Tobermory to Dunstaffnage, 11 September
Today was to be our last great sailing day. Peter eased himself down into the rope locker for the first time to stow the mooring lines and fenders and lost his beanie in the process. We needed a spring line to pivot out of our mooring. We set off having to avoid all the little motor boats coming into the Tobermory harbour. The weather was changeable, intermittent sun, rain showers and rainbows and cloudy skies.
The wind was behind us, and we made speedy progress down the Sound of Mull. Lynne was delighted to clock a speed of 9.9 knots, as she turned to catch the wind, much more confident at the helm than her first attempts.
Meanwhile Peter, who always relished helming, was more confident on the unpredictably moving foredeck while under sail, manning the lines, fetching ropes and fenders.
The fresh wind, the clear air, the sense of rushing speed in the water – It was a joy in the cockpit. At times it seemed that Bluejay and Hummingbird had the Sound to themselves; just watching out for rocks and buoys. At other times there were multiple other boats sharing the water. The scenery was pleasant rather than dramatic. We dropped the sails and anchor at Duart Bay, near the dramatic Duart Castle, for lunch.
We were heading for Dunstaffnage, a marina a short taxi ride from Oban, so that those with early onward travel could disembark the boat before our early morning sail to Oban.
Lynne was disappointed when the skipper determined to motor from Duart Bay to the marina, as she had planned to offer to sweat (hoist) the mainsail for the first time, and, of course, because cruising without sails is nowhere near as exciting as using the wind to propel the yacht.
Mooring at the marina was difficult with the wind and waves. Lynne climbed back into the rope locker to fetch the ropes, fenders and step, exultingly exiting with Peter’s lost beanie! We had to circle among the anchored craft, and only managed to get a line ashore at the second attempt.
We arrived mid-afternoon, and Phoebe had booked our crew taxis at 18.30 to take us to dinner in Oban, where we had two tables booked for both crew in a pizzeria on the waterfront.
Unfortunately, there was a bit of a mix-up with the Hummingbird crew taking our taxis, so we had to wait in the cold for the taxis to be summoned to return to collect us.
Dinner was pleasant enough, although Lynne’s garlic allergy precluded her from enjoying a pizza; it was also too raucous for Peter to deliver the few words he’d assembled to express his gratitude to our skipper and mate, together with his admiration for the crew.
Andrew left, for a tortuous late night journey home, being put in a cab to Glasgow due to the train’s windscreen wiper malfunctioning! Bluejay was due to set sail for Oban at 6am, with some crew members disembarking before that, to make their onward connections. So, our last afternoon had a bit of an end of term feel about it, with crew members packing and luggage appearing in the cabin.
