Back to Reality

Well this is about three months late, however (mainly so we record it for posterity and memories) I thought I'd finally finish off this post, which dates from the start of August!

Having completed our final spell of adventure and with Hektor, Dan, and Henry having returned home, we sat down to work out the long list of jobs which several months of living onboard and sailing had inevitably generated.   Kerrera is a very pleasant place to tackle chores whilst enjoying an amazing setting, set alongside the benefits of a very welcoming bar and (ridiculously good) restaurant.

Having made good friends on the island, we were very happy to be asked to help with a round-up of one of the local flocks of sheep which were due sheering. As a change from boat fixing and preparing Contour for her forthcoming hibernation, we rose early and having had some basic instruction had an amazing day exploring the island by quad bike, working with our friend Gill to gather the 200 odd sheep of her flock.  It was a great way to get to know the island and amazing to watch Gill's trio of sheepdogs as they worked together to gather the flock.  Marcus enjoyed the steep learning required to manage the quad over the rather challenging territory; occasionally somewhat entertaining / terrifying. Hazel was delighted to assist a lost lamb to rejoin the flock after it got stuck in the deep bracken - any excuse to hug a cute sheep!  Look here to learn more about this amazing farm.

Best day ever

Kerrera Sound looking towards the Southern part of Oban

The wonderful Gill of the indomitable 'Gill and Tim and Co' Kerrera crowd.

A lot of fun

The very beautiful Kerrera Marina

A view from the very beautiful Gylen Castle

Gylen Castle, Kerrera

We also managed some more good walking, running, and general exploring around the island, we also cracked on with the job list; deep cleaning, ensuring the boat was dry and secure, and ready for a few weeks on the mooring.  The logistics of heading South were looking a little bit intimidating, after a few months it is surprising what you acquire!  Our list of boat jobs was pleasingly short; servicing, cleaning up, etc - and leaving the boat ready for Marcus, Tim, and Liz to sneak in an extra cheeky sail later in the summer.

Contour snug on her mooring

A sad farewell - for a bit.

Inevitably, as well as drinking some fine Kerrera ale, sorting out our gear, and (rather busily) getting ready to head South, move house, and for Hazel to start her new job (Marcus had a little more time) this was a time for a bit of reflection.  What had we learned since March about ourselves, our country, sailing, our boat, and our friends?  In short - a lot!  Some of it practical, some of it less so.   A very hard list to write, so we have selected 10. 

1 - Do it.  In the big scheme of things, this was not a long time.  Career impact and money might feel insurmountable, but we got over that VERY quickly.  Doing this was a life changing decision.

2 - Having never spent more than two weeks together, we actually do get on, very well.  We are a good team, and whilst (of course!) there were moments, they were few and far between and vastly outweighed by the good.

3 - The UK is a beautiful, varied, and endlessly fascinating place to sail; the weather is better than you think it is, the views are better, the people are nicer (hard to over-state this) and it repays the effort of time spent getting to know it.

4 - Our boat choice was good for the place and time of year. Contour is a heavy, simple boat with excellent sea-keeping abilities, a flexible sail plan, ok up-wind performance, space for friends, ample water and fuel, and a powerful, reliable engine.  Was it slow when not much wind?  Yes, but this was outweighed by the times we could confidently set out (and go fast!) when others might not, knowing that she (and we) could comfortably cope. (probably not a good choice for the Med!).

5 - Fit heating that gets around the whole boat if sailing in Scotland off season.  Helps with drying stuff, and makes it more pleasant.  Our heater was great for the main cabin but we could not get heat throughout the boat.  (On the list).

6 - Sailing as a couple adds some pressures on longer coastal passages but this can be mitigated with some thinking ahead: - Good (duplicated) digital nav setup. - Pre-cook food. - Choose sail hoists with care based on forecast, and be conservative (not having roller-reefing). - Have an escape plan / alternatives planned before you go.

7 - A basic solar and wind-gen setup goes a long way.  In five months, I don't think we had to start the engine just to charge batteries.

8 - Less is often more.  We learned to scale down our ambition, and enjoy where we were. 

9 - Swimming is always worthwhile once you have done it.  Hazel internalised this, Marcus was a bit of a wimp.

10 - Marcus is best kept busy at all times, Hazel is a little better at being idle!

Tinkers!

Follow our progress here.

Hektor and Henry's excellent adventure

Contour anchored off Iona

With stores embarked, and Hektor's work up the mast complete, we departed Tobermorey to motor South West around Mull towards Lunga. After a slightly rolly night at anchor in Calgary Bay, we weighed early the following morning and were pleasantly surprised to find a gentle breeze, enough to waft us out towards the huge puffin colony on Lunga. Given the excellent weather, we expected to be joined by a lot of tour boats so were pleased to get ashore early. 

Hektor had been very enthusiastic to re-visit the puffins after his experience in the Spring, and Lunga did not disappoint.  With better weather (and probably a bit more confidence in our anchor) we were able to stay a little longer this time and explore more of the island. As well as a lot of puffins and pufflings, (see pictures) there were a large number of nesting shags with their (near-fledgling) young.  A walk along the length of the island passed the abandoned settlement (Lunga was inhabited until the 1850s), the high point of the island and dramatic rock formations on the West side.

