Having escaped the clutches of Arisaig, and after a brief Whatsapp conflab with co-conspirators in the Scottish detachment of the Slipper Sailing Club (a wonderful club in Emsworth of which we are absent members) we found ourselves unexpectedly, but happily heading South back around Ardnamurchan point, in order to effect a 3-boat RV in or near Loch na Droma Buidhe, which is near Tobermory on Mull. Departing Arisaig on the afternoon tide having gone for a run and cracked some logistics, the plan had been to break the passage with an overnight stop of Muck. Once underway however, with a brisk breeze and great progress being made, it quickly became apparent that if we tried hard we could make a good offing of the North end of Ardnamurchan, albeit we expected it to be tough going after four days of Southerly gales.
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| Enjoying the late sunset - sailing around Ardnamurchan at around 11pm |
Departing as we did to sail the Irish Sea in March, we had always expected to encounter some tough weather. We prepared last year as best we could - thinking hard about reefing, jacklines (to enable us to ‘hook on’ and move around safely on deck), and testing and checking the basics carefully, particularly the engine. What has changed over time is our confidence to deliberately set out and sail in conditions which in the past, perhaps, we might have shied away from, particularly with only two of us on board. Some of this is about technique - we are much better at securing the boat well for sea (by 'we' he means me - having not spent my adult life at sea and being naturally untidy - Hazel), we prepare by having smaller sails rigged and ready on deck, and we have got pretty good at reefing (although need to get better at heaving-to). It is also about our understanding of (and faith in) Contour. She is a remarkably strong, sea-kindly boat and, whilst not especially fast, her design, weight, and configuration make her safe, predictable, and very dry in a blow. Given that the cockpit is completely open, getting any water onboard is remarkably rare and you have to try really quite hard to get the rail under the water (it is well past the sensible time to reef when this happens!). The range of smaller sails mean that we can usually balance the boat well and as a result we can keep the helm really light, even in a blow. Our passage South around Ardnamurchan was a good example of this. We went round close hauled into 19-25 kts, and into seas which resulted from three days of 40kt+ gales. We timed the tide carefully, but nonetheless it was a tough upwind sail - and it was fine. Nothing broke, the boat sailed fast, and we arrived into Tobermory at 2am in good order and not overly tired.
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| On our way around Ardnamurchan |
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| Sunset over the Small Isles |
Having topped up with food, water, high quality knitwear (Hazel bought a Norwegian jumper for the price of a small family car that she fell in love with on a trip to Mull some 20 years previously and was delighted to find still available in the chandlery!) and rum in Tobermory, we prepared for the short passage to the idyllic anchorage of Loch na Droma Buidhe. Walking back down the jetty we were surprised (and delighted!) to see the familiar form of a Seadog. Our very lovely old boat, Black Dog, is a Sea Dog (currently having yet more loving care lavished on her by wonderful new owners). Because owning a SeaDog is rather like a maritime version of being a Mason, we stopped to say hello to the crew who turned out to be Sam Llewellyn - author, novelist, editor of the very august Marine Quarterly (which should grace every decent boat bookshelf) and seadog sailor. It was great to catch up with Sam who very kindly passed on an early electronic version of his entertaining journal.
And so to Droma Buidhe where, after a brief exploration ashore, we met up with Shearwater of Langstone and the very impressive Henry, both owned by members of the Slipper. Steve and Mary know Scottish waters well, having spent the last few summers cruising around up here, and have been a source of many tips for us, whilst Will, the owner of Henry, lives onboard when he is 'off watch' from being Captain of RRS Sir David Attenborough (which we are definitely not allowed to call Boaty McBoatface). It was a super (and fleeting) chance to meet up with good friends and compare plans, benefitting from Henry's abundant larder! Mary impressively proved that cakes can indeed be baked in small boat stoves! Henry is heading North to Iceland, whereas Shearwater continues her cruise of the West Coast.
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| Slipper gathering onboard Henry |
From Droma Buidhe, nursing slightly tender heads, we departed into a slightly wallowy rounding of Ardnamurchan in light winds, collected errant mail in Arisaig and then headed past Mallaig into Loch Nevis, with the aim of seeing something of Knoydart. Unfortunately the weather was not suitable for a visit to Inverie with the associated mountain walking, so we headed further East into a remote bay on the Nevis estate known as Tarbert. We had somewhat sketch directions for this hidden gem ("call Norman on VHF 10") but as is often the case, we had stumbled on a real delight.
