... try and find us

I was up earlier than Kate as the wind had picked up through the night.  I wasn't concerned about Chinook , though.  For some reason, I was worried about a dinghy on a sliding beach anchor set up by the two sailors we had met the previous night. One of the sailors seemed unsure if he had rigged the sliding anchor properly and wasn’t sure if he would be able to pull it back to shore in the morning (when they planned to leave on a high tide, around 8 am). I said that I would watch for them on the shore the next morning to see if they needed help in the way of a motorized dinghy ride to their dinghy. The two sailors seemed grateful at the offer. We zip away from a very quiet beach with just a father and son, sail-camping there. The concern woke me just before 5 am and I was surprised that it was already quite light outside. It was gusty, but their dinghy was exactly where it had been last night when we turned in, so I started about my morning routine of putting on the elec...

A beautiful, quiet anchorage between Sanday and Canna.  The shallow entrance deters many. We had a quiet night in Rum.  We didn't go ashore and left in the morning to sail to Canna, also in The Small Isles.  We were escorted across by a large pod of white-sided dolphins.  They are much larger than the bottle-nosed dolphins we are used to seeing.  They put on a show for us - just like being at Sea World with their leaping.  Show offs! The main harbour in Canna was full of boats and was not the prettiest with the ferry terminal and sheet piled wharfs.  We opted to brave the south anchorage with its tricky, shallow entrance rather than elbow around for room in the busy harbour. Great decision!  It was a beautiful anchorage with a sandy, white beach, rolling green hills and rocks, lots of rocks. This is a much busier anchorage.  We did feel a little smug for having a bay to ourselves on the other side of the island. You can juuu...

Anchor nicely dug in It's that time again.  For some reason, the metallurgy of which we don't understand, the anode on our propellor initially lasted a mere three months before they required replacement.  If you recall our blog post back in February when we dried out at Sandy Haven,  our anodes were mostly gone.  We had been assured that this rate would slow down over time but we were anxious to check/replace them again after three months. With the water still very chilly and the cost of lifting the boat significant, the easiest way was to dry out once more.  Thanks to OCC member Phil, we were able to scout the location and plot out where to anchor on our charts by going to Morar Sands at low tide the day before. Glorious day to dry out - we could have been in The Caribbean! We left Mallaig about 7:30am, in time to anchor in our 'spot' on the falling tide.  We opted not to use a stern anchor to hold the boat facing up the beach due to it being a ...

Loch Morar, the fifth largest loch in Scotland and the deepest freshwater  lake in Britain, reaching depths of 310m Under glorious blue skies, we had another motor to the town of Mallaig.  For those Harry Potter fans, you may recognise this as where the Jacobite Steam Train  used in the film as The Hogwarts Express, terminates.  Lucky Marie caught the train to Glasgow and while it wasn't the steam train, the regular West Coast Rail service uses the same line so she got to travel over the famous Glenfinnan Viaduct  all for the price of a standard ticket!   Marie and Sean enjoying the weather on the Crinan Canal.  Thanks Marie for being such an awesome crew mate and for all the yummy food you cooked.  We will miss you! Mallaig was not the tranquil, quiet experience that the Crinan Canal was.  Being amongst so many other yachts called into play our social skills.  Having such an obviously different yacht attracts the looky-l...

Chinook at anchor in Galmisdale Bay Another motor and we headed to the Isle of Eigg in the Small Isles, population ... 135!  With our shallow draft, we were able to anchor at Galmisdale Bay in front of the village.  It was stunning, dead calm and a magnificent orange sunset.   Sean is getting to be quite the drone pilot.  Sunset with An Sgùrr in the background. Marie and Kate decided to climb An Sgùrr, the island's highest point.  Although Sean is improving and nimble on his crutches, he decided a scramble was a bit beyond him at this stage of recovery! The route took us through carpets of bluebells, sheep pasture, bogs and pitchstone (the same volcanic rock for which the Giant's Causeway is famous). The bluebells and wild garlic were stunning  It was not well marked.  We missed the turn and ended up following a dirt track for a kilometre or so.  We were rewarded with stunning views across to the Isle of Muck so were not too fuss...