After walking Karen to the train station the next morning, we departed for Loch a Choire. Roman and I were able to get dinner reservations at The Boathouse Restaurant and we decided to indulge in a special treat. We had tried to get reservations the last time we were in the loch but they were fully booked. We tied Flight up to a mooring and then departed in the dinghy for the restaurant. The Boathouse is tiny and is literally a former boathouse. I had oysters and fresh sea bass caught not far from the restaurant and Roman had venison from the Kingairloch Estate. Everything was delicious, elegantly presented and it was fun to treat ourselves to a nice restaurant.
We headed for Tobermory with a couple of nights in Loch Aline to chill along the way. I’m enjoying having no fixed itinerary or time schedule and it serves us well because where and when we go is dependent on the weather, the winds and the tides.
Tobermory was just as cute and engaging on our second visit. The Hebridean Whale and Dolphin Trust was having their annual Whale and Dolphin Day and they had life sized, inflatable orca, bottle nosed and common dolphins on display, plus fun activities for both kids and adults. In the evening, we attended “Fins and Gins,” an annual fundraiser featuring a welcome gin and tonic, a talk by a researcher and followed by a “ceilidh” (pronounced kay-lee), a traditional Scotish social gathering featuring Celtic folk music and group dancing. The talk was given by Georg Hantke, Senior Vertebrate Preparator at the National Museum of Scotland about the Scottish orca pod. Sadly over the last 20 years, the Scottish orca pod has dwindled from 11 individuals to only two remaining males. Georg gets called in when there are whale or dolphin strandings and when dead individuals wash up on shore. He takes tissue samples to study genetics, overall health and cause of death. Sadly, all of the dead individuals have high levels of toxins and other pollutants in their bodies.
The talk wasn’t all doom and gloom. Georg told the story about an elderly dolphin who lost the ability to swim with his tail due to boney, arthritic deposits in its spine which cut the motor nerves. That particular dolphin ate very well as he became expert in breaking into fish farms and eating the salmon. He brought along bones and baleen that we were encouraged to pick up and explore. Some of the bones were still covered in yellow, smelly, greasy deposits which we were encouraged to rub into our hands if we could stand the smell. Needless to say, I passed up that experience.
The ceilidh began after the talk and drew a huge crowd for Tobermory (population ~1100). The music was provided by fiddle and guitar, and the caller taught the dance steps before each new song. Everyone participated from small children to grandparents. There was a group of young adult guys who eagerly joined in on the dancing after downing a few beers (the drinking age is 18). A great time was had by all.
Before leaving Tobermory, we filled up on both fresh water and diesel fuel as places to provide both will become few. The water was free, but the diesel cost us dearly. The price was £2.00 per liter and after I converted the cost to US dollars per gallon it was $10.03 per gallon. Given that Flight’s tanks hold 120 gallons, I was glad that our tanks were not completely empty. Inspite of still having some fuel onboard, the bill was considerable.
TIL – Today I learned that Scotch Eggs are not Scottish. They were invented by Fortnum & Mason, a high-end food retailer, in 1738. We bought some before leaving Tobermory to enjoy as an easy lunch while under sail. For the uninitiated, a Scotch egg is a hard boiled egg covered in sausage, rolled in oats and then deep fried.
We headed further north to experience some of the more remote beauty of Scotland’s fame. We sailed out of the Sound of Mull and headed toward the Minch, passing Ardnamurchan Point. According to our cruising guide, “It used to be customary for any yacht returning from a cruise beyond Ardnamurchan to display a bunch of heather at the end of her bowsprit as a token of having been around this exposed headland.” We have officially earned our heather.
Our destination was Loch Moidart and our final approach to the opening of the loch was met with rain and fog. Thankfully, there were no waves or swell so entering the loch was not complicated. Then the navigational fun began! We had four GPS devices running three sets of navigational charts to make sure we stayed in the channel and missed all of the underwater rocks. Roman was on the wheel and I was responsible for directing our forward progress through the underwater labyrinth to our anchorage. Loch Moidart is known for being one of the most picturesque of all of the West Coast lochs and we dropped anchor with Castle Toiram to stern.
We are sitting tight in our very protected anchorage for a couple of days. A low pressure system is moving through with lots of wind and rain. We dropped a second anchor and settled down to enjoy our books, good food, and the first episode of season 4 of Ted Lasso while the wind whistled through our rigging. One pleasant surprise about cruising in UK and Irish waters is that we have had excellent 4G or 5G cell service nearly everywhere. It makes posting blog entries, making travel arrangements and keeping up with folks back home very convenient.
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