Hardly a narrowboat!

Greeting us at Ardrishaig were our good friends and former neighbours from Whittlesford, Sylvia and Colin. They were to join us going through the Crinan Canal, which cuts across the 'foot' of the Mull of Galloway from Lower Loch Fyne to the Sound of Jura. Now Sylvia and Colin know Scotland very well indeed, having been visiting the area for 30 years or more. So their encyclopaedic knowledge of the area would be invaluable and there are 15 locks on this canal so extra crew would be welcome! As you can see, they are paying attention to the Skipper ...

Here they are again, still looking fresh after only 6 locks. The hard work is still to come ...

At last doing some real work ...

Follyfin looked quite majestic, if a little oversized, as she glided through the locks.

By 5 p.m. we had arrived at the top lock, just a stone's throw from the open sea below us. Much more relaxing than our usual days at sea, and rounded off with an excellent meal of fresh halibut at the Seafood Bar in the Crinan Hotel, all in all it was a memorable and thoroughly enjoyable day. Once again the sunset looking out towards Mull was splendid.

This morning, Thursday 14th June, we waved farewell to our friends who walked back along the canal to their car. Follyfin enjoyed an excellent sail up the Sound of Luing and then the Firth of Lorn (don't you just love these Scottish names?) towards the island of Kerrara just west of Oban. And here we are tonight, in the marina deliberately to wait out the gales that have been forecast. Fingers crossed that the pontoon remains anchored!

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Catching up

As predicted, the mobile signal has been very unpredictable over the last few days. So this is a 3-day catch up report ... As mentioned in the last post we eventually escaped Whitehaven where both weather and the broken sea lock gates had conspired to delay us longer than planned. The gates were finally opened manually for us and off we went again and I must say, the sea did not look too welcoming as we emerged into Whitehaven outer harbour.

The Isle of Whithorn, first port of call in Scotland, was gorgeous.

St Ninian first came here in 6th century, sheltering in a cave on the point. There is a ruined chapel, used by pilgrims visiting St Ninian's Shrine in the 13th century. The view from the window back down to St Bee's Head is fantastic.

Leaving Isle of Whithorn on sunny Sunday afternoon, we headed towards the Mull of Galloway to anchor overnight in a sheltered bay on the south-eastern tip. This position enabled us to make the 4 a.m. start the following day, necessary to round the Mull close in - luckily there were very calm conditions - thus avoiding nasty overfalls, and to catch a favourable tidal stream almost all the way up to Arran. This was an all-day trip, involving sailing across The North Channel (a fearsome stretch of water between Ireland and Scotland which is invariable rough even in otherwise calm conditions!) and on up the Firth of Clyde. We were glad to drop the anchor at 7 p.m. on Monday evening in the tranquil waters off Holy Island, a Buddhist sanctuary, just across from Lamlash on the East coast of Arran. Leaving there the next day, we continued up the Firth of Clyde, then turned north west into Bute Sound leaving Isle of Bute to our right, on into Inchmarnock Water and so into Lower Loch Fyne (the same of the seafood restaurant ilk), our destination being Ardrishaig where the entrance to the south end of the Crinan Canal is located. The view back towards Arran on Tuesday evening was beautiful. It stays light for so long in the evenings now.

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