Matt Donald and Paige Grogan fi nd
Scotland is the ideal place to start
their round-the-world odysseyYOURCRUISING
STORIES
S
ailing Scotland in early spring
was wonderful; an ideal way
to start our global adventure.
There are plenty of articles and
videos about sailing in the tropics,
with white sandy beaches and crystal-clear
waters, but not half as many about sailing in
beautiful Scotland. Constantly surrounded
by green mountains, we often felt like we
were sailing through the pages of a fantasy
novel. Whether it was seals, deer, dolphins
or the occasional whale, there was no
shortage of wildlife. Scotland is rich with
history, so you can often find yourself
anchored beside castle ruins with no one
else but the odd cuckoo around.
We bought our Contest 41 Nova at a
small marina north of Oban in Loch Creran,
a stunning part of the world surrounded by
mountains and forest. After getting her readyfor our trip with help from Ewan, the owner
of the marina, we were ready to set sail at
the start of May 2017. We decided to do a
shakedown cruise with family, and planned
to leave our mooring at Creran and sail up
the Sound of Mull to Tobermory. We would
then spend two nights there and fit the final
parts of our Hydrovane, so that we could
start making our way back towards Creran
via Loch Aline and Oban.A PLACE AWASH WITH COLOUR
We finally slipped our mooring on 27 April
with family aboard for our first sail on our
very own yacht. After spending the previous
night planning, we knew we had to be
underway no later than 0800 to catch the
tide leaving the loch. Creran’s entrance
is a dogleg, which makes it a very sheltered
loch but quite interesting to sail. The lochis well buoyed and we managed to get
out without any problems. We set course
towards the Sound of Mull with a south-east
Force 4 and before long, we’d shaken out
the canvas and Nova began making goodFalling in love
with Scotland
Loch Creran will always
be special as it was where
the pair first sailed NovaMatt and Paige did a number
of shakedown sails on their
Contest 41 Nova before
leaving the UKThe pair eventually spent two
months cruising Scotland, including
Armadale on the Isle of SkyeCRUISING LOG
Wildlife encounters
are common while
sailing ScotlandMatt Donald set off with his
partner Paige Grogan to sail
around the world in May 2017.
Follow their adventure at
http://www.livingwiththetide.co.uk