Scenic Skye

Away from Lochaline early, ok 7:40am. Yet we were out our sacks at 6am. Don’t ask. And glory be, a gorgeous day for a sail with light winds so I shamed the skipper into raising our mainsail - on the pontoon. Safer there. And once round Ardnamurchan, we were on a NE course to Mallaig with a fine NW breeze. Except the engine never went off once. He’s taken his Genoa off, y’see, and replaced it with a much more manageable storm jib. Useful in 10mph winds? Not so much. Anyway I’d been promised fish & chips in Mallaig. Fine. Except it was such a glorious afternoon and evenings are long and light that skip fancied Kyle instead. Go for it. I’m good crew so I am. The only chipper in Kyle closes at 8pm and we arrived after our 62nm at 9:10pm. M&S canned steak and gravy it was.

Haw. What I should also record, in addition to life’s daily little frustrations of a sailing nature, is that actually it’s all been great fun. We blether away, sometimes just lose ourselves watching the waves, and then I delve into John Rae’s account of trekking through the wilds of Northern Canada. If I was to complain about this, I’d need my arse kicked.