The very very lovely Kyles of Bute and into Tarbert

We had waited for a nice day to head through one of our favourite areas inside the Firth of Clyde area. Yes, a very pretty trundle through the Kyles of Bute, around the top of the island of Bute. We left Rhu at a very civilised time and enjoyed a flybridge trip all the way. Why go to Tarbert? Well, that was to meet up with Sheila, Niall and Penny the doglet again. Also because Tarbert is a lovely little harbour.

The route is a bit zig-zag like:

It was rather nice to see some sun, blue sky and flags that were not extended to full stretch as we headed off:

You can see that Rhu marina isn't exactly full despite being a friendly place. The vast local gull population made the most of the empty pontoon space and our boat. Lots of bits of broken mussel shell and some delightfully large heaps of poo were left as mementos. We felt so blessed.

Heading down the estuary towards our first "right hand turn" we managed to avoid altering course for the busy Western Ferries who, for the first time in ages, managed to pass ahead of us in their rather striking red livery:

Not the prettiest of craft it must be admitted. Then the fast passenger ferry that goes across to Dunoon added to the fun:

The only disturbance it caused us was from its wake fortunately. 

Just before we "hung a right" at Toward point, this odd looking military thing was stooging around in a very strange manner, seemingly doing some navigation practice:

We'd learned a bit about these craft from the guys who service the Yanmar engines in them. Apparently the V8 diesels are so inaccessible that they have to physically remove the engine for even the most normal service work. A job that should take a half day or so actually needs three days instead as the helm area has to be dismantled, the engine separated from all the various cables and pipes and drive gear and then craned out into the workshop. Of course, we are paying for that appalling design via our taxes which makes us wonder who signed off the design and how they sleep at night.

Much prettier than that nautical Frankenstein thing is the Toward point lighthouse area:

After hanging that right (very nautical term indeed),  the scenery as you head into the Kyles proper gets better and better. It starts with this odd castle like place on the shore:

and then the Kyles of Bute open up (really the banks close in but the English phrase of open up is so descriptive and elegant) as the scenery just gets better and better:

We have to add that the railing on our flybridge screen is not at all bent nor did we take the picture when high on substances. Mr Samsung's panorama setting does give some mind altering perspectives for free. The weather was actually kinder and warmer than the image suggests - in fact we had our first trip of the season that was spent fully on the flybridge. The crew even complained about being too hot when the sun was avoiding the bimini cover and catching us directly. Yes, too hot in Scotland in June. Unheard of but rather nice really.

Lars and Birgit, on board their sparkly Azimut power boat Reboot were heading the other way , from Tarbert to Rhu (yes, we took it personally) which enabled a great photo opportunity. Here is their shiny craft in some of the dramatic scenery:

and now a better image of the boat and crew:

They reciprocated on the photo front:

and we reciprocated on the waving front too.  Great to get some pictures of the boats underway for a change. We passed the rather large ferry that does the tiny trip across to Bute from the mainland as it was loading up on the island:

and then threaded through the narrow channel at the Burnt Isles:

and down the other side of Bute, admiring Tighnabruaich on the way:

As you head further south you get to see the mountains on Arran peeping above the mainland in a semi-threatening way:

Entering Loch Fyne, we were just too late to wave at Robert and Deborah on their yacht who were heading around the isle of Arran to Lochranza. Apparently they saw us briefly but a Nordhavn is perhaps a little more distinctive than a white hulled yacht with white sails.

The little island near Portavadie has a very sad looking little light tower on it:

which is actually more upright than this picture suggests. Worrying as we'd only been drinking tea all day.  Entering Tarbert is always pretty:

and we happily berthed on the allocated hammerhead:

A lovely flybridge trip of just under 5 gentle hours underway. If only every voyage was like that one. We'd planned to spend 4 nights there as we had arranged a small but very welcome invasion. More to follow.

Maintenance News:

Not a lot really. The boat ran happily, the stern gland was dripping appropriately, the electronics did their lekky things properly and we didn't hit anything on the way. The tap that delivers nice filtered water had started to drip a bit through the seal when turned on though. A trick it had developed a while ago, then forgotten, but now seems to have remembered. We wish it had Alzheimer's.

Holy Loch to Rhu then a bit of Glasgow as well

We had one of "those" decisions to make. The forecast for the next 4 days or so was less than tempting. Rain and a fair amount of wind too. Should we hunker down in Holy Loch and maybe go big and take the bus into the gently decaying town of Dunoon from time to time to avoid a soaking doing it by foot? Or should we go over to Rhu, and do the same bus thing into Helensburgh  instead with the option of a train into Glasgow.  Or go and anchor up somewhere sheltered and listen to the rain and wind outside.

