Farewell to Oban
As has been the case for most of this trip as we packed up to leave Oban for a few days the sun began to shine and we travelled to Glasgow in glorious sunshine but as the plane touched down that evening in Stansted so the thunderstorm began. We are beginning to feel a little cursed! After some enforced normality we set off to travel back up to the Highlands and resume our adventure. We decided that we would return by train as our luggage would contain items that would cause some interest to airport security! For weeks the skipper has spent a portion of most days with his head in the engine bay emptying out various containers of water that were collecting as a result of a "dodgy" freshwater pump and a "knackered" pressure release valve. Replacement parts had been duly purchased and were now in our luggage along with various bits of cable and other hardware which on an X-Ray scanner would have looked very dubious!
Once the decision to return by train had been taken it was a relatively easy jump to decide that the best use of our time would be to travel on the sleeper train and arrive fresh in the morning. So on an overcast Wednesday evening we boarded the Caledonian Sleeper at Euston and woke up on a wet drizzly morning in the Highlands! It was however much better than budget airlines and something to cross off the bucket list.
We arrived back at Oban just after 9am and the skipper spent the whole day and the next installing the newly purchased pump and valve and to date the water collection containers have stayed empty. The one disappointment and the only major problem which we haven't been able to fix is the electric motor on our anchor windlass (winch to the non mariners!). This means that the only way of getting the anchor up and down is muscle power - we didn't think this would be a problem until we tried it and realised that the previous owner of this boat had increased the anchor chain size from 8mm to 10mm and put a 45lb anchor on in place of the 32lb one that the boat has as standard. Both of these together mean that you need to be much stronger than I am (or the Skipper) to haul 20m of chain and the anchor up from the seabed by hand. Despite trying all sorts of fixes the motor stubbornly refuses to move and the whole winch has been so securely mounted on the deck that we can't get it off without risking damage to the deck this means we are unable to get the thing apart. So for now we have decided that anchoring is off limits except in an emergency which has changed our plans quite a lot.
Repairs completed and with the boat restocked we set off on an overcast Sunday morning heading for Craobh Haven Marina - pronounced Croove! The overcast Saturday morning quickly turned into a very wet Saturday morning and we edged our way along the Kerrera Sound in poor visibility wondering if we should turn back. After about an hour of quite heavy rain I went below to plot our position and when I came back on deck the rain had almost stopped and all of the islands that I had been working out our bearing from were suddenly very clearly visible! On we trundled heading for the Luing Sound the entry to which is between two small islands one, Fladda, equipped with a very large lighthouse! The pilot book talked of fast and interesting tidal streams in this area so we had timed our arrival to ensure the tide was flowing in the direction that we wanted to go but had been running for a couple of hours so that it was well established.
Our timing was spot on and we raced past Fladda at about 8k which meant that the water we were on was in fact moving at about 4k! The water itself although very deep was very confused with eddies and small whirlpools and overfalls which made steering a clean course quite a challenge for the Skipper! The next challenge for us as we raced down the sound of Luing was effectively to make the left turn around the point of Shona Island and into the tide and head up towards Craobh Haven - again we needed to make sure the tide was not too strong but equally we didn't want to be pushed onto rocks on the point. As we were approaching the point we noticed a few sails in the channel into which we were heading - and then a few more and then lots and lots! A quick call to the Marina informed us that we had arrived on the first weekend of West Highland week and the Marina was jammed however they would find us somewhere to tie up! We threaded our way through the racing fleet trying not to get in anyones way and arrived at the Marina in the late afternoon. We rafted up to a couple of racing yachts who gleefully informed us that they needed to be away by 7am the following morning - so no lie in for us!
The forecast for Monday was not good so after our early start we spent the day in Craobh watching the rain and listening to the wind. By about 6pm it had died off so we wandered up to the "Lord of the Isles" pub for scallops and beer and a look around the village. It is a very pretty little place but it is basically two rows of cottages the pub and the marina and a war memorial!
