Final departure from Ardrossan. !

On the 24^th May we left our ‘home’ port for the last time. We hadn’t intended to stay this long at all, and it was only due to technical repairs, that seemed to linger for ever, that we were compelled to stay until now. The agents were ‘not bothered’ as they say in this part of the world, so as a consequence nothing much gets done in any hurry.

Technical Note:

On the 23rd May the agent received and replaced the anchor winch motor that was heavily corroded (from new), and at the same time replaced the chain counter sensor and the counter indicator. Unfortunately the agent and the manufacturer did not come up with a solution for the Dock and Go fault. So we departed with high hopes that the agent would expedite the process so that the repair would be done at another port when news came from Beneteau.  Later I got messages and telephone calls trying to persuade me to accept the defective system as it was (*!$&*!). I had already lined up my defence through the Citizens Advise people based on Trading Laws. Trading laws in UK are quite good for the consumer, but with any conflict there are expenses for the consumer in terms of experts and lawyers.

Anyway we had had enough of Ardrossan so by hook or by crook we had to depart.

Our plan was to visit Northern Ireland first then decide whether to head South or stick around in the Scottish Isles at bit longer. It turned out that we had such a nice time on Rathlin Island that we decided to head North up to Skye North East coast.

Our very first destination, after we finally left Ardrossan, was Campbeltown. Here we waited for the tide and rounded the Mull of Kintyre the next day (Westwards) and entered the Sound of Rathlin, both with very agitated and rough seas due to fast tides and strong winds. When sailing into the Sound of Rathlin you could even see the “bank of breakers” caused by strong tides. They call these Standing Waves.

Sunset in Campbeltown

The little port of Ballycastle was reported to be full because of a maritime festival, so we anchored off Rathlin Island in Church Bay. This was quiet except for a fairly heavy swell.

The next two days were taken up with walks and meeting some of the islanders. 
We learnt that Rathlin has a lot of marine history including the wreck of HMS Drake (sunk in the 1^st WW) right in the middle of Rathlin bay.

We met Mrs Mary Cecil originally from Glasgow who was married to an islander, Thomas Cecil, a driving force in the upkeep of the island and was a keen wreck diver. Unfortunately he died in a diving accident (too deep with nitrox) but had collected a large amount of wreck mementoes. These mementoes were on display during the maritime festival which took place while we were there.
It was also off the coast here that "Virgin" owner Mr Branson landed in his hot air balloon in 1987 when he crossed the Atlantic. He was rescued by Thomas. As a result Mr Branson donated a whole lot of money to the islanders for renovations of old buildings and a new rescue craft.

On the 28^th May we sailed to the Island of Gigha, stayed overnight and then set out across the Sound of Jura and up the Sound of Islay which is also affected by heavy tidal streams. We turned North East into Loch Tarbert on Jura and anchored in a very quiet bay. The next day we went ashore and scaled the nearest hill to get a better perspective of the island. Amazingly there were wild deer and goats. The views were stupendous.

Sunset in Gigha. Rough anchorage.

Calm beautiful Loch Tarbert on the island of Jura. The Paps in the background.

Our yacht Kwanza anchored in Loch Tarbert

Mountain Lochs (or Tarns)

 

The 31^st May saw us motor in a windless still sea up to the small bay of Puilldorbhain. We had been here last year and found it to have good shelter and abundant wildlife. Needless to say that lots of yachts arrived after us and blocked us in.

Next day, the 1st June, at 13.00 we set sail for the South entrance of the Sound of Mull in order to catch the NW tide up to Tobermory, arriving in the evening and hanging on a mooring for a quite night although raining like crazy.

Tobermory, our favourite port.