Back to "Normal"

The last three months became normal to us, but since coming back we've had to adjust to a different kind of normal.

We hired a car to bring all our gear home with us, stopping on the way back to look at a wedding venue. The next morning there were delays on the M25, so we ended up driving around the southern section to avoid the traffic, it seems nothing has changed. We arrived at home to see the front garden had thrived in the London weather, it was overgrown and just getting to the door, seemed like one of my short cuts on one of our many walks in the highlands.

Inside we were met by Gina, one of three cats we have, she didn't bound into our arms, in fact she didn't really give us any sort of welcome at all. Only after an hour or so did the cats seem to remember us. The shy one Roxy, seems to have lost a lot of her shyness and rather than making a dash for it as soon as we come round a corner, she'll now come to us for strokes. So shy was Roxy, that when Kirsty and I started seeing each other, there was a time when I doubted Roxy's existance. Now she's been sleeping by my side at night, when before she might only make it onto the corner furthest from my head.

The long weekend has been thoroughly relaxing for me, no weather forecast to worry about, no wondering what will break next, no having to make a headland at a certain time because of the tide. We returned the car on Saturday, did a bit of shopping and came back to clear the front garden in the afternoon. The greenery was reduced from the trees, bushes and hedges, and now sits in numerous bags waiting to go to the recycling centre. Gardening is a chore but you don't worry about what will happen if the wind picks up. While sailing is relaxing, there is always a "What if?" or two going around in my mind, being at home there has been none of that, and that's what has been relaxing for me.

There have been many other things to get used to and come to terms with. Getting up out of bed, rather than having to climb out, going to a bathroom as opposed to an area next to the fore cabin. Having a hot shower metres away from where you sleep, a shower you don't have to get dressed to use, you can just slip on your dressing gown and wonder down the hall. A dishwasher, a toaster and an oven that all work the way we've been brought up to expect. On Pixie, it seems perfectly acceptable to remove the contents of the fridge for a bottle of beer lurking in the coldest part at the bottom, back at home I can open the fridge, take out a beer and close the door. No longer to I have to spread the contents of the fridge around the boat, looking for a clear surface to put lettuce, cheese and other assorted cool items on, I can open the door and a beer is there to welcome me.

The memories of the cruise have turned rose tinted, mainly because the memories before Cape Wrath seems to have been replaced by the memories of Orkney and the relaxing pace of the Canals. There were quite a few times on the West Coast when Kirsty and I felt like we couldn't go on, asking ourselves why we were there? Neither of us were enjoying it, slogging our way to windward, and watching bits of our well maintained yacht break, bend or refuse to work. Me complaining about the weather, Kirsty longing for a bath. Not being able to go on deck that evening because it was too cold, too wet or too windy or all three. At the time we vowed we'd never do a trip like this again. We carried on, and now we are glad we did, we managed to sail up the north coast in a really bad summer, it's hard to imagine a worst summer to attempt a trip like we did. It's had to see another period when we'll go through something like that.

The other night we looked back at some of the photos I took. I'm a professional photographer, and will only take photos when I know they will come out well, therefore I rarely take photographs in the rain or while it's overcast, only when the sun shines. Therefore my photographic images always show the trip when it was sunny. While it wasn't dawn 'til dusk sunshine all the time (only around 4 days while we were cruising Scotland) the sun did make an appearance more than I seem to remember in my mind. There were of course times when the sun came out, but it was blowing 30 knots, and unless you notice a tree at a funny angle or white tipped waves there's nothing to show otherwise. I can also remember being in Tobermory, it was raining when we arrived, and gradually cleared up, the sun came out for 4 minutes while we were there, the photograph I have is of a sunny Tobermory.

