Tarbert to Campbeltown

The crew's back had recovered suitably so we thought that we would venture a little trip out. Although Lochranza was very tempting (gentle winds from the SE so perfectly sheltered), the thought of getting the crew into the dinghy and ashore for little walks was not so good. In the interests of a continued recovery, we opted for Campbletown.

The ever helpful Callum (the moorings man there) said that they would have some space for us and that he would "put out the cones". Made us feel very important indeed.

A simple little trip, heading back down the Kintyre peninsular:

Although Tarbert looks a bit overcast as we left:

there was a slightly less grey cloudbank in the other direction:

The sun came out and we were (shock, horror) too hot on the flybridge. A first this year but a welcome one. The lack of wind contributed to this as you can see:

A whole 1.6 knots to contend with initially. Wild conditions out there as you can imagine. As the sky cleared a little so it got warmer but the normal cloudbank over the Isle of Arran's mountains continued to add a more threatening look to the place:

This time we didn't have to wait for the little ferry and we saw only one other yacht heading north. Guess what - under engine. As we approached the south end of Arran, so the Ailsa Craig "lump" was way more visible than it had been on the way up when it made only a fleeting appearance through the mist and murk:

Heading into Campbeltown loch, the wind freshened to a whole 16 knots. Yes, it was a wild day. The little lighthouse in Davaar island beckons you in:

and sure enough, we had a coned off area to berth in, just astern of the lifeboat which was temporarily using the pontoon whilst she had some improvements to her quay area. Again, quite reassuring. Until she started up the next evening to go out on a practice and we were gassed out for a few minutes that is. Those big diesels do like to smoke when cold. It struck us that at current fuel prices, our monthly RNLI subscription was probably burnt up before they left the mooring and they kindly delivered most of it to us in fumes! This was our view aft:

The crew continued to recover so we ventured out for slightly longer walks each day. The area around the loch is so pretty:

it is just a shame that a panorama picture doesn't do it justice. Less pretty was the sight of a dead gannet washed up on the shore:

We were told by the locals that avian flu seems to be busy killing off the smaller birds but that they are worried about the gannet population as they survive longer with the disease and hence have longer to spread it too. They are expecting more deaths amongst the larger seabirds as the summer draws to a close. Our callous views was, once more, shame it wasn't one of the massive seagull population instead. The locals are also very fed up with tourists who seem to insist on feeding the pesky things despite the signs saying they are pests.

The walk around the eastern side of the loch goes past one house that we always thought would be a "possibility" if we needed to live in the area. Up high, south west facing so it would get whatever sun was around and lovely views too:

A proper old stone built place. On second thoughts, the heating bills would be truly astronomical, maybe we stick to our little modern box in Hythe Marina.

There were only two downsides to our time in Campbeltown. The first was a charter yacht that arrived at 3am and rafted against us. That was a rude awakening, out to help with lines and decent sized fenders rather than the feeble little things they had. Nice folks but not a nice time. They stayed all of 6 hours before heading off again. The second downer was a repeat visit to the Fresh Connection cafe come shop. We'd been before, a few years ago and remembered it fondly. We saw how it was always busy compared to other places in town so when a table was free we happily grabbed it. Cake? Oh dear, back to the days of traybakes and a Victoria sponge.  Coffee - oh dear, nothing like last time. So, that visit will be the final one.

We were cheered up seeing this motorsailer in Campbeltown though:

We will never think that our waterline is a bit messy again. This one was so bad it had mussels growing in there too.