Tobermory

Pelagia
Frans & Sarah Toonen
Mon 8 Jul 2013 19:00
Monday 8 July 2013

Bright sunny summer morning on Kerrera island opposite Oban. This weather will give our visitors completely the wrong idea about summer sailing in Scotland. We all took the 9am marina transfer to Oban so we could get provisions for the week ahead. We needed some charts for the west coast higher up and there is a chandler in Oban. Managed to get the charts and also bought a ladder to use on the side of the boat to assist with access through the gates from pontoons. Did Tesco and joined the queue for the transfer back, only 12 passengers at a time and some locals were getting very agitated that visitors might push in. Apparently Kerrera residents have to pay £5000 a year to use the service.

Motored out and around the back of Kerrera to find Atlantic grey seals resting on the rocks. This wildlife spotting is easy. Proceeded up the Sound of Mull in flat calm with Oban's finest pasties. Managed to catch some wind further up the Sound and tacked to Tobermory where we berthed inside the fuel hammerhead. Crew abandoned ship to the pub to sample real ales in the evening sunshine. Managed to move them on and we got a table at Cafe Fish upstairs in the 1950's concrete ferry terminal with delightful terrace view of the harbour. The lifeboat roared out as we sat down. The food was amazing and went down well with 2 bottles of white burgundy. As we returned to the marina the lifeboat came back with a Hanse 400 strapped to the side of it and pushed it on the hammerhead before parking up for fuel. We sat on deck hoping to earwig all the details of the rescue but were thwarted as the lifeboat received 641 litres of fuel right next to us and all we could hear was the pump running for half an hour. Good view of the lifeboat and all it's gear though. Seems the Hanse had caught a creel line and damaged it's prop so it couldn't motor and there was no wind to sail to a place of safety. 

Boarding made easy: