Far from the madding crowd

07Aug13

Rain. Rain. Rain and more rain. An absolute deluge overnight. The bucket left on deck was overflowing and we were pondering a day of utter misery after a sleepless night listening to the water fall and puddle everywhere it could. The weather can change very quickly up here and once we had left our anchorage the sun started to shine through allowing us to cast off layer after layer of waterproofs.

With little wind forecast we had decided to make progress south and head for Ardfern Yacht Centre at the top of Loch Craignish to get water and electricity for a thorough charging of our batteries. This would be the first 'proper' stop at a pontoon with all the usual accompaniments since Kinlochbervie after Cape Wrath. Despite being a 'Yacht Centre' with a well stocked chandlery it is based in a small village far from the madding crowds – scarecrows were in abundance along the lanes following a recent Arts Festival competition.

The passage took us through the turbulent narrows at Fladda lighthouse and past the infamous Gulf of Corryvreckan, which, with little wind and slack tide appeared quite benign as we passed, from a safe distance. The landscape also changed from the dramatic highlands and foreboding mountains to a more craggy scene with more sky and generally more openness. From here on we shall be getting ready to say a fond farewell to Scotland once we have passed through the rest of the inner isles though a return at some time is probably on the cards to do more justice to the places we have skipped by. Whatever the decision, today we just enjoyed the sunshine.