Salen, Loch Sunart, Scotland. 8 pm.

What to wear in Scotland?

Dear Reader(s), my most esteemed and loyal (and quite possibly, only) reader has asked me to advise on the best attire for aspiring sailors in Scotland in May.

Boots, plus 1 or 2 layers of socks

Long woolly longjohns

Jeans 

Shirt

Thin fleece

Medium fleece

Thick fleece

Full wet weather gear

Hat (with ear flaps)

Hood

Life jacket. 

If it's going to be cold, add vest and scarf.

On warmer days, omit one fleece.

Simples!

Important note about Parkruns in The Highlands

Parkrunners in this part of Scotland are expected to wear kilts.

Oban Transit Marina

We arrived here yesterday. A windy trip up the Sound of Luing. We are berthed in the middle of Oban.

Successful shop at Lidl.

Booked a hire car for 13th June  ... we are coming home just for a week ... and booked a mooring (for the same week  ... obviously ... for the boat ... obviously).

Parkrun  this morning. Beautiful but hilly. Scotland is hilly.

Parkrun survivers.

Boat trip to Kerrera this afternoon.

Sunny at last.

Oban from Kerrera.

Tobermory tomorrow. 

A day of rest

Having learnt how to spell "Craobh" and say it "Croove", we went for a nice walk over the hill to Ardfern (where we last visited in 2014 with Al and purchased memorable ice creams).

This time we went to a very nice cafe and had memorable chicken and chips and memorable leek soup.

Then we walked back to the boat for further passage planning and worrying about the weather. 

Looking westwards towards Craobh on our walk back from Ardfern.

Craighouse then Craobh

Craighouse is "Jura's population centre" and several people live there. Jura is famous for its whisky and its paps. 

On the way, I saw a minke whale.

We anchored outside the distillery and went for a walk. The stream smelt of beer; Jean explained that this was from the malt used to make the whisky. 

Craighouse is a pleasant, friendly and pretty place.

Jean goes to the shop.

Up at 0630 (something of a lie in) and almost ran aground leaving the bay.

Next to Craobh. Difficult to spell, challenging to pronounce and an almost impossible marina in which to berth, but we sailed all the way there, parked and had short siesta. 

Our voyage through the Sound of Jura (not a sequel to a 1965 film starring Julie Andrews) was indeed beautiful. The water was flat and we glimpsed some porpoises.

To Rathlin Island and its bird sanctuary

The 21 mile trip from Glenarm to Rathlin Island didn't take long despite the wind having no idea where it was coming from. The tide did however, and with 3 knots behind us, we were berthed by 0900.

Next, to the RSPB bird sanctuary. 

Another gem. Well worth the 9 mile round trip on foot.

Birdwise almost on a par with The Shiants and Fair Isle.

Tea at the bar afterwards. 

A black guillemot

Glenarm

Glenarm Marina:

Easy

Very helpful Harbour Master 

Black guillemots and swallows

A walk in the forest

Parkrun tomorrow 

Ardglass

Established by elizabethan pirates in 1562, this little harbour was previously known as "Arrrrdglarse" and the modern pronunciation (and spelling) was not adopted until Victorian times (by which time piracy had largely died out locally).

Ardglass

So much for the history, Dear Reader.

Having fled from the predicted storms of  Malahide, our intrepid duo arrived outside Ardglass some 20 hours ago, only to find that the harbour was too shallow for their little boat. Undeterred,  they sailed around in circles until the tide came in before motoring cautiously into the harbour.

On arrival they found that the excellent harbour authorities had secretly had their harbour dredged some six months previously but (having kept this secret secret, so that nobody knew) had not told the nice people who draw the Oceanographic Charts that this beautiful harbour was, in fact, now quite deep enough (at all states of the tide) for a little boat such as our Albatross.

Thus it had been entirely unnecessary to sail around in circles outside the harbour (waiting for the tide to come in) and our intrepid sailors might have had supper 2 hours earlier.

Or as pirates say  "Arrrrr".

Next time: To Glenarrrm.

To Malahide

We left at 0600.

20 knot breeze, dead run most of the way, goosewinged, with 2  knots of tide.

Arrived Malahide at high water; a good thing as the entrance almost dries.  Drove into our berth in full reverse, just stopping before the pontoon. This marina is built across a river. Got ourselves nicely moored before working out that our berth was at least 50cm too shallow.  Moved to somewhere deeper.

Walked to the castle in the warm evening sunshine. A lovely place in a beautiful country.

The castle

The river

Jean at Malahide Marina..

Fishcakes for supper. Lovely!

Tomorrow, Ardglass ?

Arklow

After 80 miles at sea we entered Arklow Harbour at about 1800. Low tide. The chart indicated a shallow patch in the harbour entrance but fortunately the chart was wrong. We berthed alongside the long pontoon on the east side of river; nice and easy.

Dusk.

The marina facilities and showers are excellent and free, and there is free washing machine. Its wonders are subtlety concealed behind the discretely entrance.

Today we had a nice walk around Arklow. We like Arklow. Everyone says "Hello".

Tomorrow to Malahide.

To Arklow at dawn

All set (again) for our voyage to Ireland. We depart at 0500. 

I've decided not to have a pre-breakfast swim.

Dale anchorage. 

We didn't go

Restless from 0200.

Up at 0400.

One last look at the weather.

Tea and back to bed at 0415.

The wind at our proposed destination, Arklow, looked far from ideal, so we will be here till Saturday.

All peaceful and calm now.

The voyage we didn't make.

To Dale anchorage again

Checked out of Neyland Marina after an early lunch and managed to reverse out of our berth without hitting anything!

Motored up to Dale to prepare for an early start tomorrow (0450 precisely) if the weather and tides work. Now have only 11 hours left for dithering about this.

Here's my beloved at the helm

And another one of the local wonders

Comfortably anchored at Dale

Neyland Marina

We motored over from Dale to Neyland for the comforts of the marina and some idleness (for me at least). Jean did some washing then kindly hauled me up the mast to fit a new bird scarer and to find out why the anchor light didn't work. I didn't find the fault, but did enough damage to be sure that the light certainly won't ever work again.

Charging the gadgets. 

Next, off for a nice walk up the river, back for tea and flapjacks. Out for supper later.

Newlyn to Milford Haven

Left Newlyn 0600. Motored around Lands End. Wind filled from SE F4 so sailed for about 5 hours. 

Guillemots, Razorbills, porpoises, Gannets, Shearwater, Gannet. Up to 20 dolphins followed us for a couple of hours. No giraffe. 

Wind died, so we had to motor through evening dusk sunset then moonlight. Approached Milford Haven in thick fog with no wind. Found our way in by radar, with Jean on the bow looking out for lobster pots. 115 miles.

Anchored  in Dale. 

Asleep  by 0200.

Penzance to Newlyn

A short trip across to Newlyn to get ready to leave at 0600 tomorrow. 

Warm sunny afternoon walk then supper with A & M.

To Wales tomorrow.

Arrived in Penzance

To The Helford River.

Up early (0830), passage planning over tea and Eccles cake.

Mended the loo.

To the Helford River, motored about half then sailed. Got a bit lost among the moorings looking for somewhere to anchor.

Eventually anchored. Dismantled the anchor windlass three times before fixing it. But the loo works OK. 

Spaghetti  bolognais for supper. 

Most excellent. 

The 2022 Cruise

Hurrah we're off! 

First day of another epic.

Up at 0900 and off at 1030.

Destination: Plymouth ... well, Cawsand Bay to be precise. 

1800 arrived in Fowey.

Fowey on a May evening. Lovely.