Yachting Monthly - July 2018

speed. Once we’d made it to Lismore Light,
we headed north-west up the sound towards
Tobermory. We arrived just after 1430
following a good sail of 33 miles and picked
up a swinging mooring.
Tobermory is a colourful place to visit.
The story goes that one day, the owner of
the Mishnish decided he wanted to repaint
the front of his pub. Unfortunately, the only
colour he had was bright yellow. Hoping
no one minded, he painted the entire pub
and went off to bed, expecting to be told he
must repaint in the morning. The next day, to
his surprise, he found all of the neighbouring
buildings were being painted bright colours:
the entire town loved the newly painted pub
and decided to follow suit. We couldn’t resist
paying a visit, treating ourselves to a few
pints and some pub grub in front of the fire.

The next day, feeling a little worse for wear,

we left the swinging mooring early and

moored on to one of Tobermory Marina’s

pontoons. This allowed us to spend the day

fitting the last parts to our Hydrovane, which

we nicknamed Heidi.

PEACE AND QUIET

With our third crew member Heidi the

Hydrovane installed, the following day

we left Tobermory to head back towards

Creran. Our first stop was just a few hours

down the sound at the gorgeous Loch Aline,

where we decided to anchor for the night.

We were the only yacht there at the far end

of the loch.

It was so peaceful that we could have

spent days there. Unfortunately, our

guests needed to get home, so the next

day we upped anchor and carried on with

our journey.

The next port of call was Oban again,

only half a day’s sail from Loch Aline, and

we arrived in time for lunch. The wind had

picked up considerably and after heading

to the nearby island of Kerrera, we had

an interesting challenge in picking up

a swinging mooring.

Once we’d successfully secured Nova to

the swinging mooring, we headed to shore.

We decided to spend two nights at Oban

before we headed north back to Loch

Creran to say goodbye to our guests and

start our adventure.

A week sailing this part of Scotland proved

what we had already expected of the place:

the views are amazing and the sailing super.

After our family left, we spent another two

months sailing the west coast, going round

Skye and all the way out to the Hebrides.

We can definitely say it has been one

of our favourite places to sail so far and

would encourage everyone to go and visit

to experience the views for themselves.

Even with the rain and mist, it is still a lovely

place to visit, and any dampness is worth

it for the days when the sun shines and the

dolphins play in your bow waves. It’s safe

to say we can’t wait to visit again on our

return to the UK.

Paige and Matt

plan to return

to Scotland

Tobermory provides a

colourful backdrop and

some friendly hostelries

Sailing in Scotland is often

through crystal-clear waters

CRUISING LOG

Scotland’s exquisite mountains

often left them feeling as though

they were sailing through the

pages of a fantasy story