Since coming back I've got rid of a load of clothes, having not missed them or worn them for the last 3 months I have no attachment to them. I have however had to think about what to wear again. On board, a T-shirt would last between showers and jeans would last a week. Now it's back to a daily shower and a fresh T-shirt everyday. I have to remember where my T-shirts and clothes are, having not used draws or wardrobes for three months. We didn't miss television at all, we watch 2 DVDs on Kirsty's laptop while we were away. I happily sat for 3 hours watching a GP, and Kirsty and I spent the same amount of time catching up on the Eastenders. It was nice to relax for those hours, and although we were never great telly addicts.

It was a trip of a life time for us. Now Kirsty is back at work and I go back tomorrow, it's given me a bit of time to reflect on the trip and what we gained out of it. Obviously I've gained a fiancée out of it, and there is no one else I'd rather spend my life with. As Kirsty said the other night to our friends " We had remarkably few rows" and it's true! We were living in close company with each other for 3 months, and we hardly ever spent any time apart, and I think we had about 3 or 4 disagreements in that time. When there were bad times one of us would be strong, we could rely on each other, trust each other, we knew what the other was thinking and any concerns they might have. Our disagreements weren't about anything personal, mostly they were more about the frustration of the weather and the situations we found ourselves in. By the end of the trip we were a great team, we knew each other's strengths and weaknesses, we enjoyed each others company, and we had both got ourselves through this great adventure together.

The sense of achievement is also something that makes me think. Sailing across the top of Britain was a great feeling, seeing the weather map of the British Isles on TV  last night and thinking we've sailed that far. OK if I wanted a bigger ambition we could buy a bigger map. But I think we've done something to be proud of, but that wasn't why we did it, we did it because we wanted to sail around Scotland, not to get a warm fuzzy feeling when we see a map of Scotland. I also feel very proud that we did it, just the two of us, and in a 32 ft boat. Many of the places we went to we were the smallest visiting boat in the marina, bay or harbour. There were times when we felt like we were in the middle of nowhere, physically and emotionally.

If I wasn't hit by a 12 tonne powerboat, and thought that I had died earlier this year, then I would say that this trip is the hardest thing I've done. Both physically and emotionally it has been draining. My accident has meant there were many things I couldn't do on the boat that I used to take for granted, from lifting our clothing storage bags around to be able to sit for any amount of time in one place while we were sailing. This made it harder for me on a physically level, there were days on the trip when walking was painful, let alone having to wind winches or pull up sails, and live at a 20º angle for a few hours of the day.

Emotionally there were times in Gairloch when we thought we were on our way again, gale after gale had gone through, our engine stopped, we got the fuel sorted, left again, only to find out we had blown the head gasket. Once over that, we found out the cylinder head was damaged, it seemed like an endless boxing match when we were already on the ropes, but no referee was there to stop it. One thing someone told me when I asked about long term cruising was "Everything happens for a reason" and after all the time we spent at Gairloch it's one of the places we have the fondest memories of, not because of all the problems on the boat, but all the people we met who helped us out.

This is the first time since May 22nd that Kirsty hasn't been more 30ft away from me for more than a couple of hours, and it's strange. If Kirsty wasn't around I had Pixie to consume my time, she's in Scotland, Kirsty is at work, I'm sat in the lounge with a sleeping cat for company. As nice as it is I think I'd rather be sailing with Kirsty.

The long goodbye

In Portavadie we met up with Muir, from Flamingo Yacht Charter. Kirsty has known Muir for years, and I met him a few years ago when we went sailing to Gigha, via Sanda and back via Campbelltown. It was my first taste of sailing in Scotland, and although we were storm bound in Gigha for a day, it was a great week, and one that planted the seeds for this trip.

