Holy Loch to Rhu then a bit of Glasgow as well

We had one of "those" decisions to make. The forecast for the next 4 days or so was less than tempting. Rain and a fair amount of wind too. Should we hunker down in Holy Loch and maybe go big and take the bus into the gently decaying town of Dunoon from time to time to avoid a soaking doing it by foot? Or should we go over to Rhu, and do the same bus thing into Helensburgh  instead with the option of a train into Glasgow.  Or go and anchor up somewhere sheltered and listen to the rain and wind outside.

Well, the attractions of the big city plus the fact that Rhu berthing was for free (another Boatfolk marina) tempted us. We are so shallow. A quick decision was made during the morning, a quick prep for departure and a gentle little trip over to Rhu followed:

Not a terribly long one but enjoyable all the same. We'd been allocated a nice hammerhead berth, one that was better sheltered from the strong winds that were forecast for the next couple of days. We ambled into the marina, spun the boat around and nudged against the pontoon with a small army of folks watching from their yachts and gulls from the pontoons. It was a matter of pride not to use the thrusters whilst being observed of course - luckily that worked out.

In the office we had to pay the huge sum of £10 to cover 4 nights use of the shorepower. Even though it was only a 16 amps supply, the price still felt like a bargain to us. We had some washing to do after all.... The berthing master was one we recognised from before, very friendly and helpful. He recommended that we go to Dino's ice-cream parlour in Helensburgh. It felt a little chilly for that so after we had walked into town (40 minutes or so) we found a coffee instead. Dino's is still on our "got to try it sometime" list. Apparently it was part of a triumvirate of competing Italian ice-cream businesses who were linked by the local ferries. We really did not want to end up in the middle of a mafia backed ice-cream war. We were not tooled up or ready to die for a 2 scoop tub, no matter how good it might be.

The following day, after the ritual morning rain shower had abated, we ventured into the on-site café place. We'd been in before and had some good cake and chat with the owner. This time the coffee was less than average and the owner had turned from banter to full on grumpy mood. The place is off the list now:

Kind of a shame. The cake was still good.

We had one idea in mind, that was to revisit the restaurant in Glasgow that we rather like, Number 16 on Byers Road. So, we got the local bus into Helensburgh, the train to Glasgow Queen Street then hid in some shops until the rain eased up a bit. Yes, it was one of those typical summer days. We took the subway to Kelvinhall and then managed the 2 minute walk to the restaurant:

It nestles in an area full of take-aways (carry-outs for the Scottish readers and those of us that used to stay (=live) in Edinburgh many years ago). The building way undersells the food. The lunchtime deal was excellent, some great flavours and textures. We left slightly poorer but very very happy.

On a dry afternoon, we wanted to revisit Hill House, the very different Charles Rennie Mackintosh designed house in Upper Helensburgh. A bus into town, then a 30 minute slog up the hill on foot to reach the building clothed in the protective metal framework:

that is part of the National Trust's preservation work. When built it had a concrete render, a new approach in the early 1900's. Unfortunately, when the render cracked it just held the water against the brickwork and caused all sorts of leaks and damp problems inside the house. The render has been stripped off to let the place dry out:

and they are now investigating how best to re-cover in an original style but properly weatherproof. 

No matter, the inside is really something. He and his wife were part of the "Glasgow four" and very avant-garde for the time. They designed the building and the interior down to the smallest details:

with some very striking light fittings too:

Worth reading about Mackintosh via this wikipedia link. Also worth visiting Hill House as they do a mean line in coffee and scones to fortify you after the slog up the hill from town. Rolling back down was way easier somehow. 

Despite the best efforts of the wind and rain showers to disrupt our time in Rhu, we actually enjoyed it. We certainly got our £10 worth of electrical power, the washing machine and tumble dryer were busy catching up with things. We also had a first for us - a food delivery from Mr Morrison. It was way too soggy to cycle to the store, which is the other side of  Helensburgh, and bring back supplies. So, they did it for us. With that we were all prepared for moving on to locations without "proper big" supermarkets.

Escaping Largs - only to Holy Loch though

The Fife yachts had offered plenty of amusement and admiration before they departed for the next stage of their racing. They were delayed by a day thanks to some unseasonably blowy but seasonally wet weather. We had the pleasure of seeing Chico pottering in and out of the marina area:

A 1932 built vessel with serious history. She was a Dunkirk little ship that is available for charter, have a look at Chico website link for more information on her including her time owned by Sir Malcolm Campbell, the speed record guy. Sadly her hull planking looks a bit queer now, obvious signs of it pulling apart with plenty of caulking in place. The annual maintenance tasks must be daunting, we know how much is needed for a GRP boat let alone an elderly wooden one. What the picture cannot give you is the wonderful noise of the two Gardner diesel engines installed in her. Proper piece of history, we hope the owners can keep her going.

So, once the weather had calmed down, we decided that it was time to escape the charms of Largs and venture further. Not that much further really, just up to Holy Loch:

That boring copy of the track from Marine Traffic is rather outshone by this one from Vessel Finder:

It was so lovely to have some bits of blue sky again and gentler winds for the pretty trip north, not warm enough to be on the flybridge but still rather nice:

The boat was behaving well following the out of the water maintenance work as was the new little push button switch on the flybridge throttle/gear controller. An engine check underway, tea and scones, all was well on board:

The (as usual) pretty empty inner arm of the breakwater at Holy Loch was our destination. We wanted to go there to allow us to meet friends who live locally the next day. The marina had been taken over by a group last year (Tingdene) and the expected proliferation of health and safety measures were visible, one big sign and some seriously refurbished facilities. Apart from that not many changes were obvious but the reports from a couple of on-site companies were not at all positive. If we come back it will be interesting to see what is left!

The afternoon of our arrival was good with a cycle trip into Dunoon enduring one heavy shower on the way, a quick coffee stop and then a food top up in Morrisons before cycling back

We had a lovely day visit from Sheila, Niall and Penny the cavapoo. We wanted a picture of Penny for you and unfortunately the only one we got included a less than flattering image of Sheila in the background too. Sorry Sheila:

She'd had no alcohol or mind altering substances that we were aware of, just one of those bad camera moments.  The showery weather continued and Niall had a lovely soaking collecting Penny's bag from their car. We were impressed with the outdoor shop at the marina, a great range of dog food, treats, accessories. Penny did well with a bag of food. We were tempted to some well priced venison that is locally sourced but our freezer was very full so....

The weather cleared up for the evening and the views to the head of the loch improved a lot:

All pretty good really.