Wednesday 10 August 2011 – Arisaig to home

Woke to pouring rain, as forecast.  Arisaig Marine seem to be well set up for our sort of trip – we put the dinghy in a rack and the oars, outboard, lifejackets, boots etc in their shed, in a place intended for that purpose.  They also gave us a lift to the station, which was very welcome in the continuous rain.

 

13 hour train journey with 3 changes

 

still on the train Peterborough to Ipswich….

Tuesday 9 August 2011 – Arisaig

A day of preparation for our trip back home.  We did a clothes wash and packed and did a little tidying up.  Also changed the generator belt on the engine as it was at the end of its adjustment.  I only put an old one on, which I think will last the rest of the season.  We moved to the mooring allocated to us, which we found was less sheltered than the place in which we had anchored.

 

After a late lunch we took a short walk ashore as there was not time for the long walk to Loch Morar.  Pam claims she saw a Golden Eagle, but this cannot be totally verified.

 

Final packing as we must not be late for tomorrow’s train

No photos

Monday 8 August 2011 – Arisaig

Having arrived here early with the prospect of bad weather you might think we would just sit about reading and knitting.  It didn’t work out like that.  We went ashore to catch the bus to Mallaig to do some shopping.  We missed the bus, partly because we were later than we intended to be and also because the bus goes at least 10 minutes earlier than it said on the timetable on the web site (and this earlier time is displayed outside the Post Office).  I had wondered why the timetable claimed the bus was going to get to Mallaig, which is about 8 miles away, in 5 minutes.

Anyway we shopped in the small Spar shop and headed back to the boat.  The fridge man called to say he could visit us today as he had to go to Mallaig on an urgent call.  So it was lucky we had missed the bus or we would have had to dash back.  On the way back to the boat we watched some fishermen unloading and packing Velvet Crabs, for export to Spain.  They gave us 4, and would not accept payment, saying they were not worth much anyway.  I wonder if I watched a stockbroker at work he might give me a bunch of Lloyds Bank shares with the same comment – I think not.

We boiled up the crabs and started a late lunch, which was soon interrupted by the fridge man, so we hastily finished and took the boat to the pontoon.  The fridge man and assistant soon put a bit more fluid in the fridge and it started working again.  It seems to run much colder now and also draw about 1 amp more, which is a pain, but it’s good to have it working again.  We returned to our anchoring place and had the rest of the crab for an extended supper, which also tested the crumble mix by making Peach and Apple Crumble.  No regrets about coming here early and missing a day’s sailing as it has been generally windy with some big gusts.

Tomorrow we have to wash clothes and pack up for our holiday holiday, when we go back home.  We had earlier today picked up the tickets from the marina and they seem to be all in order.

Velvet Crabs ready for the pot

Velvet Crabs ready to eat

Sunday 7 August 2011 – Canna to Arisaig

Pressure is lower today and the forecast is poor for today and worse tomorrow.  It seems like a good idea to head to Arisaig early to make sure we don’t miss the train on Wednesday!  The price reduction which you get for booking ahead to travel on a particular train has a price itself – you have to organise everything round the train journey – makes me wonder if the discount is worth it!  We had hoped to visit Eigg, so will have to come back another time.

At least we were sailing downwind, though we slowed a lot when we turned onto a run after passing Rum and took out the reef which had seemed like a good idea before we left but was never really needed.  We approached the tricky entrance to Arisaig a little nervously with following wind – good thing we have been in before.  Once inside we anchored near the moorings.  If tomorrow is wet and windy as the Inshore Waters forecast suggests we might go to Mallaig on the bus.

No special wildlife sightings today – several seals on the way across. Also in Canna harbour some small black ducks with a white wing patch.
No photos

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Saturday 6 August 2011 – Loch Carnan to Canna

Loch Carnan turned out to be a quiet place too spend the night.  No noise from the power station or anywhere else.  We left against a light headwind, expecting to have to motor for a good part of the way.  However the light wind slowly freed until it was from the N and we put up the cruising chute.  Progress was still slow and we had to keep a look out for several small ships passing along The Minch.  We passed several fishing marks in water more than 100m deep – they must use a good winch to pull them up.  Also saw a few grey seals and some distant dolphins.

We eventually reached Canna after sailing all the way about 1 hour after low tide and anchored (at the second attempt) well up into the shallow part of the harbour.

Weather forecast not too good and barometer has slowly fallen to 997 by this evening.

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Not a very exciting sail – but a good view of the Cuillins on Skye

Friday 5 August 2011 – Loch Boisdale to Loch Carnan

A much better day, sunny with wind from the W, though the barometer is still low.  We left Loch Boisdale with no regrets and reached along the coast towards Loch Skipport, putting in a reef on the way.  There seemed to be gusts of wind coming down from the hills, so we thought this might also happen in the anchorage in Loch Skipport.  We continued to Loch Carnan, which has a wiggly but buoyed entrance.  The reason for the buoyage is that there is a quay which serves the power station and fuel depot, so the tankers need a bit of help to find the way in.  The anchorages seemed rather deep so we picked up a mooring and had lunch, later finding that nobody would need it overnight, so we stayed.

