Bute to Troon to Campbeltown

We left Bute in lovely calm conditions, just grey and gloomy. Scottish summer had been restored.

The run down to Troon took around 4 hours in very calm conditions but with the nice grey tint to everything around us. Here is the tint applied to the little lighthouse on Little Cumbrae island:

and now to the Calmac ferry leaving Ardrossan:

Smart ferry, leaving Ardrossan is the best thing to do there (unless you want some Asda shopping).

We arrived in Troon just as the rain started. Great timing. It was just after low water too and there is not lots to spare as you nose into the marina area. Our Troon time was spent raiding Morrisons for all the things you cannot get in a little Co-op shop, wandering around the seafront in some lovely sunny periods and generally relaxing. The plan was to head for Campbeltown, departing around breakfast time so we could arrive just after lunch (34 nautical miles or so) and use it as a jumping off spot for a trip around the Mull of Kintyre where you need sensible weather and proper timing for the tides.

Guess what, as we headed off, it started raining. Kind of a theme building here. The trip is simple enough:

the views were not that great, in fact as the drizzle set in and the cloud / murk got thicker, it became a workout for the radar:

Plenty of fishing vessels plying up and down, very little leisure traffic about. The murk cleared as we passed Pladda (island off the southern trip of Arran) - we think it did so just to let us add another lighthouse picture for your enjoyment (or boredom):

Then it was radar back on until about 2 miles off Campbeltown Loch entrance. Davarr island, on the south of the loch entrance, has a little lighthouse too so this grey image of it is because we felt we had to:

As we approached the mooring pontoon we saw that there was space on the end of it - probably because we had seen 4 yachts departing as we headed in. Perfect timing! Callum the every friendly and helpful moorings man came to assist with the lines and told us about how the plastic navy behaved when they beat us to the place a while ago. So glad we were not in here with them....

An old fishing trawler made us think about what owners do to scrap them. This old girl looked very sad:

Love the squashed car tyre hanging as a token fender. Close up, she has other issues:

Quite a restoration project if anyone fancies turning her into a liveaboard cruiser... According to the harbour man (the great guy called Callum) she has been laid up for over 2 years now, her licence (and hence quota) has been sold but it could cost up to £20K to have her cut up and disposed of. Quite some bonfire.