Blue Skye ?

Arriving in Stornoway after lunch on a Sunday proved to be  something of a challenge when intending to victual. It is a very pleasant place but closed on a Sunday. We did manage to establish that a basic shop, part of a petrol station on the edge of town, would be open until 4pm so we strode off, arrived at 3.45 and successfully replenished the fresh essentials. Tired after our exertions, we chose to have a beer ashore and then a Chinese take-away on board while watching the football final. Disappointing on both counts!

While in Stornoway we were privileged to meet Derek Lumb, President of the Cruising Association who had seen our CA burgee and paid us a visit. The CA is an august institution of which I have been a member for a number of years. They have a clubhouse in Limehouse with ‘cabins’ which members can use when in London. They also have an app. called CAptain’s Mate and we have been using it extensively during our cruise for nuggets of useful information, not published in the pilot books. Derek is a massive contributor, and his name keeps cropping up, so it was interesting to meet him in person and chat over our experiences. What an impressive and knowledgeable chap!

Our destinations have tended to be fishing harbours and it has been interesting to watch the commotion when the returning boats are sorting/gutting their catch and discarding the chaff (there is probably a more nautical term for this) as it not only attracts a melee of squawking gulls but also seals, all competing for the scraps.

We have seen a lot of guillemots which dive as we approach. We didn’t spot the puffins because they are clearly more timid and dive sooner meaning that we do not identify them as, on the surface, from a distance they look very similar to my non-twitcher eyes.

It was only using Richards (better than mine – soon to be mine, but he doesn’t know this yet) binoculars followed by John’s long camera lens that we were able to identify and photograph them.

Our 43-mile passage south to Acairseid Mhor on the island of Rona between Skye and the mainland was in a northerly wind of 6 knots which was our boat speed under engine so we experienced an aggregate wind speed of zero. With a flat sea and some sunshine, we had a very leisurely passage, we even dispensed with the heating! Acarseid Mhor is billed as the second-best anchorage in the World but, given that the best is also listed as being in the Scottish Islands, I think this might be a misprint or written by a Scot. It was actually, delightful, well sheltered and a real treat.

We even found ourselves whispering so as not to break the silent magic of the place.

The lack of a phone signal could also be considered a bonus, but not for one of the crew as it meant that he had to communicate with us, he keeps fidgeting and doesn’t know what to do with himself.

Having plenty of time before the tide turned in our favour at the Skye bridge narrows, we popped into Portree on Skye at lunch time, where we moored against a tripper boat while the crew did some shopping.

The remainder of our passage was taken in drizzle, under grey skies, in the cold, with the heating on.

We had no great expectations of Mallaig from gossip picked up en-route, so we were pleasantly surprised. We arrived late but with a helpful and hearty welcome from the marina manager. The facilities were top class, modern, warm, clean and even with a hair dryer in the gents! What we saw of the town was charming with a handy Co-Op so, thumbs up and I will be reporting this on the CAptain‘s Mate app.

Richard writes:

Our Skipper. Now, for all his great attributes; his charm, whit, generosity, good humour, positivity and being a general ‘tour de force’, he does have one or two tiny idiosyncrasies. Hardly worth mentioning, but I will!

Cuppa Soup, that mainstay of the sailing community, must be taken with garlic powder, chilli flakes and a good teaspoonful of Bovril.

How many sheets of toilet paper do you use? (Yes, he really asked this question) and how many times do you wipe? (Yes, he really did ask this too!)

A ‘dirty beer’ (Nick’s note: I cannot claim this as my own, I adopted the practice from ‘Captain’ Cooke who sailed with me. He had been a Merchant Navy skipper and it was a tradition apparently, to take a beer at the end of a passage before washing or changing.) is the first thing to have when making landfall, regardless.

Fenders! You’d better get it right. Two long white ones in the middle, a round blue at either end, spaced just so and stowed away again, the lines coiled, in exactly the right way. I could go on, so I will.

Jazz. I was surprised and delighted on our last trip to be given a brief moment in control of the musical output one evening. It was great, the collection on Nicks’ computer is eclectic and wide ranging, taking in most musical tastes. But, with Nick in charge, it always reverts to jazz. Not the easy listening, background music that is just about bearable but the weird, discordant stuff that has you shuffling off to bed early, feigning a headache. There are other things I could mention, so I will.

Food and Farting. Onions, garlic and chilli in everything! Tins of Fray Bentos pies that went out of date in 1984. Cans of lager from 2001 (he doesn’t drink lager and promised me it would be fine). Tea; a mixture of breakfast and green with a bag of turmeric. No wonder he farts so much and with such gay abandon, but that doesn’t explain the pleasure he clearly gets from it!