We went ashore for a walk, rather than to find anything in particular.  However we found that a big building on the shore is a salmon smokery, so we bought a pack of Organic Smoked Salmon.  We also found active peat diggings and some small lochs with wild Water Lilies.

Tomorrow we hope to go to Canna, possibly followed by Eigg, as we need to head back towards Arisaig ready for our holiday holiday.

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Loch Carnan – fishermen’s landing place

Mystery flower – (now identified as Field Gentian)

Water Lilies

Peat Diggings – it appears a machine digs peat from a narrow slit.

Thursday 4 August 2011 – Loch Boisdale

Wet, windless and with poor visibility. Yuk.

We stayed in the boat and read and knitted all day.

No photos.

Wednesday 3 August 2011 – Eriskay to Loch Boisdale

Warm sun but no wind, so not a good day to go far, but nothing else much to see here.  After filling up with water at the fishermen's pontoon we left and sailed very slowly, after a while putting up the cruising chute and still continued slowly. Saw 1 Basking Shark and some dolphins in the distance.  Eventually motored into Loch Boisdale where we eventually picked up a visitor’s buoy. 

A brief trip ashore confirmed the impression we had from the anchorage – that Loch Boisdale is a bit tired and faded, with places that are closed and those still open need a coat of paint.  There are only 3 of the advertised 6 visitor’s buoys.  I hope the one we are on is secure and fixed to something as the wind is now NE4.  Although Loch Boisdale is the ferry terminal I think that more people live at Daliburgh, which is 3 miles to the W, and everyone goes there for shopping etc.  We filled a diesel can at the garage (at a record price!).  We met people from another boat – a Beneteau First 38 based at Oban during the summer.  They had just bought a Contest 48 Ketch which was fully equipped for long distance cruising and had already done some Atlantic crossings.  It had an amazing inventory and a very reasonable price.  Its many accessories included a folding bicycle, which they showed us.  Folding bikes are now on the shopping list..

Will move on tomorrow, possibly to Loch Skipport

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Loch Boisdale (we are in a different part of the harbour)

Tuesday 2 August 2011 – North Bay, Barra to Eriskay

Light drizzle with occasional proper rain.  We paid a visit to the fish packing factory and bought some fish and shellfish and then left under motor.  Did not bother to take off any sail covers as there was no point in getting the sail wet when there was no wind for it.  The fish packing factory has a neat way of disposing of empty shells – they dump them in a big pile and the seagulls clean them up.

The smooth water was ideal for spotting things.  We saw lots of Basking Sharks (about 20 altogether) in ones and twos.  Most of them were at the East end of the Sound of Barra.  Also one Minke whale.

At Eriskay we entered the sheltered natural harbour, called of course Acairseid Mhor, and picked up one of the 2 visitors moorings.  A small fleet of fishing boats is based here and tie up at a pontoon. Hopefully we will be able to fill up with water there tomorrow.

Walked to the village at the N of the island and did some food shopping.  Eriskay is connected to S Uist by a causeway and so has proper roads etc and does not feel like a small island.

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Minke whale.

It is not always sunny on this trip. Leaving North Bay in the drizzle

Entering Arcairseid Mhor, Eriskay

All the visiting yachts

View towards Barra, some small islands and the Atlantic.

Monday 1 August 2011 – Castlebay to North Bay

A good day for fish.  We left Castlebay with hardly any wind with the idea of going to Eriskay.  On the way out we toyed with the idea of going to Mingulay, but decided it would be a pain to motor there and back (it’s not a good enough anchorage to stay overnight) and conditions might not be good as there is quite a big tide (coefficient: 101).  So we headed North, after a while stopping the motor and sailing very slowly against the tide.  Spotted Porpoises (type not known) in the distance, one Minke Whale near enough to hear it blowing and also a Basking Shark which came very close to the boat.  Then it went a bit quiet and we decided to motor into North Bay rather than motor all the way to Eriskay.  Pam did some fishing, hoping that she might catch something as we got into shallower water.  After a while she spotted several Basking Sharks, so she pulled in the line (including a mackerel) and we stopped the engine and sailed extremely slowly towards the Basking Sharks.  They took no notice and we had good views of about 6 of them – they seemed to be various sizes.

On the way into North Bay Pam caught another fish. We walked along to take a look at the airport, which is on the beach, but the last flight had left, so we returned to the boat and had fish for supper.  North Bay is a quiet little place except for the fish processing plant which makes a continual low humming noise.  However it is good to see that they have several active fishing boats and also sell fish and shellfish from the place.

Maybe tomorrow we will buy some shellfish and go to Eriskay.

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Basking Sharks off North Bay, Barra

Entering North Bay

A group of Basking Sharks

 A single Basking Shark