Crinan

It did blow hard from the east last night- the only direction from which Ardminish Bay on Gigha is not well protected. It certainly wasn't a very restful night but I felt fairly confident in the mooring (rated for yachts up to 15 tons) and I shackled a loop of anchor chain to the buoy rather than relying on a piece of rope. So we spent the night secure if not peaceful. This morning it was sadly still too rough to go ashore in the dinghy, but the wind moderated by midday and so we got going. We had our best sail for many days- a brisk close reach in reasonably protected waters and the boat going at 6-7 knots for much of the time. The scenery is always spectacular, but with so many island peaks in view it can be difficult to sort out which is which.

We are now at Crinan,  not because we want to go down the Crinan canal, but because starting from here we have the best chance of getting the tides right for the difficult waters tomorrow.