Tern's Travels

Lochinver to Gairloch, 29/07 - 01/08
The journey south from Lochinver to Gairloch involves rounding three significant headlands: Rubha Coigeach, south of Loch Inver, Greenstone Point, west of Ullapool and Rubha Reidh, west of Loch Ewe, all dictating the passage plans in terms of tides and sea states. Our problem was insufficient wind due to general high pressure and we motored as much as we sailed and, needless to say, the forecast wind did not always deliver - thank goodness (and Larry) for a reliable engine!
So we had a tranquil passage through the Summer Isles and anchored in Loch Kanaird by Isle Martin. The Summer Isles sound so romantic but they were named because they provided summer grazing for sheep. The whole area is full of these ancient mounds of Torridian sandstone covered with peat, pasture and heather - best left to be wild places. We looked into "The Anchorage" on the west side of Tanera Mor, the largest island, but found it filled with a fish farm and ferry facility so we pushed on to Isle Martin which proved to be a delightful anchorage.
We remembered Ullapool from a holiday in 1995 when we were planning to leave London and move somewhere out west or north and we were scoping various areas from Cornwall to NW Scotland. In the meanwhile it has developed enormously as a ferry port for the Outer Hebrides and a hub for camper vans and holiday makers. The yacht facilities boast a pontoon but in reality it can't be used most of the time as the local tripper boats take up it's entire lenghth. There are plenty of mooring buoys but the Loch is very deep so anchoring is confined to a thin area along the shore and quite far from the town. The petrol station is near the sailing club where you can land a dinghy on the beach so we were able to top up our diesel with cans but no water, shower or laundry facilities. There is a commercial laundry near the Tesco at the top of the town so I spent much of my time toing and froing to get the chores done. Still, there was much dinghy racing and kid's sailing school to entertain and one Flying Fifteen sailor asked if he and his wife could visit us as they were negotiating to buy a Pacific Seacraft 37 from south coast and would love to see ours. It's always nice to show off your boat to admirers.
Next stop was Gairloch with an overnight anchorage in Mellon Charles, Loch Ewe, where we were entertained by an enormous flock of Terns. The next 18NM passage was again almost windless but the coast is beautiful and remote with the skyline constantly revealing mountains and moors: the Outer Hebrides, Skye, and the vast mountain wilderness around Loch Maree.