I love this weather - Phil not so much, as no wind means no sails. So although we are going to London on Thursday we are running back to lytham for two days and to check on aunty Sarah’s Lillie’s. Ferry 10.30am, train to Glasgow 12.30, train to Preston 1.30pm, train to lytham around 6pm, not a bad day travelling, stunning scenery. Picture taken this morning

...Phil... not so much - no wind means no sails, our friend James has sailed/motored from kilmelford, so we have company this afternoon/evening. We are going to London this weekend as number one godson was 40 last week and he only wants us to visit this weekend and babysit for a night so they can go out....im in heaven!! So it's off for a walk with James this afternoon on kererra. It was cloudy and threatening rain but it stayed dry and we walk what a thought was quite a steep slope - but I'm a bit of a wuss! We survived and celebrated with a pint!! Picture was taken yesterday of our view. Back to the boat (clubhouse kitchen was closed) for a very nice bottle of red (thank you James) and an excellent chilli - even if I say so myself!!! (Boat food, you can’t go wrong!)

It’s times like this i wish I could post several photos.
1. The beauty of this marina on a fantastic sunny day.
2. The RNLI boat which was on kererra Marina for a fund raising day. Which we had a tour of
3. Before and after photo of the guy who lives on kererra who has the longest beard and hair had his hair cut to fundraise for the RNLI
4. The singer in the evening at the clubhouse with locals and customers singing with the view of Oban in the background lit by the fading sunset.

A perfect day

After a very peaceful night on a buoy in a bay miles from anyone, timing our crossing through the Corran narrows, avoiding the ferry, which rushes backwards and forwards between the mainland, it was a beautiful calm motor to Oban. Collecting, once again, some polystyrene, but not any polystyrene- it was huge, far too big for my net but once I’d trapped it between the boat and my net Phil managed to reach down and manhandle it onto the boat phew!

It took 4 hours to come down neptunes staircase (picture), then motor down the canal to Corpach and two final locks. We were squeezed between a lovely old boat with a massive diesel engine and a little motorboat. We were not happy, we originally were told to go in last starboard side to, which would mean we were on the opposite side of the old boat with its big engine. A sailboat is meant to be at its best under sail. But the motorboat / although told to go to the same side as the big boat decided they would take the other side all to themselves grrrrrr!!! So to say it was a squeeze was an understatement plus we were behind its prop wash. Things seem to go from bad to worse when there was no lock keeper in sight and I was expected to “walk” the boat through the locks holding both stern and bow ropes. Anyway, we eventually made it through but I took the opportunity to hone my dagger stare look to its full potential!!

I actually had one layer of clothing, and even, once we’d stopped, took my jacket off. We are now near neptunes staircase, it closes around dinner time and will open tomorrow around 9am, so we are settled for the night. So a walk to the shops was in order, this year I’ve been much better with groceries, only buying for a few days at a time, so no waste or over eating to make sure everything is used! This picture was as near to showing how big the sky is,!it might sound stupid but with the green green trees, the beautiful mountains in the background and a blue sky with the moon, it’s such a beautiful sight.