The Griffs and Captain went south on 18th June, the former to Bailey the cat, the latter to work. Granny and I stayed in Dunstaffnage marina for a couple of weeks with welcome visits from Wendy, and a lovely road trip to Skye, and Jennie, who stayed on a while once the Captain returned, and braved the elements with us. Weather everywhere was pretty poor I think and up here we were wearing four layers.

During this last week we have met up with Polly Agatha, Kim, Adrian and the crew at various times around Jura and the Firth of Lorn, and enjoyed sparring. We've all just gloried in three whole dry days with a healthy amount of sunshine. Today, though, it's ghastly again and we're cowering in Craobh Marina. Polly et al are over the hills at Ardfern in Loch Craignish we think. Outlook for the weekend? No better. Time to park the ship and head south for a wedding or two!

It's been a while since our last blog. Inertia and great difficulty sourcing strong wifi has arrested the literary flow!

In brief then, we haven't yet reached Skye or the Outer Hebrides. The combo of strong northerlies and an infected knee for the Captain sent us south again from Skye Bridge via Loch Nevis, Loch Sunart, Upper Loch Sunart, Outer Loch Sunart, Isle of Mull, Loch Aline, Seil Sound, Loch Sween, Jura, Loch Shuna, Loch Creran, Lismore Island (home of pictured seals) and, finally, Dunstaffnage Marina near Oban. For the latter part John and Debbie bravely joined us and we promptly failed them by not visiting the Caledonian Canal, Islay or Gigha, not going ashore at Tobermory, not island hopping, not visiting enough pubs, only managing one distillery and not producing enough sunshine! They are stalwart in the face of adversity though and did not complain. We are friends still!

Oh, and the majority of Scots wish to Remain!

She’s the last paddle steamer in the world and lovely to look at. We had seen her at Inverie too so she must be doing the rounds in Argyll at the moment.

Tobermory is every bit as picturesque as we had heard and we were fortunate enough to see it for the first time in bright sunshine. Although busy (by our new standards!) and geared to tourism, it hasn’t lost its charm. We’ve enjoyed amazing weather for over a week now. How lucky is that!

(It's now 22 June - weather a little less wonderful today ...)

So, we got to Kyle of Loch Alsh, and later went under Skye bridge (30 May) motoring into a strong northerly with the waves kicking up. The forecast was for northerlies for the foreseeable future so we sadly turned tail and headed back down Kyle Rhea with the tide, stopping at Inverie Bay in Loch Nevis (beautiful) and pitching up here in Loch Sunart. The northerlies meant bright blue skies and no midges – result! The weather now is benign, warm, sunny, bright and showing off the countryside to the full. An added bonus is the families of seals we’ve seen along the way.

Having decided to visit the Outer Hebrides before John and Debs join us we pushed on a bit today. No wind but plenty of sun. Iona looked very inviting as we motored through the Sound and we took a look at the extraordinary Fingals Cave on Staffa on the way to Gometra for a late but safe anchorage. Some magnificent deer on the hills.

With benign conditions we braved Dorus Mor and Corryvrecken, both renowned for standing waves and whirpools. We were lucky – it was fine. And then slowly into a gorgeous inner loch, all alone. Complete peace. Very hard to find such anchorages in most places, but in these waters, with the right conditions, they are plentiful.