Gigha to Ardfern

That ***** free android phone app that we moaned about before managed to wake us up twice during the night to say that we were drifting whilst at anchor. We thought we had cracked the technique of setting it but clearly not. On the upside,we were not drifting and the captain got to enjoy some lovely early morning views across Gigha sound and over the island itself. Trying to stay positive about it as you have probably spotted...

Colin (the Nom de Plume for the 747 captain) offered a solution to the app issue a while ago. He has an excellent app that works really well. Sadly he also has an i-phone and that app isn't written for anything else. So unless we buy another device, we will have to soldier on and master the Andriod offering that we have. It gets 4 stars in the play store - maybe from landlubbers who want to see if their house or Bobil is being blown away??

Up and away was the morning motto. Didn't bother to fire up the genset to make some hot water for showers as there would be copious amounts once the big Lugger was working to push us along. So, we headed off early. Another misty, atmospheric trip. Coming out of Gigha sound, the radar was busy spotting the fishing boats. For most of the run, visibility varied between 200 metres and 2 miles.

Travelling up past Jura was lovely (when we could see it) and the radio said that the south of England was basking in hot sun and a little too warm for many people. We looked at the mist and thought, mist (only in English, not German. For the non German speakers, work it out... Leo.org might help). Actually we were pretty happy. Various aquatic beings popped up and quickly vanished. Maybe seals, maybe porpoises, or sharks - whatever they were, they were certainly bashful and didn't stay "up" long enough to be identified by non wildlife experts like us.

Passing the Crinan canal entrance, the sun came out and going into the beautiful Loch Craignish was a joy. Stunning scenery, smooth water, not many other boats about.



We went into the Ardfern yacht centre moorings as we planned to stay there for a while to avoid the forecast near gales and to do some boat cleaning that had been sadly neglected recently. This has to be the most picturesque location for a yacht haven:



Certainly the best we have been in so far. Hills all aound, wooded mainly. Some buoy moorings with yachts on them.



A tiny village with a shop / Post office (2 of everything on the shelves, remember "Open all Hours"?), a tiny school, a bus stop (2 buses per day to Oban as out of school term time. 4 per day when the schools are open) a pub (of course) and a tea shop. What more could one wish for.

As it was a lovely evening, we launched the big dinghy. This is a RIB with a nice big outboard engine and so it allows the captain to enjoy speed again after plodding along by Nordhavn. So far you've only met the little roll up dinghy and egg-whisk outboard that we use for short runs ashore.

Here is the big brother dinghy:





The RIB hadn't been used since Falmouth but didn't complain about the colder Scottish waters. A good blast along the loch to a sheltered bay, then back again. Or not.... On the way back, the engine just quietly expired. 18 knots became 0 very quickly. The captain said "oh dear" or something like that. It restarted but died almost at once. Seemed like a fuel issue so the supply tanks were swapped over just in case - no luck. Rather then take off the cowling and starting to play with the engine whilst gently drifting the wrong way down the loch, the captain enjoyed another first - rowing the RIB back. It is a bit heavy for that game but helped work up an appetite for dinner!


Maintenance news: YES - we have something to report now. The previously wonderful Yamaha 20 outboard had stopped as the internal fuel filter had come loose and was sucking air, not petrol, into the carburettor. A little diagnosis job that kept the captain busy for 5 minutes. Thanks a lot to the guys at Warsash marine on the Hamble river who did the last service (it has a 5 year warranty so still gets an annual Yamaha dealer check) and didn't reseat the filter housing firmly enough.

Also greased the crane that we use to launch and recover the RIB as it needs some TLC every 3 months or so. Quite a cute piece of kit. If it ever stops working with the RIB in the water..... Let's not think about that possibility.