Salening and Tobermorying

Salen was a most chilled spot. We were forced to drink gin on board Great Escape, chatted to Jan (who runs the jetty) and walked around the bay:

and through the nearby forest area - suitably smothered in Smidge just in case the little biting guys were out and about on a nice still day. Luckily, they were not. On the way back we spotted Robert and Deborah sitting in the window of the local hotel and we were shocked to see that they were imbibing tea. Some folks can still amaze us, even at our advanced age.

Salen is quite a happening spot really, one bus a day to Fort William and it has a village hall too:

which might not be the poshest ever but at least it exists. We were happily fed on board the pristine Great Escape, then we reciprocated in our slightly scruffy Nordhavn. Something must have gone wrong as they decamped to a buoy mooring the following morning to avoid us:

They made up some feeble excuse about "being pinned onto the pontoon by the F7 gusts that were coming up so it would be better out there". OK, message received. 

After surviving two blowy and showery days, we figured that we should take advantage of the next nice one and leave Salen, despite it being a lovely spot run by lovely folks with a brilliant little local shop at the end of the slipway. So, after some not very careful consideration, we figured that having access to a bigger food shop would be useful and we wanted somewhere to shelter from the next incoming weather front. A couple of nights in Tobermory seemed to be the answer.

On the morning of our departure, Robert and Deborah returned to the jetty area. No comment. We fed them coffee then were treated to a video of our departure which Robert made for his father who loves all things John Deere. Apparently that includes our main engine. We share it so you can enjoy his excellent commentary and the sight of their tea-towels drying on the rail in the foreground:

Heading down Loch Sunart it was nicer and brighter than this phone picture suggests:

Once more, our AIS signals were not picked up until we were well into the trip. You can see Salen on the right hand side of the picture and where our track starts, just off Oronsay island:

We slotted into the same spot that we had used a few weeks ago, just ahead of a dive boat who seemed to like leaving his rather smoky engine ticking over. Lunch was partaken with the doors closed despite the nice weather.

When in Tobermory, you have  to brave the hill and stagger up to the arts centre for the best coffee and cake going. We saw that it had won an award as the best Scottish Island cafe. Fully support that. Even better, the coach tourist types do not force themselves up the hill so whilst the coffee stops down by the water were busy, we had plenty of space for covid viruses to disperse in the arts centre. Another benefit is that you get nice views from up there:

The only drawback was that during one visit, they had run out of coffee beans!! Filter stuff only. Apparently they had ordered the stuff from Oban 2 weeks ago and were still waiting for the delivery.  We could have popped over in the boat for them way quicker than that.

As the weather continued to be grim (a local coastguard lady who has lived on Mull most of her life said that she could not recall a "summer" like it) and the rain / wind kept on coming, we were amused to see that life back in Penarth was not simple either:

Just for very different reasons it seems.

We did manage a muddy walk around to the little lighthouse and this time we had the phone with us so you get to enjoy both the lighthouse:

and the local Calmac Ferry that goes across to Kilchoan on the mainland:

That evening, the pontoon was awash with most serious craft. Well, not awash, bad use of the word perhaps. "Delighted to host" is perhaps a better phrase:

The orange things (there were two rafted up) are old around the world race boats. The grey strange looking craft astern is an FPB - serious cruising job that has already covered many many sea miles in all sorts of hostile places and can now be chartered (see Grey Wolf website ). We actually had a look around the original and smaller Grey Wolf when she was for sale at Berthon in Lymington. Quite a craft. Then the pretty MFV is the one that we also saw in Lochboisdale, South Uist. Just stunning. Proper craft, but a maintenance nightmare we guess. Still, a thing of real beauty and purpose. The pontoon attracted lots of gawping folks who came to see the assembled ocean going (well, ocean capable!) craft.

Maintenance news:

During a soggy period at Salen the captain decided to do the regular check of the 240v connections around the boat. AC connectors tend to loosen over time, and a couple inside the generator could be tweaked a little:

You can see how the Northern Lights genset uses simple relays and fuses to make maintenance easier. The external 240v connections didn't get touched thanks to the rain - still on the "to do" list.

The genset exhaust got checked too - another fuzzy picture of the underneath to check for signs of corrosion / heat damage. All was well:

Just to round off the fun, the 12v communications battery was given an equalising charge to see if it could perk up a little. It is an original 2007 Lifeline AGM battery so it has done very well but was showing signs of reduced capacity so we will see if this helps. If not then it is only fair to swap it out over the winter and give it a rest in a reclamation yard somewhere.