Kilmelford to Port Ellen (Islay)

The forecast just kept on getting worse somehow. The “window” of sun and light winds that was promised from Tuesday to Friday became a very small one with a little less sun and a lot more wind. Still, it was way better than the weekend – see the last post! So, we wandered into the office, had a chat with David the owner and paid for our berthing then headed off into Loch Melfort. Looking back to the Kilmelford area in the sun was great – we’d had such lovely surroundings for the past few days no matter what the weather did to try and disturb things:

Today was a NW 4 to 6 but we were well sheltered by the various islands en route to Port Ellen. A nice blue sky and puffy clouds to enjoy as we were heading down the sound of Jura. Passing the infamous Corryvreckan, it looked nice and turbulent – then we heard on the radio a yacht calling a trip boat to say there were swimmers in the water! Brave or stupid or??

The crew did a little helming, with Patrick on lookout duty:

Both of them seem to adopt a very hands off approach to helming, perhaps based on the theory that the Furuno kit and the Simrad autopilot know best. That is often a good theory.

Patrick enjoyed seeing Jura as every time we had made this run before it was either foggy or rainy. Also we were on the west side of the sound for a change, close in to Jura itself and so there were some nice new views to enjoy:

Our initial plan was to anchor in Craighouse if possible and if not to continue down to Port Ellen (Islay). The wind was pretty brisk and the Craighouse anchorage looked very exposed. The mooring buoys are not chunky enough for us and as the holding there is reported to be poor (sand and weed) we opted to continue south. Passing the sound of Islay (runs between Islay and Jura) the usual Calmac ferry managed to pop out just as we were in the middle of the channel. We quite clearly act as a magnet for them. Luckily this one turned astern of us and for once we didn't need a course alteration. 

The trip down the coast of Islay is a treat for the alcoholics amongst us. You just cruise past distillery after distillery. The first was Jura - as you can see we stayed a reasonable distance off to avoid temptation (and the rocks....)

After that, Ardbeg:

They like white buildings with their name written on the outside. Then we were treated to Lagavulin:

By now, thirst was getting the better of us and so the kettle was duly put on. A nice freshening wind as we headed into Port Ellen was ideal. The only possible berthing spot for us would be the hammerhead of the local pontoons and of course there was a yacht on there so we anchored in the bay instead. The crew got a touch chilly out on the foredeck whilst we got suitably secured in about 8 metres of water. Nice spot though but it would be horrible in the more normal south westerly winds as it is very exposed to any swell. Of course, the distillery thing was still evident- Port Ellen Maltings were busy:

Despite all the temptation, not a drop of alcohol passed our lips all day. Such self control (or stupidity?)

Continuing our lighthouse theme, here is the rather functional (ugly) version on the west side of the bay approaching Port Ellen:

Guess what, our evening was only disturbed by Calmac, yet again. The wash from the evening ferry meant a bit of disturbance for a little while - we hadn't put the "flopper stopper" out to dampen the roll as it was all OK when Finlaggan was tied up:

The evening forecast confirmed that the weather window had shrunk even further and that there would be a breezy SW'ly wind coming, not at all good for our anchorage. So tomorrow we will hit somewhere in Northern Ireland - hopefully Ballycastle