Back afloat and off to Troon

We hadn't missed much weather-wise in Kip. Whilst we cooked down south, Inverkip enjoyed strong winds and cloud. For once, great timing on our part.

The trip back to Inverkip was a wonderful reminder of why travelling around is a pain. Firstly a jam on the M25 that ran for miles - all caused by a broken down coach that was on the hard shoulder anyway. Secondly, because the flight to Glasgow finally took off 3 hours later than scheduled. Finally, because it meant we had to hang around for a bus to the delights of Paisley Gilmour street station and then had a big gap to the next Inverkip train.

What was good about the whole experience? Well, we sat in the BA lounge for over 3 hours in Heathrow (a positive relic from the frequent trips the Captain used to make for work) and enjoyed lunch and some pink Bolly. Sort of appropriate in the new terminal 5 surroundings:

The fact it was free somehow mitigated the big delay which they said was due to a sick plane. No spares at Heathrow eh?

In Paisley, we fitted in perfectly too. As it was so hot we needed a drink. The pub next to the station is a Weatherspoons and the clientele were awesome. Yes, how some of them remember to breathe is just awesome. http://www.jdwetherspoon.co.uk/home/pubs/the-last-post-paisley if you feel the urge.

The Captain helped one diner with his menu choice. He was struggling to decide if he wanted a double portion of chips to go with his special order of a  double burger. He ended up agreeing that would be a touch greedy and decided to leave the space for a 5th pint of beer instead.

It was good to be back afloat. Tuesday's trip down to Troon was in brilliant warm sun and light winds - a T-shirt and shorts on the flybridge kind of passage.

Inverkip's big landmark (the old power station) is slowly being dismantled:

En route, we were passed by Waverley, the last remaining seagoing paddle steamer in service. She looked stunning in her "home territory" - a real throwback to the days when the Glaswegians took steamer trips "Doon the Watter" and the ferries raced each other to get to the islands first:

This guy passed pretty close but, sadly, didn't want to play today. We've been used for practice by rescue helicopters before and it was great fun to watch, if very noisy! The winchmen seemed happy being on board with us and both times were chased by the pilot to get them to return to the helicopter:

It was such a perfect day. Just enough breeze to stay cool and lovely views of Arran and Cumbrae underway:

The one thing that you cannot make look pretty is a nuclear power station like the one at Hunterston:

Look just to the left of the main building it and you might enjoy the irony of having a wind farm generating electricity sited behind the nuclear plant. Of course, the wind power wasn't doing much today. 

Troon gave us the now customary excellent welcome but had one unusual benefit. The harbour smells of freshly cut timber which is stacked and ready to be loaded onto a boat. Lovely smell, so much nicer than the perfume of old fishing boats