Well, the attractions of the big city plus the fact that Rhu berthing was for free (another Boatfolk marina) tempted us. We are so shallow. A quick decision was made during the morning, a quick prep for departure and a gentle little trip over to Rhu followed:

Not a terribly long one but enjoyable all the same. We'd been allocated a nice hammerhead berth, one that was better sheltered from the strong winds that were forecast for the next couple of days. We ambled into the marina, spun the boat around and nudged against the pontoon with a small army of folks watching from their yachts and gulls from the pontoons. It was a matter of pride not to use the thrusters whilst being observed of course - luckily that worked out.

In the office we had to pay the huge sum of £10 to cover 4 nights use of the shorepower. Even though it was only a 16 amps supply, the price still felt like a bargain to us. We had some washing to do after all.... The berthing master was one we recognised from before, very friendly and helpful. He recommended that we go to Dino's ice-cream parlour in Helensburgh. It felt a little chilly for that so after we had walked into town (40 minutes or so) we found a coffee instead. Dino's is still on our "got to try it sometime" list. Apparently it was part of a triumvirate of competing Italian ice-cream businesses who were linked by the local ferries. We really did not want to end up in the middle of a mafia backed ice-cream war. We were not tooled up or ready to die for a 2 scoop tub, no matter how good it might be.

The following day, after the ritual morning rain shower had abated, we ventured into the on-site café place. We'd been in before and had some good cake and chat with the owner. This time the coffee was less than average and the owner had turned from banter to full on grumpy mood. The place is off the list now:

Kind of a shame. The cake was still good.

We had one idea in mind, that was to revisit the restaurant in Glasgow that we rather like, Number 16 on Byers Road. So, we got the local bus into Helensburgh, the train to Glasgow Queen Street then hid in some shops until the rain eased up a bit. Yes, it was one of those typical summer days. We took the subway to Kelvinhall and then managed the 2 minute walk to the restaurant:

It nestles in an area full of take-aways (carry-outs for the Scottish readers and those of us that used to stay (=live) in Edinburgh many years ago). The building way undersells the food. The lunchtime deal was excellent, some great flavours and textures. We left slightly poorer but very very happy.

On a dry afternoon, we wanted to revisit Hill House, the very different Charles Rennie Mackintosh designed house in Upper Helensburgh. A bus into town, then a 30 minute slog up the hill on foot to reach the building clothed in the protective metal framework:

that is part of the National Trust's preservation work. When built it had a concrete render, a new approach in the early 1900's. Unfortunately, when the render cracked it just held the water against the brickwork and caused all sorts of leaks and damp problems inside the house. The render has been stripped off to let the place dry out:

and they are now investigating how best to re-cover in an original style but properly weatherproof. 

No matter, the inside is really something. He and his wife were part of the "Glasgow four" and very avant-garde for the time. They designed the building and the interior down to the smallest details:

with some very striking light fittings too:

Worth reading about Mackintosh via this wikipedia link. Also worth visiting Hill House as they do a mean line in coffee and scones to fortify you after the slog up the hill from town. Rolling back down was way easier somehow. 

Despite the best efforts of the wind and rain showers to disrupt our time in Rhu, we actually enjoyed it. We certainly got our £10 worth of electrical power, the washing machine and tumble dryer were busy catching up with things. We also had a first for us - a food delivery from Mr Morrison. It was way too soggy to cycle to the store, which is the other side of  Helensburgh, and bring back supplies. So, they did it for us. With that we were all prepared for moving on to locations without "proper big" supermarkets.

Escaping Largs - only to Holy Loch though

The Fife yachts had offered plenty of amusement and admiration before they departed for the next stage of their racing. They were delayed by a day thanks to some unseasonably blowy but seasonally wet weather. We had the pleasure of seeing Chico pottering in and out of the marina area:

A 1932 built vessel with serious history. She was a Dunkirk little ship that is available for charter, have a look at Chico website link for more information on her including her time owned by Sir Malcolm Campbell, the speed record guy. Sadly her hull planking looks a bit queer now, obvious signs of it pulling apart with plenty of caulking in place. The annual maintenance tasks must be daunting, we know how much is needed for a GRP boat let alone an elderly wooden one. What the picture cannot give you is the wonderful noise of the two Gardner diesel engines installed in her. Proper piece of history, we hope the owners can keep her going.

