Ardfern Yacht Centre 56:10.97N
05:31.77W
17-18 August
Our plans to depart Oban on Sunday were defeated by the
weather. The wind decided to continue blowing at 25-30kts all morning and
most of the afternoon - from exactly the direction we wanted to sail. No
hurry - and no point in beating ourselves senseless against the wind. We
simply postponed our departure for another day and took the marina ferry into
Oban. Ann had already cleaned out the book sections of all the charity shops
so a bit of wandering, provisioning and then tucked up on the boat with the
heater on and the wind whistling through the rigging.
Monday dawned to the sound of rain beating on the
hatches. We have our dingy stowed on the foredeck covering the large hatch
to our cabin. An unplanned benefit of this arrangement is that we can
always have the hatch open at night, without the fear of getting
drenched. The downside is that when it really rains it pours off the mast
onto the drumskin that is our tender and makes you want to stay in bed on a wet
morning. It's never as bad as it sounds and after a slowish start we head
off south, nav lights on, into the cheerless drizzle we are coming to know so
well, against both wind and tide. Our planned destination was Ardfern, less
than 30 miles away so no rush. As we emerge from Kerrera Sound there is a
touch of blue sky and up go the sails for a gentle beat down the Firth of
Lorne.
At first we are alone, with other boats going our direction
motoring. Then a massive, handsome cutter rigged sloop that had been
anchored off Kerrera for a couple of days, dominating Oban Bay, came screaming
down the outside of Kerrera. They never caught us - but only because they
pulled over toward Easdale for lunch. But we gradually picked up speed
and caught and overhauled another two boats off Scarba.
The competition off Insh Island
The weather gets better, oilskins come off and the scenery
is gorgeous. We've sailed down this piece of coast many times but probably
not beating, which has the advantage of showing you slight variations of the
same view , first west then east, over and over again - especially when
the tide is pushing you back the way you came. The west views are of
Mull, then Lunga, Scarba and Jura - all a little bleak but stunning with a blue
sky backdrop. To the east is the Argyll mainland, Seil, and Luing -
softer and greener and a great contrast.
Belnahua with Mull behind
We finish rounding the headland into Loch Craignish,
wind now well under 5 kts behind us and motor slowly up the mirror calm loch to
Ardfern. We are just down the road from Dougie and Mary and they join us
for supper on board and a look over Swallow. Lots of useful suggestions
for Irish anchorages and harbours from Dougie.
We'd never been to the yacht centre at Ardfern, tucked
away securely at the head of the loch, and are impressed. Generous
pontoons, everything works, an amazingly well stocked chandlery and one of the
best places to get work of any kind done on your boat. The village has a
small store of Norwegian quality, pub and cafe. All this and right at the
centre of Argyll and Western Isles cruising. Enough to make me start
asking about annual berth availability - a serious possibility for next year.
Today - Tuesday - we are back to rain. So cafe for
lunch, laundry, reading and messing around. The winds tonight are
expected to be back at 30 kts so nice to be tucked up, but by tomorrow
afternoon we should be able to get down to Gigha and then possibly onto
Northern Ireland on Thursday. We shall see. If all goes really well
we may be in Bangor Marina by Friday night with the prospect of a couple of
days ashore with Sheelagh's parents. I may even be able to get my phone
sorted out in Belfast.
