The Sound of Islay Spits Us Out


The tides were nearly at springs and timing mattered, so with gentle headwinds, we left the anchorage early, from behind Eilean a Chuirn in the Ardmore Islands and tacked northwards under cloudless skies.

Drifting Into the Sound of Islay
We arrived at the southern entrance to the Sound of Islay as the tide began to turn northwards.  The gentle winds veered behind us and we drifted onwards, unsuspecting!

The Sound of Islay
The wind freshened and backed and soon after lunch we were spanking along, doing up to 11 knots over the ground.  To starboard, the Paps of Jura stood impressively, well rounded.  To port, more distilleries.

As we approached the northern end of the sound we were suddenly hit by very strong katabatic winds, descending from the Paps.  Luckily we were on a beam reach, so the boat was not pinned too far over.  The genoa was quickly reduced and then a reef went into the mainsail.  We were still over-pressed, doing more than 8 knots over the water but ahead we could see the end of the down-draft by the wave pattern on the water.  We flew along for a few more minutes and then, as suddenly as it started, we were back in gentle winds.  This was all very exciting but not at all nasty, in flat seas and sunshine.

When we reached the anchorage on the east of Oronsay, a beautiful Nicholson yacht, ‘Sarah’, was already in residence, so we anchored further out than them and rowed ashore to explore.  They were on the beach and invited us for drinks later, which was all very pleasant.

Sarah & Rapport, Oronsay


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