So, once the weather had calmed down, we decided that it was time to escape the charms of Largs and venture further. Not that much further really, just up to Holy Loch:

That boring copy of the track from Marine Traffic is rather outshone by this one from Vessel Finder:

It was so lovely to have some bits of blue sky again and gentler winds for the pretty trip north, not warm enough to be on the flybridge but still rather nice:

The boat was behaving well following the out of the water maintenance work as was the new little push button switch on the flybridge throttle/gear controller. An engine check underway, tea and scones, all was well on board:

The (as usual) pretty empty inner arm of the breakwater at Holy Loch was our destination. We wanted to go there to allow us to meet friends who live locally the next day. The marina had been taken over by a group last year (Tingdene) and the expected proliferation of health and safety measures were visible, one big sign and some seriously refurbished facilities. Apart from that not many changes were obvious but the reports from a couple of on-site companies were not at all positive. If we come back it will be interesting to see what is left!

The afternoon of our arrival was good with a cycle trip into Dunoon enduring one heavy shower on the way, a quick coffee stop and then a food top up in Morrisons before cycling back

We had a lovely day visit from Sheila, Niall and Penny the cavapoo. We wanted a picture of Penny for you and unfortunately the only one we got included a less than flattering image of Sheila in the background too. Sorry Sheila:

She'd had no alcohol or mind altering substances that we were aware of, just one of those bad camera moments.  The showery weather continued and Niall had a lovely soaking collecting Penny's bag from their car. We were impressed with the outdoor shop at the marina, a great range of dog food, treats, accessories. Penny did well with a bag of food. We were tempted to some well priced venison that is locally sourced but our freezer was very full so....

The weather cleared up for the evening and the views to the head of the loch improved a lot:

All pretty good really. 

Doing Largs, being sociable and a bit of fixing stuff

Being afloat again was pretty wonderful. Scrubbing the grot off the decks that gets ground in during the time ashore and by the hoist crew on relaunch was less amusing but had to be done.

We walked into Largs a couple of times and were intrigued by this place:

It is the least monastery looking monastery we've ever seen. It looks much more like an old "down on its' luck" hotel building. It is home to some nuns and offers accommodation and a tea room too. Intriguing but not intriguing enough to venture in for coffee.

Largs is an honest old style seaside town and we kind of like it. A nice path along the waterside into town, a good spot for coffee and cake and plenty of interesting visitors wombling about to amuse us. During our stay we had dinner with Lars and Birgit in the marina restaurant and then said bye to them as they headed off to wet their new Rocna anchor again.

We mentioned in an earlier post that it was hard to get a berth there around the lift out. That was because of the "Fifers" regatta going on. The marina was gently filling up with loads of old timber yachts that had been fettled to within an inch of perfection:

What else occupied and amused us? Well, we had a visit from Neil (the owner of Iolair, the berth we were using) and his better half Sarah. They brought along Barney, known as Barney bin Laden. He looks such an innocuous chap:

and indeed was very happy to enjoy lots of cuddles, attention and took great delight in trashing one of Izzy's old toys when on board. We went to the restaurant in the marina, Scotts, for an early supper and Barney was fine until a black dog walked past our table. He was off, a snarling ball of aggression who clearly hadn't figured out that the object of his loathing was a Rottweiler. Luckily a very docile one as the grip on his lead wasn't enough to stop him launching himself across the restaurant to get a grip on the interloper. Neil and Sarah retrieved him and he was as good as gold again, totally ignoring that dog when it walked past on the way out. We see how he got his name.

As the weather was dry(ish) we used the bikes quite a lot for trips into Largs, some shopping and a venture south to Fairlie and then up to Kelburn Castle, only to raid the tea shop though. The Bikemap app suggested a route that avoided the main road. Well, it avoided all roads it seemed and the gravel track ended up at a locked gate. Perhaps they do that to make you pay for the full version of the app? We had to return to the road. Good job we have the G line Brompton bikes that are amazingly capable off road. We would have been carrying the original 16 inch wheel ones that we had before. Interesting place though, have a look at Kelburn weblink for some images of the place and the strangely decorated part of the castle.

Maintenance News:

The misbehaving stern thruster was irritating. It made a nice scream when operated and as it was straight after the relaunch, the guess was trapped air in the tunnel that it runs in. There is a vent pipe with a little valve setup to allow the trapped air to escape but perhaps that was blocked? So, we took the pipe off the bottom of the valve and witnessed one huge burp:

Re-assembled and the thruster tested, all was well. The stern thruster seems to be human-like, way happier after a good burp. We need to take that valve apart sometime to see why it is jammed or just replace it with a ball valve. The pipe finally vents at the top of the transom.

