Farewell to the Highlands
After a nice quiet evening at Port Bannatyne we left at about 10:30 the following morning for a short trip to Kip Marina at Inverkip. The skipper had arranged for a spare part to be sent to the Marina for us to collect and so we made a small detour to this large Marina with the aim of fitting the new part and getting all sorts of housekeeping jobs done.
The part arrived just as arranged and the skipper spent the afternoon with his tool kit whilst I spent the afternoon in the laundry doing the washing this time. The following day was our 37th wedding anniversary so we decided to stay in Inverkip and have a celebratory meal in the Inverkip hotel - which proved to be a lovely evening. The added bonus being that the selection of malt whiskies behind the bar gave me the opportunity to try yet another new "wee dram". The day had been lovely and sunny and warm enough to go without a coat or jumper - the first time in ages - and we felt quite smug to see pictures of the south having a taste of the monsoon rain that we have been experiencing for weeks!
The following day we left Kip on a dry overcast morning heading for Troon. As we sailed along the coast we could see the countryside changing from the craggy peaks of the Highlands to the softer more rolling hills of southern Scotland. We passed Largs, Ardrossan and Irvine sailing along in a fresh F3/4 making Troon harbour in the early afternoon.
One of my abiding memories of the Highlands and Islands of the West Coast of Scotland will be the CalMac Ferries - they are everywhere! The big black and white boats shuttle back and forth linking all the small communities on these islands and are both cheap and efficient. We learned very quickly that an essential aid to navigation was a copy of the CalMac summer timetable - it gave us a chance to try and time our trips to avoid the ferries but sometimes we just had to stay out of their way!
Troon marina was to be our home for a couple of days as yet another day of inclement weather blew through with strong winds and rain rocking the boat about in her mooring. The big advantage of Troon being that there is a large Morrisons about 10 minutes walk away so we had the chance to restock the boat ready for the next leg of out journey which will take us to Ireland via Girvan and Stranraer. Weather windows permitting we should be in Belfast in about 4 days!
The part arrived just as arranged and the skipper spent the afternoon with his tool kit whilst I spent the afternoon in the laundry doing the washing this time. The following day was our 37th wedding anniversary so we decided to stay in Inverkip and have a celebratory meal in the Inverkip hotel - which proved to be a lovely evening. The added bonus being that the selection of malt whiskies behind the bar gave me the opportunity to try yet another new "wee dram". The day had been lovely and sunny and warm enough to go without a coat or jumper - the first time in ages - and we felt quite smug to see pictures of the south having a taste of the monsoon rain that we have been experiencing for weeks!
The following day we left Kip on a dry overcast morning heading for Troon. As we sailed along the coast we could see the countryside changing from the craggy peaks of the Highlands to the softer more rolling hills of southern Scotland. We passed Largs, Ardrossan and Irvine sailing along in a fresh F3/4 making Troon harbour in the early afternoon.
One of my abiding memories of the Highlands and Islands of the West Coast of Scotland will be the CalMac Ferries - they are everywhere! The big black and white boats shuttle back and forth linking all the small communities on these islands and are both cheap and efficient. We learned very quickly that an essential aid to navigation was a copy of the CalMac summer timetable - it gave us a chance to try and time our trips to avoid the ferries but sometimes we just had to stay out of their way!
Troon marina was to be our home for a couple of days as yet another day of inclement weather blew through with strong winds and rain rocking the boat about in her mooring. The big advantage of Troon being that there is a large Morrisons about 10 minutes walk away so we had the chance to restock the boat ready for the next leg of out journey which will take us to Ireland via Girvan and Stranraer. Weather windows permitting we should be in Belfast in about 4 days!
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