A Scottish summer
|
Our time in Scotland is going so fast. We have met
wonderful people and eaten our fill of haggis and kippers, mussels and
langoustines. We went to ceilidhs (Scottish dances) and have heard pipers
playing in many places. After leaving Ardfern with Alan and Fiona we
cruised around Mull via the beautiful islands of Oronsay, Iona and Ulva before
Alan and Roland raced in West Highland Week from Tobermory. We then
cruised down the sound of Mull to the Clyde Cruising Club meet with 20 other
yachts and a barbecue in the rain, and visited their friends in Clachan Seil
near The Bridge over the Atlantic, before bidding them farewell. We
joined the Royal Cruising Club muster, and another barbecue with midges,
before sailing around to Craighouse for a lovely dinner with the 20 boats from
the RCC the following day. Then we returned to Oban
to pick up our friend David and had a lovely dinner with Bermudian friends Les
and Mags at The Manor House Hotel. Most of the islands we have visited
have been inhabited by very few people, although there are ruins and signs
that many more people lived here before the large exodus overseas of about 2
million people. We've seen many ancient castles, many are still lived in, though
the owners must be struggling to keep them from crumbling. Consie had a side
trip to Edinburgh and caught up with brother Jan who got tickets for the
Edinburgh Tattoo on a clear night, then drove back to Ardfern past Loch Lomond
and beautiful Scottish countryside on a gorgeous sunny day, with the heather all
turning purple on the hills. David has driven us inland past many munroes
(mountains over 3,000 ft high, of which there are 284 in Scotland) to Plockton
and to the northwest of Skye to meet an artist friend. We are now in Loch Duich,
where Skye meets mainland Scotland, in a beautiful anchorage with the 5 Sisters
of Kintail mountainrange at the top of the loch, and Castle Eilean Donan at the
entrance, and a 500BC broch on the hillside nearby (ancient rock fortress).
Here is a list of the places we have been to so far: Oban, Loch Drumbuie, Loch Nevis, Inverie, Knoydart,
En Maol, Mallaig, Loch Scavaig, Loch Brittle, Loch Beag, Isle of Skye, Loch
Harport, Talisker bay, Oronsay Island, Loch Bracadale, Eriskay Island, Hellisay
and Gighay islands, Soay Island, Ulva island, Iona Island, Loch Tarbert, Jura
Island, Ardmore Point, Lagavulin Bay, Islay island, Sound of Jura, Loch
Craignish, Ardfern, Oronsay Island, Eilean Treadhrach, Colonsay island,
Ardalanish Bay, Ross of Mull, Tinkers Hole, Eirradh island, Iona Island, Ardna
Cailligh on Ulva Island, Gometra island, Treshnish Pt and Ardnamurchan Pt, Loch
Drumbuie, near Loch Sunart, Tobermory, Craignure, Loch Spelve (Mull), Cuan Sound
ebb overflow to Clachan on Seil Sound, Ardfern, Loch Tarbert (Jura), Craighouse
(Jura), Oban, Kerrera, Moidart, Knoydart, Loch Duich. Drove to Kyle and
Plockton, then another trip through Skye to the northwest corner, and a
powerboat trip to Kyle,
We plan to cruise around Scotland until the end of September, when Restless will go up on the hard to be painted. We will return via Paris, Monaco, Hong Kong and Sydney to New Zealand, where we will stay until early March and return to Restless when the weather is a little warmer. |