Muir was bringing Dipper, one of his yachts, from the Crinan Canal to Flamingo's base in Largs. We ate at the excellent restaurant at Portavadie with Muir and his crew, before sailing back in company the next day. Well as close as a 38 footer and a 32 footer can sail together. To start with the wind was light and behind us, not Pixie's fastest angle to sail, so Dipper and her crew soon took the lead. I tried to sail the angles off the wind, but we were still left behind. As we turned left up the West Kyle of Bute, Dipper was waiting for us, and the wind was on the nose. 13-18 knots of true wind, conditions that Pixie relishes. Soon we were cross tacking up with Dipper up West Kyle, matching her speed, and sometimes pulling away from her. In 14 knots of true breeze Pixie was romping up wind under full sail at 5.8-6 knots. Great speed for a 32 footer. At the head of West Kyle we were able to ease sheets a little, but the flukey winds (and local knowledge) let Dipper slip by on the inside. She caught a few favourable gusts while we were becalmed.

As we turned down to East Kyle Dipper was away into the distance and even though we goosewinged the genoa and the wind had increased to 20 knots there was no catching Dipper now. It didn't stop us enjoying a great sail though. With full genoa and main Pixie was sailing well at 6-7 knots, but holding her steady dead down wind to keep both sails full was taxing. So we furled away the genoa and sailed under mainsail alone. We were sailing comfortably at around 6 knots, as the wind steadily started to increase. It went up to 31 knots true and Pixie seemed to be enjoying it as much as we were, her top speed was 8.5 knots.

One of the great things about the Clyde is that the waters are so sheltered, and that unless the wind comes from the south there are few waves, and none of the swell from the Atlantic. It all makes for great sailing conditions. Even blowing at over 25 knots for a few hours there were no more than a few 1 ft heigh waves to show for it. Great for us when Pixie can get stopped by bigger waves.

Less that 5 hours after leaving Portavadie we were closing on Pixie's winter home of Largs. It's the biggest marina we've been in on this trip. The staff are friendly and helpful, the facilities are good (that includes the showers) there is a large chandlery where, after loosing the dorade cowling on our second day in Scotland, we have finally been able to find a replacement. They sell Gaz and diesel and have free WiFi. In fact Largs has everything you could want of a south coast marina and more. From leaving our berth, we can be on the Clyde in open water in less than a minute. No south coast marina has such easy acces to such a vast rich cruising ground.

Today was hot and sunny and we spent the day cleaning Pixie, she might only be 32 ft long (actually she's 31ft 6 inches) but there's a lot of her to clean. For the second night in a row we ate at Regattas restaurant in the marina. Afterwards tonight we went to the Largs Yacht Club and watched the sun set from the 180° panoramic views that the club has over the Clyde.

We returned to Pixie, and toasted her with the reminants of a bottle of Highland Park, she did well, and looked after us through so tough weather. It seems a shame to leave her behind.

Luxury at last

3 months is quite a long time to be sailing around, and there is one thing we always look forward to in each new place we come to. The showers. We hop from port to port, like a bee, flower-hopping in the height of summer. We don’t go to harbours in search of showers, but we’re always hoping that the next facilities might be at least clean. More often than not we’re disappointed. We’ve seen the word “luxury” used to describe shower facilities too often, only to be let down, so when we saw Portavadie’s facilities described as luxury, we didn’t raise an eyebrow, or exchange hopeful glances. If only we knew then what we know now.

Yachtsmen, by their very nature, have a certain amount of disposable income. We do after all, decide to spend the summer throwing money in the general direction of our boats, however big or small they might be. Yachts aren’t cheap, so it’s pretty fair to say that sailors do enjoy the finer things in life, be that food, wine, whisky or all of the above. We’re not animals, although when sailing we’ll forgo certain luxuries like a good night sleep, a daily wash, and personal space for a good sail to a beautiful part of the world. However when ashore we like to resort to being human again. We’re not cavemen, although we choose to travel is something smaller and wetter, but with slightly more light, than the average cave. We do have certain standards of hygiene, but this simple fact seems to be forgotten by many places we’ve visited.

