Friday 17 April 2015

Perfect day sail


Tobermory in April means COLD nights, and sleeping in woolly hats, but the sunshine was glorious in the morning, and Julian did some work on the rigging in his teeshirt!

After that we went sailing, or at least motoring in still air to have a look at Ardnamurchan Point with the thought that we would then head for Muck. We saw some thing that was probably a pod of whales in the distance, heading into the Sound of Mull. We were too far away to see much, but they looked bigger than dolphins!

Ardnamurchan light
As we got close to Ardnamurchan a breeze sprang up, so we raised the sails. The forecast had promised some wind, 3-4 from the East or North East, and as it came in and strengthened nicely we decided not to beat towards Muck, and instead turned onto a broad reach for Coll. Much better! A seal popped up to have a look at us , but was really more interested in the sea weed it was holding!

There were quite a lot of guillemots about, and a couple of cormorants fishing, plus some gulls too distant to identify. Plenty of birds really, but not a hint of a sea eagle! 
North end of Coll

At Coll we gybed round and reached back towards the sound of Mull, romping along at 4-5 knots, and touching 6 for a moment. This sort of day is what sailing is about, a good breeze, hardly any swell, and wonderful scenery; the sort that photographs are too small to convey!

The wind disappeared as we got back into the shelter of Ardnamurchan point, and we motored into Tobermory and picked up the buoy where Robinetta is going to spend the next five weeks while Julian and I go back to work.

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