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| Loch Morar |
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| About a foot in diameter, this chap made swimming a very unappealing prospect! |
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| Tarbert Bay and Loch Nevis looking West. |
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| Upper Loch Nevis (Loch Nibheis in Gaelic - apparently meaning 'Heaven') |
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| Loch Nevis, Tarbert Bay, and the house of Cameron Mackintosh on the headland. |
Once close enough to be past the intervening lumps of Scottish Granite, Norman very kindly offered us a mooring and information about landing and exploring this remote spot. We were able to walk North to view the spectacular inner loch, inland to see Loch Morar, a huge expanse of fresh water, and South (over a rather sketch route) to check out what appeared to be a large whale we had seen on the beach on the way past - it turns out this is the creation of the adventurer Tom McLean and is a large seagoing boat that has circumnavigated the UK, beached at a very remote outdoor centre. (Apparently it is for sale if anyone fancies a change of scene!). Whilst gusty, we had been very sheltered in Tarbert from another round of gales passing through (bit of a theme emerging here!); the plan from here would take us North via Applecross, to Plockton then Torridon before heading on towards the Outer Hebrides.
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| A very unexpected whale boat |
Food.
For those interested, we thought we'd include a bit about eating on a boat. Neither of us are enthusiastic cooks, but we have muddled through and actually been moderately successful in maintaining a healthy and varied diet over the last few months.
An early consideration for us when planning the trip was provisioning the boat so that, as much as possible, we would be able to stay away from towns and then, as we moved further North, not have to rely on increasingly sparse shops or waste time buying food. Luckily Hazel has previous here - as the doctor on South Georgia she had the additional task of ordering and managing 12 months-worth of food for the base - she would describe this as the most stressful job she has ever had! Contour has lots of good, cool storage lockers, no freezer (or the power to run one) but a reasonably sized refrigerator which we can run 24/7 with wind and solar power. Neither of us are gourmet cooks, so we (well, Hazel) set out a food plan based on a set regime of meals that we could adapt easily, and supplement with fresh food when available. This has worked (really) well, and our only failing has been that we should have simply bought more of some of the staples as, with a month to go, we have had to do some big re-stocks.
We have found that some tinned vegetables are excellent (and others execrable!). Alongside the usual tinned tomatoes (of which we use loads), stuff that works well includes tinned mushrooms, potatoes and sweetcorn. UHT has improved no-end, and we use very little fresh milk but filled a large part of our bilge carefully with MANY cartons of UHT. The fridge space we do have is used for butter, cheese, and keeping open / cooked stuff fresh. An inventory proved vital, as did the simple trick of writing on the top of every tin what is in it in permanent marker - good when (as happens) the bilges get wet so the labels fall off, but also so we can see what is there without lifting the tin. All our tins in the bilges are contained in stout plastic boxes to keep them tight and stop the rattling in rough seas.
The plan is roughly as follows:
Breakfast.
Cold oats (A mixture of decent (big/jumbo) Oats, mixed seeds / nuts, raisins, chia seeds, brown sugar or honey, cinnamon, and UHT milk left overnight).
Occasional Eggs Benedict (brilliant Maille hollandaise sauce keeps well - if only we'd bought more, on toasted bread when we make it or crumpets).
Juice
Lunch
Largely salad based, and made up from fresh stuff we have found that keeps well in a cool locker - iceberg or gem lettuce, celery, carrots, tomatoes and pre-cooked vacuum packed beetroot, beefed up with some combination of chorizo, feta, halloumi, olives, tinned tuna, mixed nuts and seeds, eaten with perhaps oatcakes or bread when we make it. When we ran short of green stuff (usually after 2 weeks from a good shop) we fell back on pasta salads supplemented with olives, pine nuts, etc. If sailing, tinned soups occasionally make an appearance. With kids on board, we would break out par-baked bread rolls with cheese and tomatoes.
Supper
This is where we tried harder for variation, but again drew largely on tinned and preserved foods, with only a little meat (hard to keep). We cooked many bean stews, (probably a couple a week), mushroom, pepper, and chorizo risotto, home made fishcakes (possible from tinned potatoes, tinned fish, egg and breadcrumbs), pasta / pesto concoctions, curries (again, tinned potatoes - wonderful stuff! or lentils), and the occasional spanish omelette.
Hazel discovered that, even as a very reluctant baker, oatcakes and cheese scones can be mastered on a boat and we usually keep a decent supply of cheese onboard making both a good option for snacking; Marcus is an episodic baker but makes the occasional decent loaf of bread (often when the engine had been on as the engine bay is a great warm spot to prove dough) - the only problem with this stuff is it is so damn nice it vanishes frighteningly fast!
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| On of (many) lockers - our inventory was essential |
We had thought that we would enjoy stir-fries but they use up a lot of fresh veg that can be used better elsewhere. Meat is problematic - we had fantastic venison burgers from Rona, occasionally sausages as a treat, and got through yards of chorizo in lunches and suppers but in general, meat = refrigeration or freezing and we just don't have the fridge space.
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