Unfortunately I can count on one hand the number of clean and tidy shower facilities on one hand. A good shower sticks out in our memory as rare events on our cruise. It shouldn’t be like this, all we ask is for somewhere clean to have a shower and somewhere cleaner to get dressed. More often than not, the changing area is wetter than the cubical where a powerless showers dribbles water at an odd angle. Getting undressed and then dressed while standing in a cold puddle of cloudy water, hair, plasters and toe nails really isn’t why I choose to come sailing. Our Crocs have saved our stomachs turning many times, small rafts of familiar cleanliness that float around while we shower. Crocs are self-righting, and will always land sole down when kicked off in the process of teetering on one leg trying to keep the legs of my jeans dry.

We try to erase the bad showers from our minds like bad dreams. Here are the places that stood out, not because one was better that the other, they all had their good point and bad. So here they are, in the order we discovered them.

The showers in Kilmore Quay, after a terrible crossing they stand out as being clean and tidy and stationary, they were new, with a beige tile thing happening and lots of room. The downside was they cost €2 for 2 minutes. So in a woke-up-late-bus-leaves-in-5-minutes style shower it’s just enough time for a hair and body wash before the time runs out. They do however give you a count down timer to watch15 seconds tick away as they warm up.

Next on our memorable list were the showers at Stomness. They were spotlessly clean on 5 days out of 7. They were roomy, especially the disabled shower compartment, and more like a modern shower room than a cubicle. They were mixed, which wasn’t a problem until you needed to insert your money into the timer. The timers were outside the cubicle. So once undress you had to pop a towel around you to start the timer, running the risk of bumping into a poor person of the opposite sex or a member of the public who had got lost from the ferry terminal waiting room.

The Duisdale hotel. There was luxury. But what else could one expect from a 4 star hotel? It had clean white towels, complimentary toiletries, your own room, a bar downstairs to wait for your partner, the bad news is that they cost £4.50 each, but we didn’t mind paying because they were clean and warm, only the power of the shower, which seemed to be wheezing at the effort of supplying all the water I demanded was the downside.

At Lossiemouth, the new shower facilities were good, free, cleaned regularly, powerful, with funky Mira showers that beeped and had a trendy blue light shining on the front. There were only two for the whole marina, and if we were berthed in the other basin it would have been a walk, but otherwise these were the sort of facilities we could get very use to.

Crinan was the last place to make it onto our list, the showers were large clean and powerful, everything was going their way until they stopped short of the 6 minutes promised. I was half way through a shave, Kirsty still had conditioner in her hair as the water ran dry. We spoke to the chandlery to let them know there might be a problem, and the refunded our money. Good service and good showers, while they lasted.

So that was our list of the 5 showers that had stayed with us in 90 odd days, not because they were particularly special, but because they weren’t as bad as all the others along the way. That was until Portavadie.

Portavadie has just raised the bar. OK they have a head start because the marine is only a couple of years old, but the first thing you notice about the gents bathroom is that they are warm and dry. No shallow end of a swimming pool was there to greet me as I opened the frosted glass door. The duckboards were quality wood, no trace of a previous occupant, it was though I was the first person to use them, and the floor was bone dry. The next thing that caught my eye was the size of the showerhead, large and round like a sunflower head sticking out of the wall, behind a glass door, there was no mouldy curtain to shrink-wrap you as the water comes on.


There was no timer to restrict the water, and a temperature control, not just an anonymous button that chooses what temperature the water will be. In the shower, with hot water cascading over me in a quantity that would dry a loch somewhere, I could still hear the music being played into the bathrooms, a shower listening to George Michael, rather than a man in the cubicle next to me. Getting out of the shower, was the first place I felt I could stand on in bare feet without a risk to my health. I got dressed normally, rather than if I was balancing over a bath of acid.



The sinks were spotless, with Arran Aromatics complimentary hand wash, not only that but there was also a hair dryer….and also a hair straightener! If I had enough hair to straighten I would have used it, not because I need it, but because it was there. I know what you’re thinking, that sort of luxury doesn’t come cheap. Actually it does, it was all included in the price of the berth. £21 odd for Pixie (at 9.6 metres) isn’t really that expensive. When you think about how much is spent on showers. One when you arrive, one the next morning, that £2/person for £4 for us. £17 a night for a stay in a marina, and usable “Luxury” Showers (note the capital L).

