Quandary
Well-Known Member
Just back after three weeks of untypical West of Scotland weather, no wind most days (though we had a cracking close reach from Mallaig to Tob. on the way home) often thick fog which did not burn off until well into the afternoon and flat seas. Some comments on what's new or mildly interesting.
The new harbour building in Loch Aline is the bees knees, plenty of immaculate showers, toilets, laundry and pleasant verandah with outside seating and unlike Tobermory it is accessible 24/7, pity that the silica sand mine works to midnight when a ship is in and that the guy who designed the cramped and short pontoon layout for them has a 16' motor boat, but they say they intend putting that right.
The moorings at Canna are hard to resist when you see the quantities of kelp coming up with anchors in the central area that they have left clear. £10 a night but a look at the sheet with the honesty box in the wee shop suggests that about 50% of users are not paying.
'New' traffic separation around NW Skye is a real pain in thick fog, we felt forced to abort our intended destination, Loch Maddy, and turn right for Stein.
The Shiant Islands merit the description 'awesome' if you are there in a flat sea and clear weather, thousands of every variety of sea bird and a great variety of cetaceans passing through.
Van Morrison was top of the bill at Hebcelt but we were in Stornoway a week early as they were just setting up. Three nights there were about enough with Sunday approaching. Piling for new pontoons going in and serviceable portacabin showers on the quay now.
Hired a car and visited Callinish and the Carloway broch but really impressed by Bernera and the multiple channels and anchorages of Loch Roag though when the fog descended in the afternoon it was eerie. (a future destination which would take many days to explore) Disappointed with the black house village, now operating as a hostel with one cottage as a museum but 20th. century with a fireplace and a proper chimney. People in Lewis have even worse taste in replacement bungalows than the Irish.
Loch Inver has more pontoon berths, a new slipway, state of the art remote controlled travel hoist and plenty of space for boats ashore, shore power on the pontoons is promised for next year. A good place to go for an emergency haul out. The former Seaman's Mission by the harbour has been taken over by the community, revamped, with a very reasonably priced (mains about £8-10) cafe/restaurant open in the evenings (bring your own bottle,) they do carry out from the same menu for about half the sit in price, no showers in there now but you can get those at the leisure centre.
Midges were a problem at times but this year the ticks are worse than I can ever remember, nearly everyone you talk to in the Highlands seemed to know someone with Lymes disease.
Highland Council are still offering great value about £1.75 a metre with the second night free even if it is at a different harbour, even so I listened to the owner of an X42 with a crew of five adults explaining to the harbourmaster at Gairloch who had shifted a boat to accommodate him that the '42' was Scandanavian feet and he was under 12 metres.
Only two alongside berths left on the Flowerdale pontoon, the rest is used by the whale scarers, but rafting is encouraged. We were alongside for several nights but usually had to actively persuade other boats that they were welcome alongside us. Badachro is very crowded now, but the Council also have heavy moorings in Shieldaig. Loch Torridon feels scary in fog.
I suppose it was the poor visibility but all the life boats were kept busy assisting yachts aground, though in one case I heard the Mallaig lifeboat tell a 'casualty' in Loch Moidart that he was quite safe and would refloat in the afternoon, so he was going back to base. Does being aground in a sheltered location with no wind justify a callout? I suspect that if you let the coastguard know of your situation their default response is to call out the lifeboat.
The pontoon at Kyle of Loch Alsh is to be taken over by a local community group who intend to re-open the showers and eventually extend with some sort of wave screen, Kyleakin is staying with Highland Council. They have been given about £80k. to spend on a feasibility study, not sure how many feet of pontoon you could buy for that.
Plenty of room for tidal turbines and passing yachts to sail past in Kyle Rhea even close to mid. spring tide, you need to be alert though as you are rarely going in the direction the boat is pointing.
Inverie has so many ferries running back and forward from Mallaig now, that during the day it feels like Rothesay, or perhaps more like Tobermory, hardly 'Britains remotest pub' anymore, for tranquility try Doune or go on up the loch.
Mallaig pontoons are busy, it now seems to have taken over from Tob. as the turning point for boats that do not anchor, but it is pricey, still with no facilities ashore and charging £3.60 a night for shore power, the diesel from Johnstones is still a bargain though.
Big spring tides on the way home swirling through the Sound of Luing at 5.7 kts. we got 12.8 kts. on the gps. Some of the yachts heading for Croabh seemed to prefer to go south of Luing rather than the excitement of Cuan Sound. As we were doing that at mid tide Stavros Niarchos ghosted in through the Corryvreckan.
