Bobby Murdoch | Weather: sunny then Pish then sunny again.
Well, to be honest, that's a wee bit of a white lie, it's taken me that long to write this I'm writing it from Perth (the Australian one) on the way back to work (straight to work, do not pass go, do not collect $200!).

Writing this from here.
So, last we spoke I was in the Isle of Man and heading for Belfast Lough, all went as planned and I arrived in Loch Ryan the day after, yep, you guessed it, in the pishing rain, but it didn't dampen my spirit as it soon dried out and I had a beautiful evening anchored in Lady Bay at the top of the Loch. Mental currents coming across that stretch of water, so I was kind of going sideways and the boat pointing at the Ailsa Craig pretty much until I got to the head of the Loch.

My first view of the Scottish coastline.

Making landfall at Corsewell Lighthouse.

Sunset at anchor in Lady Bay, Loch Ryan, the Ailsa Craig looks very different from this angle.
The next morning seen me doing a bit of ferry dodging (those things don't hang about let me tell you!) and heading for Girvan. There were another two yachts ahead of me sailing north which caused all sorts of Confusion for my Maw and Christine who were at the Bennane to see me pass and get some photos, the water gets turbulent close to the heads there so I was standing off a fair distance so there was a lot of photos of the wrong yachts before the spotted me, laugh? I nearly fell in 😉

Sailing past the Bennane.

and again.
Now, I'm not one for a fuss, but knowing my Maw, I thought there would be a few folk at the harbour when I arrived, I later found out someone had put something on a community Facebook page so lots of folks knew I was arriving, I seen a few folks on the pier that I knew but what a shock I got when I came into the bowl of the harbour and there was heaps of folk there to see me coming in! First thoughts? Jings , Crivens and help ma Boab (or words to that effect that I can't write here 😉) I better not make an arse of this and hit another boat coming in!!

Approaching the Pier.

In she comes!

Nearly there.............
Happy to say it all went well, I never sunk any other boats and as much as I don't like a fuss, it truly was a lovely welcome, so if you were there to see me come in, I appreciated it very much.

All parked up without sinking anybody.........phew!!

Meeting my maw on the jetty, if your going to visit your family in Scotland, the plane is probably a wee bit quicker 😉
I spent a week in Girvan, eating my body weight in square sausage (the square slice you get in Girvan is way superior to anywhere else) and was lucky enough to be there for the harbour Gala.

Sunny Girvan.
Then it was away again, I took on some crew and headed for Ardrossan via Lamlash on Arran, I had a plan to leave the boat there over the winter, so I wanted to check it out, its another place that you have to play "dodge the ferry" on the way in or out but the crew made for a great day and we got some good winds to blow us up there. My brother Ali was even there in his dinghy to guide us in to our berth, which was great as it can be a bit of an adventure taking your boat into a marina for the first time, especially when your boats an old lady that will only turn when she is ready and not when you tell her to 😉.

The Arran crew.
I got myself sorted out in Ardrossan with a date to come back and get Confidence all tucked up for the winter and pushed off again to make the most of the sunny (no kidding, it wis pure roastin!) weather, and sailed back across to Arran, to a busy Brodick by this time, festooned with yachts and sunburned tourists. Took a wee wander up Goat fell.

In Brodick Bay with Goat Fell in the background.

Brodick Bay from the top of Goat Fell.
Next stop on the tour was the Kyles of Bute, I anchored on the North side of the Burnt Isles for a couple of days where I had a wee surprise when my cousin Brian and his wife Jo came alongside in their own yacht, I was sitting below having a facetime with some pals in Spain when I spotted a mast super close, I thought some edjit (there are plenty around on the water) was going to ram me, luckily the surprise was a pleasant one.

Burnt Isles, Kyles of Bute. Pretty nice eh!

Kyles of ya beauty.
Next day it was away up the Clyde copping a drenching sailing up to the Holy Loch Marina.

Holy Loch Marina.
Spent a few days in the Holy Loch then headed back down the Clyde to Millport on Great Cumbrae and met up with my brother Andy, my nephew Arran and the bold Coco Muir, funny afternoon and magic weather again, happy days.

Millport.

The Crew.

A real Captain, Suck it in Coco.😉
The following morning I woke up to a strong southerly wind that blew me up to Loch Goil quick smart, there is a submarine base at Coulport that you pass on the way there and you are supposed to stay over to the westerly side of the loch, I worked there in a former life way back in the mists of time so I got a wee bit nostalgic and sailed over for a sneaky peak, I was almost on top of the Submarine Hanger when the Police Guard Boat spotted me and powered over to deliver a swift bollocking, my excuse of being a former employee of the Queen(god bless her cotton socks) fell on deaf ears so I beat a hasty retreat to the westerly side of the loch, shadowed by the stroppy coppers until I was well out of there, whoops!

Lochgoilhead.

Rainbows over the Loch.

Loch Goil from Carrick Castle.
By this time the tremendously unusual super sunny days had given way to some proper Scottish summer weather "pishing down with sunny spells" as I explored Loch Goil and Loch Long stopping at Lochgoilhead, Carrick Castle and Arrochar and learning that the forecast wind direction and speed means nothing when you are surrounded by mountains.

Arrochar with the Cobbler in the background.

Arrochar.
Strange thing I did notice there was where have all the midges gone???? I spend all my childhood holidays camping in Scotland, so I am well used to being eaten alive for fun in the evenings, upside of global warming?? Shite if you're a pacific Island being swallowed up by rising sea levels, but nae midges, that's just all sorts of tremendous! 😉

Nae Midges, how mental is that!?
Time was nearly up for this season, so I headed back to Ardrossan via the Kyles of Bute and the Burnt Isles again (favourite place so far) and got Confidence all cleaned up and ready for her winter hibernation.

Oot she comes......

Getting her bottom washed.

All tucked up.
So that's it, Confidence is out, all tucked up in Ardrossan, I have swapped sailing for red dust and flies in the desert as I go back to see my small humans (magic!) and go to work(not so effing magic), but I'll be back in the spring hoping for some more of that tremendous weather as I go and explore the west coast of Scotland for the summer before heading back to Australia the following year.
So till next year, stay safe, wrap up and keep warm................

But not for me! 😉