Loch Aline to Tobermory

Since there was some biblical rain forecast and plenty of wind in a direction that Loch Aline is less sheltered from, we opted to hide in Tobermory for a few days to let it pass. You want to leave Loch Aline around low water to take the best of the tidal help up the sound of Mull and to Tobermory. However getting out at low water when it is near to spring tides is not ideal. So, we waited for a reasonable depth before heading off, still expecting some rocket assistance.

Chatting to the lady working in the community harbour office, we found that she was a violin maker, originally from Austrailia, and her husband a double bass player in orchestras. They moved to the area when covid lockdowns killed the live music business and she now does three different jobs and picks up other bits of work in the snack bar by the ferry, cleaning rental houses etc.  Some serious lifestyle adjustments that we don't really get exposed to having stopped work before covid kicked off.

Leaving the berth, we managed to time it badly as the CalMac ferry was approaching so we did a strange pirouette to wait for it to berth:

We say "it" not "she" as the ferry is not the prettiest of craft. Here it is alongside the pier in Lochaline as we went past:

There was a strong incoming current so we needed plenty of rpm to keep the boat on course through the entrance and to avoid being pushed into the very shallow bits. Heading up to Tobermory is easy enough:

only 12 miles or so, the isle of Mull is on the southern side of our track and mainland above it. Mainland is a bit of a misnomer really, it is gently attached to the rest of the country but the trip to Lochaline by road from Fort William, the nearest bigger town, takes an hour and a quarter driving on little mainly single track roads and also involves a ferry crossing. 

Leaving Loch Aline, there is a timber quay just to the west of the entrance and each time we've been past it seems that they are loading a ship. This was no exception:

Heading along the sound we had our first dolphin sighting of the cruising year. Normally plenty come to play in our bow wave in the Bristol channel but not this year. So, we saw one very big solitary dolphin who headed directly towards us then dived under the boat. No playing in the bow wave, he/she was a dophin on a mission it seemed.

The tidal help really got going in the narrower bits of the sound as you can see:

10.5 knots over the ground is flying for us. Please ignore the reported "9.55" speed through the water - it is wrong, the captain was playing with the calibration of the little log paddle wheel, we were actually doing something like 6.7 knots through the water. We travelled at a slightly faster cruise rpm than normal (1650) to take full advantage of the tide before it turned and also to get to Tobermory before 5pm just in case the spot we had been allocated on the phone had been stolen by someone else. The harbour staff go home at 5pm and anchoring there is not great, all the best spots have mooring buoys installed now and bar 4 of them they are too small to take our lardy boat. Naturally yotties with smaller craft don't care about the "max weight" shown on the buoy and will pick up the large ones and leave the little ones empty...... 

We arrived as the wind picked up big time but berthing was fine, here is the view from our boat deck of the colourful town:

We are planning to settle in for a few days, do the nice walks in the area between showers and raid the local Co-op (the main food store on Mull). The crew was delighted about being on the "commercial pontoon" as it has 32 amp power sockets. Way easier when using the oven. Homemade bread and cake may lie in our future.