Would you have stayed on board?

dunedin said:
What you reckon there was only 10 knots of breeze in Tobermory during Amy? Dream on. Perhaps TobermoryPhil will be on to tell us what it was in reality - if he didn’t blow away.
Minerva described the anchoring situation in Tobermory perfectly in #126. Ideal if on the pontoon and didn’t swing NNW, but often full in a storm and not a place to anchor as too deep.
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The whole point of a protected anchorage is to not experience the full force of the wind. Thats sailing 101.
We were there for weeks, and in a southerly or westerly the apparent wind is nothing like that elsewhere. We didn’t tie extra lines and we didn’t remove our solar panels which are bungy tied to the coachroof. It wasn’t rough at all, you should try it next time there’s weather from that direction.
 
Tobers in a southerly gale sees very low wind speeds. At the waterfall the wind is almost zero, with occasional gust from variable directions. Most of the bay SE of Tobermory is bounded by high, steep land with huge trees which dampen the wind significantly.

This observation is based on my experience and I question the knowledge of local experience if anyone thinks otherwise.

As shown on the OS map, the southerly land mass of Loch Aline does not have the same wind damping effect from trees as its northerly side and has the steep cliffs of the Morven peninsula helping to force the wind into Loch Aline, through Ardtornish bay. If you have sailed here in strong southerly winds, you can see the waterfalls being blown back over the top of the cliffs. Hence the south side isn’t as big a wind break as one may assume.

The SE corner of Loch Aline can be anchored in, outside the moorings, which I have done on a few occasions.
 
RunAgroundHard said:
Tobers in a southerly gale sees very low wind speeds. At the waterfall the wind is almost zero, with occasional gust from variable directions. Most of the bay SE of Tobermory is bounded by high, steep land with huge trees which dampen the wind significantly.
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The shelter there is remarkable, with none of the squalls you normally associate with an anchorage in the lee of steep hills. Never been there in anything approaching a storm, but last year we lifted the anchor in 2-3kts and 10 mins later were in 30+ in the sound.
 
A friend has a small house/hut at the head of the Loch which he spends most of his life in/on. My niece and partner visited over that weekend, and apart from a few trees down, they said it was bit wild but they were able to walk around on tracks all weekend.
 
I was anchored at Aberdaron (Leyn Peninsular) and the wind was getting up from the east so I moved to be under the lea of the cliffs on the east side of the bay. Unfortunately the wind then strengthened and moved around to the west. I had all my chain out so when the wind moved I was only about 50 yards from the rocky cliff. Without being requested a lifeboat arrived , they said I was in danger of dragging onto the rocks and offered to take me off the boat which I declined. They were quite insistent and even criticized my thin anchor line which I explained to them was actually a stretchy snubber line attached to my chain. It was not a pleasant exchange and in retrospect it was a surprise there was no no suggestion that they would tow me away from the shoreline.
I suspect they were out training and looking for someone "to save".
 
Sadly there seem to be quite a few boats broke free from moorings on the Clyde - some very nice boats sadly ashore.
One unusual post from Argyll Rigger - brought in by the power company to help extracate a yacht mast which had tangled through and brought down power lines!
And some really sad pictures of the boat that went aground off Lismore just ahead of Amy - which seems to have been broken up completely, and large chunks needing to be salvaged and removed from the shore and acquaculture farms.
So the Loch Aline anchor boat seems to have come off better than dozens of other boats.
And Salen Jetty pontoons also seem to have been damaged beyond economic repair so that facility will not reopen. Very sad for the lovely owners.
It was a very severe Storm.
 
dunedin said:
Sadly there seem to be quite a few boats broke free from moorings on the Clyde - some very nice boats sadly ashore.
One unusual post from Argyll Rigger - brought in by the power company to help extracate a yacht mast which had tangled through and brought down power lines!
And some really sad pictures of the boat that went aground off Lismore just ahead of Amy - which seems to have been broken up completely, and large chunks needing to be salvaged and removed from the shore and acquaculture farms.
So the Loch Aline anchor boat seems to have come off better than dozens of other boats.
And Salen Jetty pontoons also seem to have been damaged beyond economic repair so that facility will not reopen. Very sad for the lovely owners.
It was a very severe Storm.
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Indeed. Compared to other storms, the perception is that there are a lot of wrecks this time. Perhaps becuase the season had not ended and more boats were on moorings.
 
dunedin said:
Sadly there seem to be quite a few boats broke free from moorings on the Clyde - some very nice boats sadly ashore.
One unusual post from Argyll Rigger - brought in by the power company to help extracate a yacht mast which had tangled through and brought down power lines!
And some really sad pictures of the boat that went aground off Lismore just ahead of Amy - which seems to have been broken up completely, and large chunks needing to be salvaged and removed from the shore and acquaculture farms.
So the Loch Aline anchor boat seems to have come off better than dozens of other boats.
And Salen Jetty pontoons also seem to have been damaged beyond economic repair so that facility will not reopen. Very sad for the lovely owners.
It was a very severe Storm.
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That is a shame. Visited for the first time this season and really enjoyed it. Great facilities and nice folk too.
 
RunAgroundHard said:
It was offered for sale this year, with adverts appearing around Q2. I have no idea if it sold but the listing appears to have been removed from estate agents as far as I can tell.
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As part of the Facebook post (Google Salen Jetty) they say that as a result of the damage from Storm Amy the business (and house?) has been taken off the market. The 4 visitor moorings will remain for now.
PS Apparently two boats on moorings dragged in Salen during Amy, but fortunately didn’t sustain damage.
The worst storm they had ever experienced in their time there due to direction.
 
They closed a few weeks ago too when we tried to visit. Was a shame as we had perfect wind right up the loch before we called them. We did have perfect wind back out too, but then the storm hit and we were glad to be in the Mish!
Sad if it’s gone for good, hopefully just regrouping.
 
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dunedin said:
As part of the Facebook post (Google Salen Jetty) they say that as a result of the damage from Storm Amy the business (and house?) has been taken off the market. The 4 visitor moorings will remain for now.
PS Apparently two boats on moorings dragged in Salen during Amy, but fortunately didn’t sustain damage.
The worst storm they had ever experienced in their time there due to direction.
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That’s a shocker, it was a favourite of ours. A real shame for Jan & hubby, a business that they’d DIY built from the ground up.
 
C08 said:
I was anchored at Aberdaron (Leyn Peninsular) and the wind was getting up from the east so I moved to be under the lea of the cliffs on the east side of the bay. Unfortunately the wind then strengthened and moved around to the west. I had all my chain out so when the wind moved I was only about 50 yards from the rocky cliff. Without being requested a lifeboat arrived , they said I was in danger of dragging onto the rocks and offered to take me off the boat which I declined. They were quite insistent and even criticized my thin anchor line which I explained to them was actually a stretchy snubber line attached to my chain. It was not a pleasant exchange and in retrospect it was a surprise there was no no suggestion that they would tow me away from the shoreline.
I suspect they were out training and looking for someone "to save".
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That’s an interesting story.....and of course it ties up with the original scenario where we don’t know who called the life boat.
But in your case....if later on during the night and full force of the storm...and you found yourself in serious trouble....would you hesitate to call the life boat out ?....or would you think, it’s my fault and I’ll accept the consequences ?
 
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