Grass that has not been cut for three fairly humid weeks is just about the limit of what a petrol Flymo can cope with.
The new harbour building in Loch Aline is the bees knees, plenty of immaculate showers, toilets, laundry and pleasant verandah with outside seating and unlike Tobermory it is accessible 24/7, pity that the silica sand mine works to midnight when a ship is in and that the guy who designed the cramped and short pontoon layout for them has a 16' motor boat, but they say they intend putting that right.
The moorings at Canna are hard to resist when you see the quantities of kelp coming up with anchors in the central area that they have left clear. £10 a night but a look at the sheet with the honesty box in the wee shop suggests that about 50% of users are not paying.
'New' traffic separation around NW Skye is a real pain in thick fog, we felt forced to abort our intended destination, Loch Maddy, and turn right for Stein.
The Shiant Islands merit the description 'awesome' if you are there in a flat sea and clear weather, thousands of every variety of sea bird and a great variety of cetaceans passing through.
Van Morrison was top of the bill at Hebcelt but we were in Stornoway a week early as they were just setting up. Three nights there were about enough with Sunday approaching. Piling for new pontoons going in and serviceable portacabin showers on the quay now.
Hired a car and visited Callinish and the Carloway broch but really impressed by Bernera and the multiple channels and anchorages of Loch Roag though when the fog descended in the afternoon it was eerie. (a future destination which would take many days to explore) Disappointed with the black house village, now operating as a hostel with one cottage as a museum but 20th. century with a fireplace and a proper chimney. People in Lewis have even worse taste in replacement bungalows than the Irish.
Loch Inver has more pontoon berths, a new slipway, state of the art remote controlled travel hoist and plenty of space for boats ashore, shore power on the pontoons is promised for next year. A good place to go for an emergency haul out. The former Seaman's Mission by the harbour has been taken over by the community, revamped, with a very reasonably priced (mains about £8-10) cafe/restaurant open in the evenings (bring your own bottle,) they do carry out from the same menu for about half the sit in price, no showers in there now but you can get those at the leisure centre.
Midges were a problem at times but this year the ticks are worse than I can ever remember, nearly everyone you talk to in the Highlands seemed to know someone with Lymes disease.
Highland Council are still offering great value about £1.75 a metre with the second night free even if it is at a different harbour, even so I listened to the owner of an X42 with a crew of five adults explaining to the harbourmaster at Gairloch who had shifted a boat to accommodate him that the '42' was Scandanavian feet and he was under 12 metres.
Only two alongside berths left on the Flowerdale pontoon, the rest is used by the whale scarers, but rafting is encouraged. We were alongside for several nights but usually had to actively persuade other boats that they were welcome alongside us. Badachro is very crowded now, but the Council also have heavy moorings in Shieldaig. Loch Torridon feels scary in fog.
I suppose it was the poor visibility but all the life boats were kept busy assisting yachts aground, though in one case I heard the Mallaig lifeboat tell a 'casualty' in Loch Moidart that he was quite safe and would refloat in the afternoon, so he was going back to base. Does being aground in a sheltered location with no wind justify a callout? I suspect that if you let the coastguard know of your situation their default response is to call out the lifeboat.
The pontoon at Kyle of Loch Alsh is to be taken over by a local community group who intend to re-open the showers and eventually extend with some sort of wave screen, Kyleakin is staying with Highland Council. They have been given about £80k. to spend on a feasibility study, not sure how many feet of pontoon you could buy for that.
Plenty of room for tidal turbines and passing yachts to sail past in Kyle Rhea even close to mid. spring tide, you need to be alert though as you are rarely going in the direction the boat is pointing.
Inverie has so many ferries running back and forward from Mallaig now, that during the day it feels like Rothesay, or perhaps more like Tobermory, hardly 'Britains remotest pub' anymore, for tranquility try Doune or go on up the loch.
Mallaig pontoons are busy, it now seems to have taken over from Tob. as the turning point for boats that do not anchor, but it is pricey, still with no facilities ashore and charging £3.60 a night for shore power, the diesel from Johnstones is still a bargain though.
Big spring tides on the way home swirling through the Sound of Luing at 5.7 kts. we got 12.8 kts. on the gps. Some of the yachts heading for Croabh seemed to prefer to go south of Luing rather than the excitement of Cuan Sound. As we were doing that at mid tide Stavros Niarchos ghosted in through the Corryvreckan.
Grass that has not been cut for three fairly humid weeks is just about the limit of what a petrol Flymo can cope with.
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