which are enormous and better not visited in pouring rain.  Much of the grounds are occupied with trees and shrubs, so it appears to be a large arboretum.  As the map was getting soggy and my shoes were filling with water we missed a good deal and headed for the kitchen garden where we warmed ourselves in the heated greenhouse full of tropical plants.  We took the bus back to Rothesay and arrived in more pouring rain, glad we had not spent the day sailing.  The boat is on a pontoon, connected to shore power, so we soon started to dry off.

The weather forecast suggests tomorrow will be better…

Inchmarnock and Arran. Glad we are not sailing.

Mount Stuart

Saturday 24 September 2011 – Burnt Isles to Rothesay

Fine and sunny with light wind in the shelter of the anchorage.  Went ashore and walked along to Buttock Point, the northern tip of Bute.  As we walked a number of yachts came past, obviously in a race.  It turned out to be CCC and Fairlie YC having their Closing Muster for 2011 with a race from Rothesay to Tarbert.  Back on the boat it was sheltered and warm enough for us to have a swim off the boat – a very brief one of just 2 laps, only the first off the boat this season. After lunch we sailed down the East Kyle to Rothesay, where we went into the harbour.  The visitor’s berths seem OK except that the Calmac ferries come and go frequently, making some noise and wash.

We started chatting with two men on a Jeanneau “patio doors” motor boat and joined them for a glass of wine.  We heard that there had been a submarine rescue exercise in the area earlier in the day when rescuers were dropped by plane to a sub in distress.  We had seen the plane but did not know what it was doing. Follow the track on Google Maps.

Burnt Isles with race coming past

Anchored at Burnt Isles.
Caladh Harbour in left background.
Loch Riddon on right.

Friday 23 September 2011 – Loch Gair to Burnt Islands (Kyles of Bute)

Gentle rain and poor visibility received their usual response – we stayed in bed a while and had a leisurely breakfast.  We then decided we ought to just put on our waterproofs and get going and by the time we left the rain had stopped.

We sailed out of the moorings and started beating down Loch Fyne into F4 (1 reef) which increased to F5 (second reef).  The Ocean Youth Trust boat which we saw yesterday slowly overtook and a couple of other boats motored south from the Crinan canal.  Sometime after lunch we were able to bear away onto a close reach and then later turn downwind and go up the West Kyle (of Bute).  After a slow sail past Tighnabruiach we anchored in Wreck Bay by the Burnt Isles.  The names are not very inviting but it seems a sheltered place.

Still no 3G network from 3 here, so you will have to wait a little longer to read this. Tomorrow we will take a trip ashore to look at Bute – it’s too late today. Follow the track on Google Maps.

Aran, with mountains covered by cloud

Looking back up Loch Fyne now that the weather has improved a little

Looking up Loch Riddon from our anchorage