The weather forecast last night had promised an improvement, with less wind. We have been trapped here for a week by very poor weather. I awoke at 5:00 am to the unusual sound of nothing. No wind, no rain and no waves splashing against the hull. It was dawn and I took the above photograph, from the window, without actually getting out of bed. I went to sleep again hoping that by the time the tide turned south (essential for passage through the narrow strip of water called Kyle Rhea) the wind would still be resting.
We left at 8:00 am, fuelled up at the fish quay in Kyle of Lochalsh, and headed south again. I had plotted about six places that we could shelter if the weather decided to do its worst again. In the mean time, we kept going as fast as the conditions would allow – which was a maximum of 16 knots with periods at 8-9 knots. We passed four of my planned stopping places and headed for Ardnamurchan Point. The wind was rising but the tide was with us so we kept going. We arrived near Tobermory and the weather report from the Coast Guards suggested that the wind would get up soon and tomorrow would continue windy again, so we kept going.
As we crossed the Firth of Lorne to Oban, shortly after passing the glowering form of Castle Duart, the wind increased and the sea began to make life uncomfortable for us. By the time we reached Oban Marina, after a journey of nearly 80 nautical miles, we were in a sudden squall. We were directed to moor on our port side in a vacant double berth. Ann jumped onto the pontoon and started to moor the front of Jomima. The wind caught the back of the boat and spun us diagonally across the mooring. With difficulty, I began to get her back to the mooring but then decided that it would be easier to moor down wind on the starboard side to mooring. Ann changed sides and then, with the help of a yachtsman from Newcastle (he called Ann ‘pet’) we managed to tie Jomima to the pontoon with double the usual number of warps. Civilisation at last. Next stop Tesco, to rebuild the larder.
We left at 8:00 am, fuelled up at the fish quay in Kyle of Lochalsh, and headed south again. I had plotted about six places that we could shelter if the weather decided to do its worst again. In the mean time, we kept going as fast as the conditions would allow – which was a maximum of 16 knots with periods at 8-9 knots. We passed four of my planned stopping places and headed for Ardnamurchan Point. The wind was rising but the tide was with us so we kept going. We arrived near Tobermory and the weather report from the Coast Guards suggested that the wind would get up soon and tomorrow would continue windy again, so we kept going.
As we crossed the Firth of Lorne to Oban, shortly after passing the glowering form of Castle Duart, the wind increased and the sea began to make life uncomfortable for us. By the time we reached Oban Marina, after a journey of nearly 80 nautical miles, we were in a sudden squall. We were directed to moor on our port side in a vacant double berth. Ann jumped onto the pontoon and started to moor the front of Jomima. The wind caught the back of the boat and spun us diagonally across the mooring. With difficulty, I began to get her back to the mooring but then decided that it would be easier to moor down wind on the starboard side to mooring. Ann changed sides and then, with the help of a yachtsman from Newcastle (he called Ann ‘pet’) we managed to tie Jomima to the pontoon with double the usual number of warps. Civilisation at last. Next stop Tesco, to rebuild the larder.