The end of a Scottish Summer
Restless of Auckland
Roland and Consie Lennox-King
Fri 5 Oct 2007 16:20
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July was wet, August was wet, September was wet and cold,
and now October has come and it is sunny!
After our last entry in August, Dudley drove from London
to Scotland for a wedding and joined us for a short sail north to
picturesque Plockton. We left Loch Duich at the end of August, and sailed south
to Arisaig to pick up Keir who was joining us to sail to Helensburgh. We don't
know where summer went, it was 11'C some mornings, and the water was warmer than
the air - Roland swam most days in Scotland, so he would be the best person
to ask about that. In Tobermory the harbormaster remembered him as the man
who swam so it must be fairly uncommon.
David drove from Loch Duich to see us, and drove
us the length of the Crinan Canal and to West Loch Tarbert, but Roland did not
want to miss out on any sailing, so we sailed south round the Mull of Kintyre
in F6 and 8 winds and strong tides, and north to Campbelltown and the
Kyles of Bute and as we came up the Clyde past Gourock we were
met by the QE2 and 8 Red Arrow jets performing an aerial display around the
harbour. Who knew our arrival was such a big deal? Cousin Fiona and Ian from Newton Stewart came to see Restless and
sample life aboard whilst we were at Rhu Marina. Then it was time to
take Restless over to Silvers Marine in Roseneath on the Gareloch for
her winter haul-out. We are also having the topsides painted and a few small
jobs done, but Roland will spend some time on board when we return in the
spring. We cleared the decks and the masts came down and Restless went into
a giant shed for the winter; we will return to her in March, hopefully a new
lady after her facelift.
Keir drove to Helensburgh to collect us and took us back
to Edinburgh - and stationary beds after 6 months aboard. On 29 September
we went to Elie and to St Andrews for a real Scottish wedding. Michael and
Lindsay had a perfect day, a beautiful bride and a handsome groom at historical
St Andrews church, with their large extended families to wish them happiness in
the future. There was a piper outside the church and at the reception, many of
the men wore kilts and we danced Scottish dances and ate Scottish salmon and
venison. Then it was back to to Edinburgh to see
the sights. What a beautiful city and what history!! It makes New
Zealand feel very young indeed. We also did some trips to areas outside
the city and now have a good appreciation of this part of Scotland.
Now we are about to fly to Nice to stay with
Fiona and Alan in Monaco for a week and we hope to catch up with Gilbert and all
his news as he is currently in Antibes aboard a superyacht. We will then catch
the fast train to Paris, where Roland has a date with brother Oliver to see some
Rugby!!
All being well we hope to be home on 6th November, when
we'll give you a full roundup of our happenings.
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