Escaping Dunstaffnage, Loch Aline again and a soggy Tobermory

The Welsh connection - Andrew and Linda said that they would bring some sun with them. This was their offering:

However, it didn't seem to be working too well as we headed off in grey gloom (a pattern building here) to escape Dunstaffnage and the lovely memories of our stay. The only sad bit was saying bye to John, Irene and Archie. Escaping into the grey:

As you can see, we were still going topless. Only force 6 gusts but we didn't have the time to refit the bimini cover and get to Loch Aline before low water when the entrance gets a touch shallow and interesting. (Thanks to the crew of Genesis for the pictures!)

The trip over there had a hint of bump with some residual waves and no great views thanks to the unending grey stuff called the sky up here at present. As before, they had reserved a nice hammerhead berth for us which we gladly popped onto/ Less exciting was hearing stories of how sheltered the Loch Aline folks had been 2 nights ago when we were being beaten up in Oban!

Before we refitted the bimini cover, Andrew did his mountain goat impression, climbed the stack and cleaned off the accumulated green goo:

He is quite a star. Then he got closer to them:

 A wander around the village was then needed and enjoyed, a good leg stretch for all of us.

With more biblical rain forecast, we decided to hole up in Tobermory for a while on the theory that there are a few shops and other bits and bobs there unlike Loch Aline which is very beautiful but a bit bare in driving rain! So, the next morning we got ready and headed west again, hoping to make it to Tobermory just as the people who had berthed there were leaving and making some space. Another gloomy grey trip so no nice pictures, However, as we were approaching the bay, a Canadian flagged large Halberg-Rassy yacht put on a spurt and headed past us under engine. Guess what, they were "rushing" to get into the harbour before us. Later on we met the German owner and realised that he was behaving that way as the harbour authority would not let him put a towel on the pontoons to reserve them......

Despite his best efforts, there was still space for us and we trussed ourselves up ready for more rain and wind. Lovely. Welcome to Scotland Andrew and Linda.

Whilst there, we amused ourselves in the Western Isles Hotel. A beautiful building in need of some serious TLC which, the new owner explained, they were now arranging. Once finished, it will be quite a spot. We found that he also owned the West Loch Tarbert hotel that we had visited for the Captain's birthday last year. Here is a reminder:

The Tobermory place is not quite up to that standard yet..... However, the coffee was good and the WiFi way better than the harbour offering (ie it worked) so we whiled away a happy few hours there avoiding the downpours.

Breaking mooring lines and getting no sleep - the storm

We knew that it was going to be a fun day from the forecast:

The land based forecast was no more tempting - have a look at the forecast gusts:

So, we took off the bimini cover just in case, put out a couple of long spring lines and started to get bumped around a little. Here is the topless boat:

Archie the Lakeland terrier was on board with John and Irene for the evening and was not happy - his tail went down. The wind was around 40 knots by then (46 mph for landlubbers):

and there was plenty of movement going on.

Later on, it got really serious. The wind picked up. Sleeping was proving impossible, noisy ropes and 40+ tons of boat being thrown around. Then it got dangerous, one huge gust and a surge from a big wave, we were violently thrown away from the pontoon and then back onto it. Some stuff that stays put on countertops quite happily when we are out to sea fell on the floor. So, we went outside to find one of the 7 mooring lines had snapped:

This rope was new last year and only gets summer season use. 22 mm diameter stuff with a quoted breaking strain of 11,000 kg. Yes it was rough. We doubled up the bow and stern lines, added a long head rope and put every fender we had down the side as the fenders were being squashed totally flat every time the waves and wind pushed us hard against the pontoon. There were white horses on the waves coming down the marina area - not nice.

The yachts ahead of us on opposite sides of the big breakwater, were rolling so much and in opposite directions that the masts and rigging touched but luckily came apart OK. The poor folks on a small yacht ahead of us were having a horrendous time. They reported sitting inside and seeing the hull flexing as it was rammed against the pontoon. No sleep for us from about midnight to 5am when the wind finally dropped to a force 7 from the force 9.

You can see how many fenders we had deployed - normally we use only 4 per side:

At least the hull is still shiny.... Thanks to Michael and Louise for the stuff known as A-Glaze.

We have to say that it was our worst night afloat ever. We have been on board when the wind was a force 10 but in much better sheltered spots like Penarth. Memo to 'selves - another reason to avoid Dunstaffnage!