Dinner time

Adult shag keeping a close eye on us near the youngsters

A circus of puffins

Still fluffy baby shag

Very exciting spotting of a puffling (yes, that is the technical name) outside the nest

Exploring the coastline of Lunga

From Lunga we motored South towards Staffa, of Fingal's Cave fame. As we approached we were pleased to see that the unusually calm conditions made getting ashore practical. However, the somewhat tenuous anchorage meant Marcus stayed behind leaving Hazel to embark on the rather epic dinghy driving required to get ashore.  The slightest swell breaks alarmingly on the rocky shore making the landing somewhat entertaining - it's not somewhere we would brave landing our tiny dinghy in anything other than mirror calm conditions.  Hektor and Henry were blithely unaware of the challenges and the geology was sufficiently dramatic to capture their attention for the short walk along the coast and into the cave - an incredible sight.

Seabird feeding frenzy off Staffa

Intimidating boat landing on Staffa

Fingal's Cave

From Staffa we continued South to anchor off the North coast of Iona, close to an impossibly beautiful beach, Traigh an t-Suidhe.  Again, we benefited from the very settled, calm weather which enabled more adventurous overnight anchoring options.

Hektor persuaded us that a late night adventure ashore would be a good use of time so we had a fun time practicing dinghy surf drills to get ashore and explore in the late evening light.  The beach promised much fun the following day and Hektor was full of plans for further exploration (and more digging).

Sadly overnight Henry got sick with an unknown stomach bug which rather knocked him out of action but he was incredibly stoic in coming ashore to get some sleep on the beach. Hektor pressed on with swimming, instructing Hazel on the right way to build a large sandcastle (then modifying it to look like it had been involved in a siege) and dam building.  Anchored nearby was a (very) small french sailing boat (really a large dinghy); the couple onboard had sailed from La Rochelle and were exploring the West Coast for a few months.  

Contour anchored off Iona

Evening stroll on Iona

We walked ashore into the settlement at Iona, the site of a famous Christian community, before inviting our French neighbours onboard for supper and extensive boat-related chatter! Their boat was designed for racing across the atlantic single handed; the space and facilities are accordingly limited. Whilst Hazel and I are both very happy to go without extensive luxuries, the spartan nature of their adventure and cramped accommodation was a lesson in what is really possible when you fully commit! Hazel is firm that crapping in a bucket for five months is unlikely to ever feature in our life plans....

Looks like the Bahamas, feels like 12 degrees

With more excellent weather the following morning further beach-related entertainment took place and Hazel ran round most of the island (whilst Dan and Marcus caught up on engine servicing). We weighed anchor in the afternoon to make the most of a decent breeze developing that would take us South East further around Mull towards Pullodobhrain. The Scottish weather reminded us it still had a few tricks up its' sleeve, with a torrential downpour and lightning storm keeping us on our toes.

The path wasn't quite as clear as it looked on the map....

Columba's Bay

As we approached Pullodobhrain around sunset, we realised the wind direction would enable us to anchor in the small sound between Clachan and Easdale Island, one of the Slate islands and renowned as the site of the annual stone-skimming world championships (I think it is usually on Sky Sports......!). Even better, there was a visitor mooring available so we had a quiet evening tucked in this sheltered spot. 

Looking past Easdale Island up the sound towards Mull

Exploring the streets of Ellenabeich

Henry and Hektor

Electronic entertainment

Having explored the island thoroughly, Hektor and Henry got into the spirit of stone-skimming, for which the huge flooded slate quarries are ideally suited. We enjoyed a great lunch in the island cafe and returned to Contour.  Moored next to us was a large French cruising catamaran which, in terms of speed, luxury, and space was as far removed from Contour as we had been from the racing dinghy anchored next to us on the beach.  The owners blithely talked about cruising at 10 knots in 8 knots of wind, how their induction electric hob used a lot of solar power, and the difficulties of finding space in marinas......Boat technology has certainly moved on a long way, if you can afford it! I'm not sure it's a direction we'll be going any time soon, both from an aesthetic and financial point of view.

Henry helming on a brisk reach

For our last night we anchored off Pullodobhrain, a popular spot about 7 miles South of Oban.  With Henry fully recovered, a good meal ashore next to the 'Bridge over the Atlantic' was followed the next morning by extensive dinghy driving / exploring by Hektor and Henry, who interpreted the 'stay in sight' guidance somewhat loosely but did a great job of getting themselves ashore and back without drowning.  

From Pullodobhrain we enjoyed a gentle sail North to return to Kerrera, Contour's new base for the next few years and the last sailing passage of our sabbatical. Dan skilfully helmed up the sound on a tricky reach with all sails set, and we found the usual amazingly warm Kerrera welcome from Gill, Tim, and their team.  Hazel had been co-opted by Hektor to take him South, whilst Marcus cracked on with a month's worth of laundry and boat cleaning as we started to think about the logistics of the end of our adventure, travelling back South, moving house and going back to work......

