Tobermory to Corpach

This is how the rear cockpit camera saw Tobermory at 6am, it reverts to black and white in low light conditions:

It was way better at focussing then we were. Funny how you always sleep badly when you know that the alarm is set, even if it is for a relatively benign 5:30 am. At least it wasn't raining when we headed off. That was to come. Our timing was dictated by the Corran narrows - more about them later.  

We headed down a grey and deserted Sound of Mull (bar the ferry from Loch Aline), gave the windscreen wipers a raison d'etre from time to time and then hung a left heading up Loch Linnhe. On the mainland side you get to see the sea terminal area that is part of the largest granite quarry in Europe. No roads to it, so all the many millions of tons of material leave by sea each year. Staff arrive the same way. For more info, see this weblink Glensanda super quarry .

Sure enough there was a cargo ship on the dock:

and a pilot boat was heading over to it. Something went very wrong though - the AIS position of the boat was shown as on the island of Lismore and doing 20 knots:

Quite impressive really. Normally AIS targets on land are aircraft of some type, this was a first. After a couple of minutes, the AIS position moved, correctly, to the north of Lismore Island and all was well. Perhaps an issue with their AIS or GPS kit? Maybe we should blame the Russians for interfering with the satellites? It was a first and a reminder that you cannot totally rely on all the electronic aids being spot on. 

The pilot boat was the second boat / ship that we saw. We ended up seeing 5 in total, including one that was anchored. We almost saw as many dolphins. Rather nice really.

Here is the track, and you can see the Corran narrows pretty clearly:

- the pinch point 2/3 of the way up Loch Linnhe where our route has a little kink in it. The tide runs strongly through there. It is around 180 metres wide and has to drain / fill the large expanse of water above it as the tides change. That induces a flow of 4 to 5 knots  at peak. We didn't want to be pushing into that so we'd headed off earlyish to arrive an hour or so after high water. Approaching the narrows, it was pretty threatening. Nice and grey, hints of rain but dramatic in a strange way:

A bit black and white, like the 6am image.

The narrows have the regulation lighthouse guarding them:

and of course the ferry had to head off just as we approached, it was 5 minutes late too:

Because of the layout of the old slipways, the ferry has this odd looking ramp at one end that sits at a whacky angle to the rest of the ship:

They are improving the ferry slipways with some serious work at the moment to make things better and give the ferry more shelter too. The local folks say that they should really be replacing the ferry which has a habit of breaking down regularly. Not run by Calmac this one, but by the Highland Council. The backup ferry is another elderly craft still in service - now 51 years old!

As we approached Fort William, we recognised that our liner curse had followed us - or to be more precise beaten us to it. Artenia was anchored off the town:

with tenders ferrying passengers ashore in the mixed weather.  Fort William is, in our opinion a sad place at the best of times but in drizzle / rain and heavily overcast skies it just looks drab and depressed. We hope the passengers all went off on the Harry Potter steam train or coach trips. 

The new marina place in Corpach (opened in 2023) was a nice surprise. Good facilities, great views from it and ultra friendly and helpful staff. We tied up, walked to the office and found Brian and Duncan on duty. A long chat with them ensued (Brian is a Nordhavn dreamer we discovered) including some time with another berth holder who was celebrating the sale of his boat. Then we tested out the on-site cafe place, a very good light lunch there, very good indeed. The only downside was when the Loch Linnhe trip boat returned and dropped off the rather elderly passengers. The cast of Ben Hur tried to get inside and order a drink. The place is pretty small, many of them were not. 

The views from our spot are good and you have the railway line running right past. We get to see the Harry Potter steam train to Mallaig and the less lovely Scotrail diesel railcar pottering by:

It is officially called the Jacobite train, but most folks know it from the Harry Potter films as the Hogwarts Express.  The locos sound good!

We also get to see the cargo ships heading to the timber wharf nearby - there is a big sawmill on site:

All in all, a good place to be so far.

Maintenance News:

Not a lot really. The wing engine had some exercise, both it and the main ran happily. To save buying lots of extra electrical power here (you get £5 worth a night), we ran the little Webasto boiler to make hot water for showers, the first time in ages. It fired up and did what it is supposed to.