We got into Oban just before the forecasted rain front, gusting 25kn, started to pass through. Even had time for a short but wet walk into town.
Once back on the boat a very friendly armada of sailing boats came in, all part of the Weekly Highland Yachting Week – its 75th anniversary. About 100 boats need to find space. Two of them have now moored alongside ourselves! It will get busy in the Pub!
Fair winds…
Under sunny conditions my last ride on the Isle of Mull took me today again around on the island to enjoy some more stunning landscape and scenery.
The weather is black and white in this part of the world. As soon as the sun comes out you will love it. In rainy conditions you damn it. Nothing special with that. The difference is that these changes are happening in hours and not in days. We slowly get used to it.
Fair winds…
Scattered showers all day but with the help of the rain radar I was confident to get a nice coffee & cake in Salen, South of Tobermory – staying dry. Wishful thinking. The cake was excellent, the coffee average and I was wet to the skin upon arrival. My bike winter clothing kept me warm! 😅
Fair winds.
The sky opened up for a bike ride in some spectacular landscape here in Scotland. I was looking forward to that and all pain was forgotten – a pure joy ride. You get it all on 50km with comfortable 1000m up and down.
The locals enjoy the beach at around 23°C air temperature and 14°C for the water. It is summer. Once body and mind are both accustomed to the weather, you will appreciate the magnificence of this nature even more.
At low hanging clouds and after a bit of hick-up with the mooring we arrived at our berth. Another arrival in drizzle and misty weather like the ones before in Crosshaven, Dublin and Belfast. In any case we were relieved, that we do not need to stay out at a mooring buoy and had to get the dinghy unpacked.
It is peak season and besides having plenty of mooring grounds, full service marinas still have some potential for further developments in this part of the world. Nevertheless this cruising area seems to offer a lot.
The evening took us into the closest pub, less than 50m away. What a welcome! STS Kapitan Borchardt (built in 1918 carrying an interesting history) and its Shanty Chor also moored in the marina. They performed a public concert dedicated to Celtic music in their polish home language.
Two famous songs got recorded: “Caledonia“ and “Whiskey in the J(B)ar“. While the latter one originates more from Ireland, Caledonia – Latin name for Scotland – speaks for itself.
Great entertainment from a vibrant and hilarious Polish band.
There is one more public house in this town!
Fair winds…
It became an exciting night including the approach into Tobermory in the very early morning hours before sunrise. Wind gusting 37kn during the night (not predicted at all) packed with occasional rain at temperatures below pleasant levels does not only build frustration but also character at certain times. 😅
Plenty of dolphins and a puffin spotted by Jan were the real highlights of this overnight passage.
We will now wait for some sunny spells to explore the Isle of Mull.
Fair winds…
Today we crossed a small area southwest of Islay marked in the charts for so-called “Overfalls”. They appear under certain conditions. 1.5kn of tidal currents against 25kn of wind is what we had – moderate conditions.
Nevertheless the sea state we went through was remarkable choppy and chaotic, nothing dangerous at all but clearly unpleasant. Once outside the boundaries we were back to normal.
Not Eddies yet, which is different to Overfalls.
Fair winds…
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