Troon to Largs and getting lifted

 We enjoyed some truly wonderful weather in Troon. Lovely sunsets:

and warm but not hot days, unlike the temperatures being endured on the south coast. We dug out the folding bikes and went north to Irvine a couple of times. The cycle track goes through a very lovely nature reserve and their "clear up after your dog" notice amused and pleased us:

Some food shopping was completed and a good lunch out at GRO Coffee sitting in their garden area. The place is amazingly popular. Big weekend queues, Have a look at their website to get a feel for the place.

We also cycled the other way, down to Prestwick along another nice cycle track. That passes the end of the rather quiet runway at the airport - we did spot one plane taking off, it was a little Cessna though.

We did wonder why there are so many good cycle tracks considering what the weather is like most of the time. Then we just decided to be happy that they existed and take advantage of them. Prestwick has an Aldi store which we needed to visit, to supplement the various trips to Morrisons in Troon that we'd made. Tonic water is a very important stock item on board and we needed to top up before we start hosting visitors.

It had been tricky to get a berth in Largs before the booked lift thanks to various yacht races being based there. However, fortune smiled on us. Iolair, owed by Neil was on the hardstanding and her relaunch was delayed. Neil spoke to the manager at Largs and suddenly we had a berth to use. Result.

The trip up to Largs was a nice sheltered one as the wind was from the east. This is how Vessel Finder viewed it:

and here is how the new and certainly not improved Marine Traffic site sees it:

 

You get to pass the strangely small Portencross castle which started construction in the 1300s:

and the being decommissioned Hunterston nuclear power station site:

which was built just a little bit later.

As the day was sunny enough, we dug out the bikes, cycled into Largs and along the sea front where we admired the local swans and their two cygnets:

Raiding Morrisons for supplies was the real aim, as we knew that the following day we would be a bit busy.

Naturally, lift out day was very windy. Blowing straight down the fairway towards the hoist dock. As they wanted the boat to be stern into the dock, we had to spin around and back onto the little run of waiting pontoon with the wind determined to stop us. Yup, it gusted to 35 knots just as we were turning through 180 degrees. The wind tried hard to stop the bow spinning through it. The office lady said that the lift guys would be waiting to get our lines (handy as berthing port side to is harder, no walkway, no gate, crew has to get off from the bathing platform).  There was no sign of them, having tea probably so the office ladies rushed down to help instead. Very impressive, not really needed but they did make things easier.

Waiting to be lifted, we were in a perfect position to be captured on the marina webcam:

We were lifted and parked next to Neil's Nordhavn 47 which gives a pretty unlikely picture since there are only 4 in the UK:

The boats are old friends of course. When she was named Malaspina they were berthed closely in Penarth and before that, they had a most intimate time when Malaspina was rafted onto us in St Peter Port, Guernsey for a few nights. Now owned by Neil (the Nordy Bits panel meter man) and called Iolair she was also out for fettling. As the weather forecast had gone sick, we worked until 9:15pm on the first day to get well ahead with things that needed dry weather. We were a bit broken afterwards. 

Cleaned up and coated with Crystal Prop, the stern gear looked better:

and the keel cooler too:

We managed the work a day faster than expected , enjoyed some social time with Neil and then with Lars and Birgit who arrived in their boat, a very shiny Azimut. We celebrated seeing them and finishing our annual boat maintenance torture with something fizzy:

Luckily we could pull the relaunch forward by a day, it feels so much better when the boat is in the water rather than high and dry at a strange angle. Relaunch time:

We motored around to Iolair's berth, which Lars and Birgit had just vacated. They got some pictures of us being splashed and on the way around:

Yes, it was a grey day, just not quite as blowy as during the lift out. Annoyingly, the stern thruster was unhappy and just made unhappy noises. No thrust at all. Something to fix after spending the rest of the launch day chilling a bit and then washing off all the grit and grime from the time ashore.

Maintenance news:

Pretty normal stuff. Big clean up of the underwater gear, antifoul the through hull fittings, the shoe under the rudder, the thruster props and the log impeller. Remove and clean the rope cutter, replace the anodes as required, clean the keel cooler and the hydraulic fluid cooler. Coat the props, wing engine shaft and P-bracket with Crystal prop. Drink lots of tea, make groaning noises when bending down, lugging blocks of timber to sit on etc. Grease the folding wing prop to death until it would fold under gravity alone. Shame that will not last for long but... Grease the seacocks. Go double check everything especially the tightness of the rope cutter fittings after putting it back on.

If only it happened as quickly as you can read it.