Speedwell of Rhu Ship's Log

6 th to 7 th of July 2012 - Islay

Friday 6 ^th July

We took the morning tide to Islay, leaving at a very reasonable 0900. We were able to sail as soon as we got out of Craighouse Bay and the wind was perfect for another go at sailing with the cruising chute. The wind was coming directly from behind so Andy used the spinnaker pole to bring the chute out of the lea of the main sail. Going past the entrance to the Sound of Islay we made 6-7 knots in a force 4. The wind was a bit changeable and when we changed course to head for Port Ellen, rather than gybe we dropped it altogether. Unfortunately it got a bit wet in the process because it fell partly into the sea.

After this we quickly got the genoa out and the wind increased suddenly as we whizzed into Port Ellen at 7-8 knots under the genoa and mizzen sails. The pontoons were quite busy and the wind was coming quite strongly from the north. We had to park the boat down wind in a force 6 which was quite exciting. There were lots of people to take our lines and stop our bow scraping the pontoon, which was very short. We eventually got all our ropes sorted so that our stern wasn't swinging too much, but we thought we were going to be in for a noisy night with the water slapping against the boat right under our bunk. As it turned out the wind quickly died down. The sun was out and it was very warm, surprisingly. In the rest of the UK there were 16 flood warnings and torrential rain. We had also arrived in time for the second annual festival of the sea held in Port Ellen so the pontoons were full of children catching crabs around our boat and we were there in time for a cookery demonstration on how to cook mussels, all of which we then had to eat. Unfortunately the lesson was just too late for us as we saw loads of mussels right under our tender as we had explored Loch Sween a few days earlier..

Saturday 7 ^th July

It was raining today so we had a rather wet cycle along the south east coast to Kidalton Church and Cross. On the way back the wind was behind us and we stopped at Ardbeg distillery for lunch and a wee dram and then Lagavulin distiller for another wee dram. This way was a lot easier!

We put away our provisions and had an early supper in time to attend a whisky evening where somebody gave a talk about the real SS Politician and we then watched the film Whisky Galore. Included in the price were 3 further wee drams! This all made up for the continuous rain.

ESSENTIAL PROVISIONS ON LEAVING SCOTLAND

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