Lochboisdale to Tobermory

Sunday had a nice forecast for crossing the "Sea of the Hebrides" back to the mainland. There had been a couple of blowy days and this looked like a nice break. A bit overcast but nice enough. The sea in this area can kick up quite quickly, we'd enjoyed two very calm trips through the Minch (another well known rough bit!) and hoped for one more gentle excursion.  The downside? Well, another early departure. Of course. 

There were some short sharp waves, only a metre or so high on the beam and the stabilisers sorted them out. We quickly settled into "gentle cruise" mode enjoying the views of the other islands closer to the mainland as we headed over. Sadly, the camera flattens everything and in reality it was way nicer:

There was very little other traffic so the plotter and PC screen were pretty empty, just like the much needed tea mug:

You can see the route and how it passes other islands from our MarineTraffic track:

although their "no subscription" service which relies on AIS data relayed from ground stations, didn't pick up the start of the trip. The differing ranges that we can pick up other vessels' AIS transmissions is always a surprise. Sometimes the commercial guys, who you would assume have good kit, good aerials and wiring to them, appear when they are much closer than a little yacht who fitted the cheapo device he bought off eBay himself one weekend. 

If we have an internet link we get AIS data fed onto our Time Zero PC software package "live" as well as closer targets we pick up on our own AIS equipment. That can be helpful for example when planning to avoid ferries in pinch points or narrow channels by adjusting speed early.

Approaching Ardnamurchan Point the conditions changed, with a swell from more or less astern, a couple of meters high. Nothing to disturb the trip, just to keep the stabilisers amused. It got a bit murky too so the Ardnamurchan lighthouse picture is suitably gloomy (and a long way off too):

Ardnamurchan is one of those "significant passage places" - used to be viewed as a special spot and you were supposed to put a sprig of heather on the pulpit of the boat as you rounded it. Nowadays folks might recognise it most as a name from the BBC shipping forecast. Times change indeed. Things improved as we headed into the Sound of Mull, following and then overtaking (yes, overtaking!)  a rather yellow French yacht:

Nice rock formations, less appealing yacht. This time we got a better image of the lighthouse just before the entrance to Tobermory harbour:

which opens up to reveal the colourful waterfront to tired crew:

We raided our favourite "stocks everything you might need" hardware store the following day, to discover they had been rewarded:

Yes, of course they had the odd little battery that we needed for the thruster remote controller. In the village one of the "tourist tat" shops (of which there are plenty) had a very inventive window display for the Tunnocks world cup. If you've never had one of their wafer biscuits, then you must live outside the UK or hate chocolate. they are as Scottish as Irn Bru (which is pretty disgusting stuff really). To be honest, we like the wafer biscuits a lot but the mallow teacakes are too sickly and a bit boring. No matter they were both in the final:

and the match statistics suggested a close game:

The display of the pitch, players and spectators was brilliant and must have taken ages, it was worth a video:

We were privileged to be berthed close to this lovely old craft, Kingfisher. A 1935 craft built by the famous Silver yard and in wonderful condition:

The owner came for a chat, told us that she was not a Dunkirk little ship as she was patrolling the Bristol Channel armed with one Lewis gun at the time. A serious deterrent indeed! For more information see National Historic Ships entry  We dread to think how much the annual maintenance bill is for her. Makes buying a temporary microwave oven replacement seem insignificant.

After a showery day, the evening was glorious, just as it had been for the past 4 or 5 days. Not a bad way to end our stay in Tobermory: