Tarbert to Port Bannatyne

After the fun of Tarbert, we looked at the incoming strong southerly winds and wondered about our next port of call. Some of the nice anchorages would be no fun in the wind and rain. We opted for a spot well sheltered from the south and a favourite of ours, Port Bannatyne. There is only one berth that we can guarantee getting into owing to our girth (the hammerhead of the pontoon right by the entrance) and when we called them to check they said that they would reserve it for us. Job done, so we thought.

There was no huge rush to leave Tarbert but we were looking forward to the stunningly beautiful trip around the Kyles of Bute sitting on the flybridge as the weather looked good enough - not warm or sunny but gentle winds.

The route is way prettier than this suggests:

Around Tighnabruaich, we saw a recently ressurected classic - the oldest seagoing paddle steamer still in operation, the Waverley. She recently had major (expensive) work to replace her boilers. Yes, still steam driven. It was great to see her out and with happy passengers on board again as she headed into the pier:

The area around the Burnt Isles (at the top end of Bute, where we hung a right turn on the track above) is a personal favourite. A little sun peeped through too just to help with our general feeling of contentment. Then it hid itself again just before we could get a picture:

At least it was not windy:

2.6 knots true wind speed made flybridge life rather pleasant.

As we approached Port Bannatyne, the big Lugger got a nice long WOT (wide open throttle) run and the crew prepared the lines and fenders. The Ardmaleish boatyard looks a scruffy mess:

Kind of a last resting place for old ships, cars, vans and assorted bits of equipment but they have nice new sheds, a nice new lift and always seem busy - lots of winter service work for Calmac ferries too.

Then we saw that there was a motor cruiser on the berth we had been given. It is tricky calling them on the radio from the flybridge as they use channel 37, not the normal 80. Our nice Icom radios do not have 37 so we would need to use the handheld radio which was in the energency grab bag in the pilothouse. So, we resorted to the mobile phone. Apparently the boat on the berth was someone who should have been leaving but seemed rather slow to do so. We drifted around a little whilst the nice marina lady shooed them away. Visions of the English south coast places where if you stay a minute after midday they come chasing you for more money sprang to mind.....

We happily cuddled up to the little hammerhead and chatted to the local bertholders. A Nordhavn seems to help you make friends no matter where you go. The old message about "it is a small world" was so true. We bumped into a couple who had looked at several Nordhavn boats before buying their yacht. They had also kept a Princess 35 called Soma Haze in Hythe marina, where our house is. We knew the people they bought the boat from - we were berthed with the prior owners in Bray Marina on the Thames and then together in Hythe. There were several stories to share . Marion - if you read this, please get in touch.