Our next voyage through the Small Isles took us to the Island of Rum. This is a wild and mountainous place with just one anchorage on the east side. View of Rum Island from the Sea Rum has two interesting claims to fame. One is the exotic and rather curious Kinloch Castle, a hunting lodge for a previous owner, Sir George Bullough. Sir George used to have his staff fire at unwanted boats who dared to enter his waters, earning it the title of the "Forbidden Isle". The other is that they boast the largest and most prolific population of midges - maybe not something you would normally want to advertise to potential visitors! Kinloch Castle The island was sold by the Bulloughs in 1957 and is now owned by Scottish National Heritage (SNH), a government funded organisation that promotes the natural environment for the public to enjoy. The population is currently about 30 people and they have a primary school (described as "very remote, rural") with 1 pupil...
From Loch Ranza we sailed on a broad reach in frisky conditions, under all plain sail. We touched nine knots in one gust, which is somewhat faster than hull speed, so we were becoming semi-displacement! We arrived quite quickly in East Loch Tarbert. There are a lot of Tarberts around here, so they can get confusing. The name "tarbert" is derived from Gaelic and is a term for an inlet or loch separated from the one opposite by a small ridge of land, or isthmus. The Vikings sometimes used to shift their boats over the ridges, to save sailing the long way around. With a substantial keel, we'll have to keep sailing. East Loch Tarbert Entrance - View From Castle With lots to see and interesting local walks, we would have liked to stay longer in Tarbert, but while the rest of the country was expecting a heat wave, heavy rain was forecast here. We therefore decided to press on to the Crinan Canal and sit it out there. We have ...
Fire at sea is a frightening event, partly because there is nowhere to run away to. Yesterday, as the boat rolled wildly in a squall, I dropped a teabag onto the stove and invented a new form of Lapsang Souchong (no, it's not worth trying). However, I have to admit that it was a very tiny fire, so it was a bit of a storm on a teacup...... We enjoyed a very fast sail from Dun Laoghaire to Ardglass with wild, cold, squally winds. We tried out the new working jib, flat cut for heavy weather and set on an inner forestay. It worked well, giving us 7+ knots over the water for lots of the time. We close and beam reached in winds of about force 4/5 but which sometimes dropped to about force 2, leaving us slatting in the cross-seas, and then gusted up to force 8, briefly overpowering our single reef. And so to the gentle town of Ardglass and the cosy marina. Ardglass Marina A big advantage of cruising at this time of year is that there is plenty of spac...
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