Passage to Portree

We approached Portree in company with Te Beagh. On arrival, a young sea dog

Angus

named Angus approached us with his fellow crew member John. They kindly provided these excellent pictures of Bonita in surroundings very different from the landscape of the Thames estuary, the photos were taken by John's wife Sue. Click each image to download a higher resolution image.

Skye

With my all weather crew of Tim and Trev we left Mallaig at about 10am.  We were careful to turn Bonita round on her pontoon berth using ropes before we left to avoid unneccesary manoevering under motor in a confined space. With light winds we headed north. Much of the scenery we passed was familiar to Trev from his army days and many of the montains we saw he had himself climbed or persuaded other people to do so.

We passed through Kyle Rhea, a narrow channel between Skye and the mainland where the tide is very  fast and very turbulent. We watched a ferry going through against the tide under full power and moving very slowly indeed. We arrived about an hour before the tide changed and anchored on the edge of the channel for a cup of tea waiting for the right moment. We were reassured to see several local yachts doing the same. We eventually got through the channel   without trouble and sailed under the Skye bridge. Even with the bridge there are still bonnie boats speeding over the sea to Skye but today they seem to be mostly diesel powered ferries. 

We then had a brisk west wind and had a good sail with one reef in threading our way through the channels around several small islands before we got to Portree on Skye at about 8pm and picked up a buoy in the harbour. We suspected from previous bitter experience that we would be unlikely to find anywhere to serve food by the time we got ashore so we ate on board and prepared to explore the town tomorrow and stock up for wilder and more remote islands.

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Mallaig

After a couple of quiet days in Tobermory, today was a busier day. We started by saying goodbye to D who had to return home and could no longer be spared from the  demands  of rheumatology in Basingstoke. Tim had a meeting about a possible pier extension in Tobermory harbour, and then we left in light winds.

Off Ardnamurchan Point 

We passed Ardnamurchan Point, which was an emotional moment.  Ardnamurchan Point is not only the most westerly point of the British mainland, but is also a familiar name to everyone who loves the radio 4 shipping forecasts. This momentous occasion was appropriately marked by a cup of tea and slices of  Thistledown cake.

Thistledown cake is special and has to be reserved for special occasions when things are either going very well or very badly. We then motored most of the way in hot sun and light airs to Mallaig,  past the spectacular mountainous islands of Muck, Eigg and Rhum. A couple of miles short of Mallaig we put the dinghy over the side and rowed round Bonita, gliding along under full sail, taking photographs to further decorate the blog.

We then  entered the small harbour of Mallaig, where Bonita's lack of manouverability under power became apparent to all, but luckily as so often admiring volunteers appeared  to take her mooring lines, and all was well.

New Crew in uniform

Dee, Tim, Mike and Trev

New Crew!

Tobermory today was visited by a huge cruise liner which disgorged about a thousand passengers and filled up all the local shops. Clearly a good thing for the local economy, but maybe not as good as visiting by gaffer. D and I explored the woods around Tobermory. In the afternoon Tim and Trev arrived having travelled all day from Surrey. Bonita has now been completely filled by huge kitbags and we are ready for almost any eventuality. We were joined by Chris and Martin who kindly provided a taxi service for all the luggage with their motor launch. This was much better than taking everything out to the boat in our elderly and slowly deflating inflatable dinghy. We had a jolly evening in a local bar and are now more or less ready for tomorrow. New crew: maybe more energy for progress northwards!