The weather forecast for Tuesday was less wind but heavy showers however we needed to move on as our next stop would be the Crinan Canal and in order to reach there we needed to go a gap between two islands called Dorus Mor which the pilot books helpfully told me was often referred to as "little Corryvreken" Those who have never heard of Corryvreken google it - it has its very own yacht swallowing whirlpool! Dorus Mor is very close to the Gulf of Corryvreken and getting the tides wrong can mean you are inadvertently swept that way so there was much checking of high water times and tidal streams before we set off.
We left Craobh in the now customary dull drizzle which quickly turned to rain and then abruptly into a full blown hailstorm! Thankfully this was brief and we continued on our way towards Craignish point with very little wind under motor but with ominous black clouds massing to the south. Dorus Mor was uncomfortable with some large overfalls and confused seas and then deceptive patches of calm but with enough current running to grab the boat and attempt to slew her sideways into the seemingly very close rocky shore! After about 20 minutes we were through and into the relative calm of the approaches to Loch Crinan. We could see the big white hotel about about 2 miles in the distance and the boatyard shed with Crinan written helpfully on the roof and that is when the monsoon started! Monsoon is the only word I can use to describe it rain and hailstones were coming down so fast that visibility decreased to about half a mile, the sea was pushed flat by the force of the rain and motoring into it physically hurt! We motored into the bay opposite the sea lock along with two small motor boats and another yacht all of us wanting to lock into the relative calm of the canal basin. The Lock keeper informed us all very apologetically that he had a large vessel that had been waiting some time to get in and he couldn't fit anything else into the lock with her so it was a case of motoring around in circles waiting for the lock to cycle through. The whole time the rain kept coming we were drenched (although our oilies were doing a great job) the boat was drenched - at one point we had about 1.5 inches of water slopping around in the cockpit, and every time I went below to answer the radio or look at the chart water bounced off the hatch and into the saloon below! The rain continued at this intensity for about an hour but thankfully eased off when finally the lock gates opened and we were allowed to enter.
We locked into the basin and then through the first lock into the canal where we tied up for the night. It was safe and secure but unfortunately there was no power so we spent a large part of the evening mopping up and trying to work out how to deal with dripping wet oilskins, but after a hot supper and a wee dram we slept very well but fully aware that we would have the problem of condensation to deal with in the morning!
Once the decision to return by train had been taken it was a relatively easy jump to decide that the best use of our time would be to travel on the sleeper train and arrive fresh in the morning. So on an overcast Wednesday evening we boarded the Caledonian Sleeper at Euston and woke up on a wet drizzly morning in the Highlands! It was however much better than budget airlines and something to cross off the bucket list.
We arrived back at Oban just after 9am and the skipper spent the whole day and the next installing the newly purchased pump and valve and to date the water collection containers have stayed empty. The one disappointment and the only major problem which we haven't been able to fix is the electric motor on our anchor windlass (winch to the non mariners!). This means that the only way of getting the anchor up and down is muscle power - we didn't think this would be a problem until we tried it and realised that the previous owner of this boat had increased the anchor chain size from 8mm to 10mm and put a 45lb anchor on in place of the 32lb one that the boat has as standard. Both of these together mean that you need to be much stronger than I am (or the Skipper) to haul 20m of chain and the anchor up from the seabed by hand. Despite trying all sorts of fixes the motor stubbornly refuses to move and the whole winch has been so securely mounted on the deck that we can't get it off without risking damage to the deck this means we are unable to get the thing apart. So for now we have decided that anchoring is off limits except in an emergency which has changed our plans quite a lot.
