Kilmelford to Lochaline and gala time

We wanted to take the tide with us up to Lochaline, but knowing how busy the whirlpool areas can be, we thought that getting through there before the peak stream was a good move.  So, it was a 7am (ish) start. A nice calm morning, we slipped the two lines securing us to the buoy and headed out. You could tell that we hadn't done the usual thing of running the genset to do the heavy lifting - starting to recharge the domestic batteries:

Instead as you can see, the big alternator was churning out 157 amps (which at 24v is a lot of power) and stuffing 62 of that into recharging the domestic battery bank. We try to give it an easier time but that load didn't warm the alternator up too much. So glad we were in colder climes!

The weather was kind - grey but with a very gentle wind strength:

a huge 2.8 knots. We ran the engine a bit slower than normal to fit with the tide timings and enjoyed the trip. Our route ignored the shorter but rather rocky and twisty route through Seil sound, and took the "chicken's route" via the larger Sound of Luing. Interestingly, Robert and Deborah who have used that short cut once in their yacht reported it as "done that, not again". A prior N47 owner had advised us that it wasn't Nordhavn friendly too.

As you head up the sound between the islands of Luing and Lunga, there is one narrow shallow area and of course some nice fisherman had laid a string of three pots right in the middle of it where everyone needs to navigate. We used a few choice words. The route then pops out from the shelter of the islands, has a brief bit exposed to the Atlantic properly then runs around the coast of the island of Mull:

As we approached Mull, we had to slow down a bit more to let this little coaster get ahead of us:

although a local fishing boat (no AIS of course)  that was dropping and collecting pots just stayed doggedly in the way so the coaster had to divert a bit. The captain was impressed (?????)  with the seamanship shown by the fishermen and wondered if they had been responsible for the pot marker infestation earlier.

As you enter the Sound of Mull, you pass the famous Duart castle:

and then get to an area with a few rocky shallow bits. Naturally as we approached it there was lots of other traffic converging on the pinch point caused by the rocky area:

including the ferry,  Isle of Lewis:

looking very at home in these waters. We slowly headed into Loch Aline as the entrance isn't too deep and parked ourselves on a free hammerhead berth (one of the two). We wanted to be "connected" to the shore and facilities this time. After a clean up and a good chat to the harbour office man who explained that it was the Lochaline gala week, we  returned to the boat to wash off the RIB, flush the engine through with fresh water and cover it up in advance of the promised overnight rain.

Suddenly, a Nordhavn convention seemed to be in the offing. A new N41 arrived, the first one we've seen in the flesh (or should that be GRP?) Clive the owner came and introduced himself, bemoaned the fact that the White House restaurant was not going to be open that evening and asked how well stocked the local store was. We reassured him that he would not starve.

So,  that is what a N41 looks like, rather different to our old N47 in the background but the hull colour is at least familiar. Very different concept too, have a look at Nordhavn website link for more information. We were not at all tempted.

We went for a wander down to the old pier, having decided that the local gala offering of joining in with the gymnastics was a bit beyond us and the junior disco would certainly not let us in. The evening bingo session didn't tempt us either.  It looked as though someone had been around the area collecting dumped old cars and piling them up on this (also rather old) trailer. It didn't add to the visual appeal of the area and we wondered how long before an artic tractor unit would arrive to pull it away:

We wandered around the local shop, looking for dinnertime inspiration and there was plenty we have to say. Heading back, past the sand quarry we spotted the same sad yacht that seems to be a fixture now:

The last couple of images might make you think that Lochaline is a scruffy dumping  ground - far from it, they just clash with the generally tidy little village.

On Wednesday, the gala events were waterborne. We enjoyed watching the raft race, the brave folks who swam across the loch and people generally having fun afloat. Plenty of locals and visitors about, lots of interesting folks to chat with and the new Oban lifeboat was in attendance. The coxswain told us about how they had been busy doing medical evacuations from the Isle of Mull because the local GP run hospital was short of doctors and so people who really were not in need of "bigger mainland hospital" attention were being shipped over by lifeboat just so the GPs could have a night off and run their normal surgeries the next day. Island life.  Apparently they are better staffed now.

The helm position on the Shannon lifeboat looks impressive:

with the waterjet controls and plenty of buttons to amuse, not to mention the lifeboat bear on lookout duty.  The crew used to have a Trent class boat, more "traditional" but they reported that the new boat works really well in their area of operation. As they left we had a full on demonstration of what a waterjet powered boat can do with crash stops and turns. They had a fun day (and the crew got the last venison burgers at the BBQ, although the beef ones were excellent too).

Deciding that we needed some exercise, we walked up to the Ardtornish estate, had an ice-cream and did the pretty lochside walk back. All in all, a good day despite not joining the quiz night in the local hall, proper party poopers.

Maintenance News:

Well, there isn't any, unless you class pumping some diesel into the supply tank from the big storage tanks as maintenance. That is stretching things though, as we do that whilst underway on longer trips quite frequently.