Speedwell of Rhu Ship's Log

30 th of June 2012 - Seeking shelter again!

Saturday 30 ^th June

We woke early for the forecast to find we were alone in the anchorage. Unfortunately the winds were now set to back and get stronger, meaning that they would become easterlies, before going to the north. We were already experiencing some swell from the sea outside. We weren't happy to leave the boat to go ashore and decided to head somewhere more sheltered. Our first plan was to head south to Tobermory. We prepared the boat and sailed off the anchor. We were quickly out of the loch and found the seas quite rough. The wind was south easterly, roughly the direction we had planned to go. We decided a change of plan was called for as tacking south around Ardnamurchan Point would be very unpleasant. Instead we tacked around Sleat and up into Loch Nevis and picked up a buoy at Inverie. This was still quite hard going. We sailed under just the genoa and mizzen. We initially had the mainsail up, but when we tried to reef it the reefing lines were all caught up with each other so we dropped it altogether. We didn't really need it anyway and made 7-8 knots most of the way. Once we got into the lee of land near Mallaig it became easier and the wind had shifted slightly meaning a mooring buoy at Inverie would probably be quite comfortable.

We picked up a buoy at 1400 and took the tender ashore to book a table at The Old Forge for dinner. They assured us that we could be fed but that they couldn't guarantee a time as there was a party of 25 coming in. This is supposed to be one of the most inaccessible places in the UK. How things change! Anyway we did have a lovely fishy meal later on. The weather forecast was a bit uncertain so we set the alarm for 0700 to get the morning forecast.

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