Brisk reach en-route to Kerrera

Follow our progress here.

Final days in the Outer Hebrides

With a somewhat epic round of trains and ferries complete, and having collected Hektor from Bristol, we arrived back to Lochboisdale to find Contour in good shape, plenty of wind (as always!) and the weather looking good to continue our Southerly exploration towards Eriskay, Barra, and Vatersay. The first short passage took us to Acairsaid Mhor on Eriskay; a very sheltered harbour which Hazel and I had visited in May. With fair weather, we walked the short distance to the village, stocked up on some essentials, and went to explore the white sandy beaches which we had previously seen only in the rain. After a momentary wave of enthusiasm on seeing the crystal clear water, Hektor could not be persuaded to join Hazel for a swim after his feet had made contact with the 12 degree water - a good lesson that appearances can be deceptive! Whilst the population of Eriskay is now increasing (especially since the causeway was constructed), in the recent past the opposite has been true. The island is dotted with abandoned and ruined houses, some of which are rather sombre when you think of their remote and isolated locations. Hektor was extremely keen to explore one near our anchorage, but his initial enthusiasm was quickly overcome by the spookiness of all as his active imagination started to run riot!

Wildflowers and sunshine on Eriskay

Abandoned house

White sand beaches

Eriskay ponies

Eriskay cemetery overlooking the sea

Hektor ready to repel borders!

From Eriskay we made a further short hop South to anchor for a tide in the pool between Gighay and Helisay; yet another narrow tidal entrance rewarded a tranquil anchorage with ample exploring to be done on the neighboring islands. Having overcome a somewhat tricky seaweed landing (even more fun when we returned to the dinghy at low tide!), we made for the summit of Gighay to enjoy an amazing view and test out the replacement drone a safe distance from the water! We departed on the next tide to head yet further South towards Vatersay.

The pool between Gighay and Hellisay from the summit of Gighay ('interesting' entrance visible on the left)

Dinghies, Tides, Seaweed!

Vatersay, and specifically it's beaches, lived up to their reputation as being some if the best in Scotland (if not the world!). The timing of our visit was perfect as the wind dropped and the sun came out properly for the first time in a good few days/weeks - June and July have not been kind to the residents of the outer islands this year! Hektor's approach to dams, walls, pools, castles and beach constructions in general is to decide on a broad (usually highly ambitious) plan, sketch out an impressive perimeter, dig a bit, then quickly delegate the heavy lifting to a nearby adult whilst providing lots of helpful encouragement and instruction... still we all enjoy digging on the beach! The water here was even beautiful enough to tempt everyone in for a swim, albeit very briefly in some cases.

Enjoying a very sunny day on Vatersay

Contour anchored off the beach at Vatersay

The forecast was unusually offering no prospect of wind for a few days, so we slightly altered our plans; initially the idea had been for our friend Dan and his son Henry to take a ferry to the Hebrides and we would then sail back in with them. Given the prospect of a long, tedious motor-sail we agreed to meet them in Tobermory on Mull. As we set off Hektor attempted to connect to the internet for the first time only to discover this was not possible "what, you mean there's no internet at all????!!! I could NEVER live here!".

Keeping the crew happy on the slightly slow passage to Mull

The passage to Mull was slow and tedious, although we had a little wind occasionally which gave respite from our somewhat noisy diesel engine. However, this was the most we've used the engine this trip as too much wind has been a far more common problem than too little so we can't complain. We were sailing overnight and Hektor was keen to stay up to keep Hazel company on her watch until midnight. The main reason for this being the last time he stayed up for a night watch we were bringing the boat from Southampton to Portishead and he got to see bioluminescent dolphins leaping around the boat somewhere near Lands End. This was possibly one of the most incredible sights any of us had ever seen, but we tried to manage expectations by explaining that glowing dolphins are probably a one in a lifetime occurrence and not to be expected on every night sail. However, Hektor does appear to have some dolphin whispering skills and, about 5 minutes after Hazel told him to summon some dolphins to keep us company, we heard the familiar squeaking and splashing which announced the arrival of a large pod of common dolphins jumping around the boat (sadly no bioluminescence though).

With the rendezvous successful, we made the most of the good food supplies available in Tobermorey, as well as (rather to our relief as it is a bit scarce) getting some more cooking gas. Hektor has unfortunately developed a strong affinity for the Tobermory chocolate shop - priced for the many visiting American tourists that frequent Mull!

Marcus had to go aloft to change (again!) our anemometer - somewhat of a saga. Hektor never misses an opportunity to get hoisted up the mast but he's remarkably useful these days (and very light!) so this is something we positively encourage. This time he was able to help with calibration of the anemometer, somewhat to the bemusement of neighbouring boats who may not have entirely approved of our approach to child labour and were certainly surprised that both the children on board had such a good head for heights! Henry was still settling in to life onboard but he's quite accustomed to climbing and also made it up far enough to inspect Tobermorey from the vantage point of the foremast crosstrees and pose for photos.

Getting a good view of Tobermory

Follow our progress here.