Tarbert to Troon

The Scottish summer continued with a nice overcast and atmospheric departure from Tarbert:

At least it was dry for that bit of the trip... A little later on we needed the radar again as it became murky and then rained like crazy. The good news is that our wiper repair worked just fine. A very strange trip as it only involves one straight line course from Tarbert to Troon Entrance. Odd as there are plenty of islands and rocks to get in the way around here (and they usually do). Here is our track as evidence - the one little wriggle was to avoid a tanker heading south from Glasgow:

The other odd thing was the view from the pilothouse. It started out grey and gloomy, then became so restricted that the radar was the only way to tell what was around us. Then it cleared quickly and we enjoyed calm sea and seals, dolphins and a hint of sun. Just off Troon we spotted a couple of jetskis motionless in the water. We wondered if they had broken down as they were well offshore. The reality was a little different, they were fishing:

In Troon, we enjoyed the hottest day of the year so far in the area - 24 degrees despite a strong wind. It was so nice that it tempted Andrew into his shorts. Since you ladies have been deprived of John's knees recently, this might help:

You can, of course, vote for which set you would like to see more of in future. We will totally ignore you though - such pictures are all about opportunity. Talking of opportunity, the crew's knee trouble seems to be getting better even if taped up they look much the same:

OK, that is enough naked flesh for one post. A walk around Troon in the nice warmth was needed. The beach was crammed with people who seemed keen to fry their pasty white skin. The car parks were overflowing too. Perhaps it was the last day of "summer". Troon is, of course, famous as the home of world class golf tournaments. Here is the Royal Troon clubhouse where the 2016 open will take place:

We don't think they needed to water the greens to achieve that lush colour this year though. Next door is the Marine Hotel - wonder how much they increase their room rates by when big golf tournaments are underway:

Dinner was a real treat at Scotts restaurant in the marina - wildly busy but excellent food. Have a look at website.

Maintenance news:

Nothing exciting to report. We continue to run the wing engine for longer periods to burn up the 2014 fuel still in the dedicated supply tank though. If we had a contaminated fuel problem in our main supply, we would be so happy to have many litres of clean stuff to keep the little wing engine running nicely. When you are trying to burn it off, it seems to be quite a lot. Good for the engine to stretch its legs though.