Repairs completed and with the boat restocked we set off on an overcast Sunday morning heading for Craobh Haven Marina - pronounced Croove! The overcast Saturday morning quickly turned into a very wet Saturday morning and we edged our way along the Kerrera Sound in poor visibility wondering if we should turn back. After about an hour of quite heavy rain I went below to plot our position and when I came back on deck the rain had almost stopped and all of the islands that I had been working out our bearing from were suddenly very clearly visible! On we trundled heading for the Luing Sound the entry to which is between two small islands one, Fladda, equipped with a very large lighthouse! The pilot book talked of fast and interesting tidal streams in this area so we had timed our arrival to ensure the tide was flowing in the direction that we wanted to go but had been running for a couple of hours so that it was well established.
Our timing was spot on and we raced past Fladda at about 8k which meant that the water we were on was in fact moving at about 4k! The water itself although very deep was very confused with eddies and small whirlpools and overfalls which made steering a clean course quite a challenge for the Skipper! The next challenge for us as we raced down the sound of Luing was effectively to make the left turn around the point of Shona Island and into the tide and head up towards Craobh Haven - again we needed to make sure the tide was not too strong but equally we didn't want to be pushed onto rocks on the point. As we were approaching the point we noticed a few sails in the channel into which we were heading - and then a few more and then lots and lots! A quick call to the Marina informed us that we had arrived on the first weekend of West Highland week and the Marina was jammed however they would find us somewhere to tie up! We threaded our way through the racing fleet trying not to get in anyones way and arrived at the Marina in the late afternoon. We rafted up to a couple of racing yachts who gleefully informed us that they needed to be away by 7am the following morning - so no lie in for us!
The forecast for Monday was not good so after our early start we spent the day in Craobh watching the rain and listening to the wind. By about 6pm it had died off so we wandered up to the "Lord of the Isles" pub for scallops and beer and a look around the village. It is a very pretty little place but it is basically two rows of cottages the pub and the marina and a war memorial!
The weather forecast for Tuesday was less wind but heavy showers however we needed to move on as our next stop would be the Crinan Canal and in order to reach there we needed to go a gap between two islands called Dorus Mor which the pilot books helpfully told me was often referred to as "little Corryvreken" Those who have never heard of Corryvreken google it - it has its very own yacht swallowing whirlpool! Dorus Mor is very close to the Gulf of Corryvreken and getting the tides wrong can mean you are inadvertently swept that way so there was much checking of high water times and tidal streams before we set off.
We left Craobh in the now customary dull drizzle which quickly turned to rain and then abruptly into a full blown hailstorm! Thankfully this was brief and we continued on our way towards Craignish point with very little wind under motor but with ominous black clouds massing to the south. Dorus Mor was uncomfortable with some large overfalls and confused seas and then deceptive patches of calm but with enough current running to grab the boat and attempt to slew her sideways into the seemingly very close rocky shore! After about 20 minutes we were through and into the relative calm of the approaches to Loch Crinan. We could see the big white hotel about about 2 miles in the distance and the boatyard shed with Crinan written helpfully on the roof and that is when the monsoon started! Monsoon is the only word I can use to describe it rain and hailstones were coming down so fast that visibility decreased to about half a mile, the sea was pushed flat by the force of the rain and motoring into it physically hurt! We motored into the bay opposite the sea lock along with two small motor boats and another yacht all of us wanting to lock into the relative calm of the canal basin. The Lock keeper informed us all very apologetically that he had a large vessel that had been waiting some time to get in and he couldn't fit anything else into the lock with her so it was a case of motoring around in circles waiting for the lock to cycle through. The whole time the rain kept coming we were drenched (although our oilies were doing a great job) the boat was drenched - at one point we had about 1.5 inches of water slopping around in the cockpit, and every time I went below to answer the radio or look at the chart water bounced off the hatch and into the saloon below! The rain continued at this intensity for about an hour but thankfully eased off when finally the lock gates opened and we were allowed to enter.
We locked into the basin and then through the first lock into the canal where we tied up for the night. It was safe and secure but unfortunately there was no power so we spent a large part of the evening mopping up and trying to work out how to deal with dripping wet oilskins, but after a hot supper and a wee dram we slept very well but fully aware that we would have the problem of condensation to deal with in the morning!
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