Week 7
21 July 2009 | Kyleakin
Day 43. Sat 11 Jul. Mallaig to Arisaig. 7 miles.
What a truly awful night's sleep! The swell was coming straight into Mallaig Harbour, and Chelena was pitching and tossing all over the place. Almost as bad as being in the Celtic Sea again (but not quite!). I couldn't wait to get out of the place - particularly in view of the fact that the forecast was for Easterly gales overnight, and the mooring hadn't been inspected for some time. So, back to Arisaig after all, and a quick phone call to Will and Bev to tell them of the change of plan.
I was out of the harbour by 0815, and lazily drifting south on the tide with the jib unfurled and barely giving me steerage way. At about noon, I was off the Arisaig entrance so started the engine, and dropped the anchor at 1245 - all moorings were full for the weekend.
Will and Bev eventually arrived about 1800, and as we were taking their gear out to the boat, another boat from Levington anchored next to us. Once we were unpacked we went over to Insanity and had drinks with Chris and Anna Brooke, and swapped information about various stop-over places. In particular, they warned us that the area would be filling up with boats from the Malt Whisky Cruise, which has a rally meeting in Loch Harport (Talisker distillery) on Thursday.
Day 44. Sun 12 Jul. At anchor, Arisaig.
The promised gale came through overnight, and we awoke to a morning of solid rain, which started to clear up about lunchtime. There was still plenty of wind, so not a lot of incentive to move the boat, so we went ashore in the dinghy, and did some sightseeing by car instead - driving up the side of Loch Morar, one of the deepest lakes in Europe, and into Mallaig, which was disappointing .
And so back to the boat, which would have been easy had the outboard not run out of petrol (you don't get that problem with oars!), but luckily another yachtsman saw out plight and gave us a tow back on board.
By mid-evening, the sky had cleared, and we were able to have supper in the cockpit in hazy sunshine.
Day 45. Mon 13 Jul. Arisaig to Inverie. 17 miles.
The forecast for today was showery, with winds of force 3 to 4 Easterly. We only had the two showers, one before breakfast, and the other just before we went ashore for the evening, but the wind never arrived, blowing very lightly from the NW. We weighed anchor in mid morning and motored out of the Loch. We saw on the sky-line a red deer with very impressive antlers , but of course it had disappeared before any camera was pointed. We were also overtaken by a family of dolphins (or were they porpoises?).
Sailing proved a waste of time, as we finally admitted after taking about three hours to tack three miles, so we started the engine, and motored into Loch Nevis, where we picked up a mooring belonging to the Old Forge Inn, which claims to be the remotest pub in the country - you have to walk about 15 miles to get there, or arrive by boat. The moorings are free provided you eat at the pub, so we duly went ashore - only to be followed by what seemed like most of the whisky fleet, all of whom had booked tables - unlike us - so the place was heaving! So much for being remote. However, we eventually got served, and had a very good seafood pasta dish, which made the wait worthwhile.
Day 46. Tues 14 Jul. Inverie to Rhum, via Loch Scavaig and Soay. 46 miles.
There was a very heavy shower at about 0500, but although there were showers all round us, we escaped unscathed all day. There was still no wind first thing, although the forecast still said force 3 to 4.
We got under way at 0900, aiming for Loch Scavaig on Skye's south coast, and right in the heart of the Cuillins. Again, there was little point in trying to sail until after we had rounded the Point of Sleat around midday. Then the wind arrived as force 2 from the NW, gradually backing round to SW and increasing a bit, and we actually had a good sail into Loch Scavaig. However, when we arrived in the small anchorage, there were already about ten "whisky" boats there, and the wind was very gusty, sending them all over the place. This was a pity, as we had intended going ashore for the short walk up to Loch Coriusk, but this was not possible. So we turned round with our tails between our legs, and made for the anchorage on the north coast of Soay, a few miles to the West. However, it was low tide, and the entrance looked very narrow and shallow, so we went to Rhum instead, arriving at about 1900. Just as we were leaving Soay, we came across two inflatable dinghies tied together, one with about four of five people on board, the other full of rucksacks, etc., just drifting about a couple of miles from land. They didn't need any assistance, and seemed to be waiting to be picked up by a passing ferry.
Luckily, Loch Scresort on Rhum is a much bigger anchorage than Loch Scavaig, because once again we were surrounded by several Whisky boats, but there was plenty of room - thank goodness, because by this time we were ready for a well-earned drink.
Day 47. Wed 15 Jul. Rhum to Arisaig. 14 miles.
We weighed anchor at 0900 to return to Arisaig. There was not really enough wind to sail, although we did try - until the rain came. So we motored there through heavy drizzle. As we arrived, the sun broke through, and the wind filled in from the NW. After a short wait we refilled with water from the pontoon. By this time the whisky boats were well on their way to Loch Harport, and there was plenty of room in the moorings, so we had a pleasant afternoon on the mooring, doing crosswords, playing battleships,etc.
Day 48. Thurs 16 Jul. On mooring at Arisaig.
A day off to do touristy things. We had planned on driving to Fort William to catch the (Harry Potter) steam train to Mallaig, but we had not been able to purchase advance tickets, so had to turn up at the station at 0900, to see what was available. Unfortunately, this would have meant having seats scattered round the train on the way there, and standing on the way back, so we decided not to bother - twenty years of commuting has taken the novelty out of such arrangements.
Instead, we wandered into the town itself, went into the tourist office, and got details of a suggested easy walk to Inverlochy Castle a couple of miles upriver. This we duly did, then returned to the car and visited Neptune's Staircase, the southern end of the Caledonian Canal. We watched some boats through two locks, then retired to the lockside pub for lunch, and some considerable hilarity with the automatic towel dispensers in the loos.
Day 49. Fri 17 Jul. On mooring/anchor at Arisaig.
Will & Bev left for home at 0930, leaving me with the usual chores to do before Nick arrives for a long weekend of sailing and mountaineering.
I tried to re-book the mooring for an extra night, but the owner was due back today - in fact he turned up just as I put the laundry in the tumble-drier, so I made a hurried trip back to the boat to move onto anchor, returning just as the tumble drier finished. I spoke to the harbourmaster, who has grand plans to extend the facility here over the next few years - the reception block, which doubles as a ticket office for the tripper boats, and a cafe, is new this year, and he intends to put down another row of moorings over the winter.
Nick duly turned up at about 1830. He had booked into a B&B in Mallaig for the night, so we drove there to let him check in, then had dinner near the quay, before he dropped me back at the boat.