Ardfern, both damp and dry, then to Craobh

Oh boy did it rain on Saturday night. A great "welcome back" to Scotland. Actually the rain was fine. The black goo that it brought which was deposited in lumps / streaks over the boat was less welcome. So, Sunday was spent washing off the goo in company with many other berth holders here who were also afflicted. Kind of the nautical equivalent of dads washing their cars on the drive every Sunday and chatting to their neighbours. Only a Nordhavn takes longer to wash than the average car....

At least the sun came out again so we could enjoy the views here which are wonderful. We remembered what life in Scotland is like too - people in tiny summer dresses and shorts even though it was not that warm. Here, you take every opportunity you get when the sun is out. Remember the Billy Connolly line "we Scots start out blue and go white in the sun".

A RIB trip up the Loch and around some of the islands was a reward later on though. A chance to play hooligan in the RIB and enjoy bouncing over some little waves too. When you have a slow boat you need a fast dinghy to cut loose in occasionally. Might well need an osteopath now but of course there isn't one for miles!

Monday was a really wet day. Crew didn't even go ashore. The good bit was that one of the engineers from Ardfern came over and realigned the main engine propshaft for us (see recent post). Pretty much as expected, in the 150 hours or so since the mounts were replaced, the rear gearbox ones have squashed up a fair bit with the torque and weight, meaning realignment was needed.

We did call the folks who were so kind to us last year at Kilmelford but their main engineer man was on vacation - sorry David, lost a few hours labour sale there.

Of course, we had to try out the local shop again and the men with the dodgy teeth still seem to be running it. The depth of stock hasn't changed though, 3 of everything on the shelves.

A short but stunning trip to Craobh showed that the shaft realignment was successful. This little run (only about 13 miles) is through such beautiful and changing scenes that a camera cannot do justice to. It takes you through the Dorus Mor and passes Corryvreckan - we commented on this area in our blog last year. A typical view down Loch Craignish heading for the Dorus Mor:

You get lots of whirlpools around here because there are dramatic depth changes and with strong winds it can be very rough. Here is a link to a video example Dorus Mor whirlpools

Of course, the really rough stuff is in the Corryvreckan. This Clip of Oban llifeboat being swirled around is worth watching and remember that he has about 1700 horsepower to call upon to help hold him steady. We have 174.....

Today was dead calm as we went through at slack water on purpose. Boring, aren't we..... (but there are great mountain views in the background to enjoy even if we didn't have a roller coaster ride:

Off Craobh the fish farms that we commented on last year seem to be multiplying and becoming bigger too. Here are the boats tending to one of them that we passed:

All the previous comments about "might be needed for the economy but spoiling the beautiful Loch scenery" are still valid. If the documents on fish diseases are to be believed, the farms have many issues of their own to contend with too.

Entering Craobh (we didn't want to anchor off as tomorrow is promised to be very wet with F7 winds) you get to admire the Nordhavn 63 Due North which lives here:

See, we do have a small Nordhavn. However, the others that were berthed here last year have vanished. Some off cruising, some having been sold or en route to the south coast to be sold. Less of a Nordhavn ghetto now although we learned that a seriously big one is arriving tomorrow.

The walks around the 3 islands that were linked to form the sheltered harbour are beautiful with glimpses of mountain, water and wildlife everywhere you go. An example:

Apparently, as soon as we started heading for Scotland our email spellchecker realised this. In an email to Andrew (yup, the Welsh one) talking about tides, it changed neaps to neeps. So, he suggested that spring tides should become tattie tides. Maybe we will use this nomenclature in future whilst in Scottish waters to show support for all things local, the SNP etc etc. (For confused foreign readers, look at Neeps and Tatties recipe which will explain this staple food. Of course, you have to eat it with haggis - the captain remembers a couple of Burns night events whilst living in Edinburgh very fondly albeit through a haze of some sort....)

Finally, the local trip boat had a sign up offering "Champagne and canapy" trips. So, did they mean Canapes which would be a rather up market evening event or did they mean canopy which might be more useful to keep the rain out of your glass of fizzy stuff? We might never know but the spelling intrigued us.