Hebridean Adventure

As some of you may know, I set off for Scotland last Saturday in some trepidation. I was really not sure that a week spent on a small yacht with my husband and four strangers was going to the be most fun holiday of all time. At the very least, I supposed, the weather would be good and I could pretend we were in the Mediterranean. Well, after a night’s rest in Barnard’s Castle before our 5 hour drive to Oban, even that possibility began to fade as the clouds gathered and, by the time we were at Loch Lomond, the rain began to fall. But in fact it all turned out brilliantly, despite the frankly appalling weather, and now I am a firm convert to sailing.

We collected the boat at Dunstaffnage, a marina near Oban and sailed off to anchor for the night near an island called Seil in a place called the Pool of the Otters – which was just as romantic as it sounds. The waters were calm and peaceful and we had an excellent night, after an exciting moment where our anchor dragged and we had to move to a different spot. But the weather was too bad for us to do the trip originally proposed, to Jura, Islay and Iona, so we turned north and went up the Sound of Mull to Tobermory, stopping at Loch Feochan which has a delightfully tricky entrance. It seems that sailors like nothing more than a challenge. Negotiating a yacht with a 2m keel through waters 3m deep at high tide is apparently fun. We made it in and out, lost a boat hook while trying to moor up, and spent a pleasant night listening to the wind rattling the mast. Tobermory was a bit of a relief. We actually moored up to a marina and were able to have a shower and spend the evening in a wonderful pub. And England won the Test, which cheered up at least half of the crew.

From Mull we sailed to Ardnamurchan Point which is the westernmost point of the British mainland. We were hoping to see whales, but they weren’t playing. We did see lots of amazing birds, and then, to my great joy, some dolphins. By then, however, we knew that the weather was not going to improve. The next two nights were spent anchored in different places in Loch Sunart, and the final night back in Tobermory. We had to cut the trip short by a day and sail back to Dunstaffnage during a break in the weather at 3am on Saturday, because the winds were due to increase to Force 8 by the afternoon! And then, just to make the whole thing more exciting, when we neared the harbour and took down the sail the engine would not start! Well, thank goodness we had a brillant skipper who was completely calm and in the end we were towed safely to harbour.

All this sounds rather stressful. But in fact it was a brilliant way to spend a holiday because we were so busy doing things (sailing, watching out for rocks and other boats, cooking, washing up, playing Scrabble), that I had no time at all to think about everyday life. All the little worries and niggles about my own life and the state of the world just faded away, and our whole focus was on the moment. Talk about mindful! I managed to get a lot of knitting done – I took the current Shetland Wool Week hat with me – it seemed appropriate. It may surprise you to know that I do not often get a chance to sit for hours knitting. It was great. We shared the chores and the food and company were excellent.

And while you were all sweltering away down here, I got a chance to test out a whole lot of knitwear – my Rainton Sweater (in WYS Fleece DK) was an absolute lifesaver in the chilly evenings and we all wore woolly hats all the time outside, even under our oilskins. My and my husband’s hats were knitted by me and did the job for sure. And, although the weather was very Atlantic, it did not rain all the time. As so often in the UK, we had lovely evenings and amazing sunsets. The British Isles are so beautiful – I had never been up to that part of Scotland before and it was stunning. We have promised ourselves to make more of an effort to see more of the country.

I would like to have been able to talk to you of Scottish sheep and wonderful wool, but did not have much luck in that respect. Although I did discover that the owner of Island Crafts in Tobermory is from Norfolk. Small world or what? There was a noticeable lack of yarn shops in the Hebrides which was rather disappointing. A gap in the market?

Anyway. I now accept that sailing is actually a fun pastime and we are planning our next trip. I have to say, however, that I am lobbying hard for it to be to the Ionian Islands in Greece!