I feel at Portavadie, I’ve seen a glimpse of the future. And it’s LUXURY!

A fan of Arran

Waking up and looking around Loch Ranza and the mountains and scenery that surround this pretty little harbour, it's a great view to start the day. The ruins of a castle looking over the harbour and pergola style roofs of the distillery poking above the trees in the distance. The purple heather coating the mountains, heavy clouds passing overhead, patches of green on the hill sides where the sun has broken through. So much to keep eyes occupied. But from a boat you can only see so much, getting up into the scenery is a whole new way to experience it.

We decided to do a nine mile round walk, first over the hills to Laggan, then a walk around the coast back to Arran Distillery for a tour.

The walk started off easy enough up a gravel track with sign posts pointing the way. Soon we'd lost the track, which seemed to go through a hedge on the other side of a field, we followed where we thought the track went. The track got fainter and fainter and soon the only footsteps through the boggy ground were those of sheep. We were heading in the right direction but on the wrong track. We persevered until we met what was clearly the right track, carved into the hill side. The going was much easier and once over the top of a pass between two rounded peaks we were treated to a stunning view over the Clyde.

An August weekend in the Solent would have hundreds of boats tacking back and forth. On the Clyde I counted 17 yachts. More boats sailing than we have seen since May, the difference was that these yachts were well spread out white dots, rather than collisions waiting to happen.

We decended the 260 metres down the path to sea level. Groups of red deer and birds of prey could be seen if we looked carefully up to the peaks.


Once back at sea level we found a sheltered place on the stoney beach for lunch, before walking around the coast to Lochranza. The coastal path was more like rock climbing for beginners at some points as we clambered up, around and down the rocks. Other parts of the path were like walking across a lawn. As we reached Fairy Dell it started to rain quite heavily and we got soaked on the last mile or so to the Arran Distillery.

Arran's only distillery is the 5th smallest and also one of the newest in Scotland. Unlike other island malts Arran don't use peat in the drying of the malted barley, so it lack the smokey flavour of many other malts. It does however make it a very smooth malt, that's really quite drinkable.

With the 1530 tour full we booked onto the 1630 tour, giving us enough time to head to their cafe. The cafe do selections of whiskys as tasting platters. We went for their Old and Rare selection and an Arran cheese platter. Because Arran are a new distillery, only now 15 years old, they experimented a lot with different finishes. So the spirit would mature normally in oak barrels, but for the last few months it would be transfered to a barrel that had been used to mature wine or cognac etc. The Old and Rare collection, as the waitress confessed afterwards were a selection of whiskys that the distillery used to produce. So rather than the whiskys having spent time getting old in a barrel, these had spent time getting old on a shelf, and weren't necessarily a selection of their best whiskys. Instead of mature like George Clooney, we got old like Dad's Army. A little dissappointed we joined up on the tour. Even after visiting numerous distilleries there is always something new that can be gained from a tour. This time we learnt that around £8 of a 40% bottle of whisky goes to the tax man.

This tour finished in the visitors' tasting room, where we were able to taste some more whiskys from their range. Our earlier dissapointment was forgotten as we tasted our 3rd whisky, we repaid their hospitality by buying a couple of bottles of this, their tasty single cask bourbon finish.

Clear of the Canal

It's been an enjoyable time in the Crinan, a speed limit of 4 knots and overgrown greenery rubbing down the side of the boat, slows you down. Not to mention the unforgiving stone walls that they have for locks. Unlike a wooden pontoon there is no room for error, and Pixie has 1 small scratch to show where she's been. Luckily she didn't have topsides covered in canal slime the way some other yachts have.

We left the Crinan at around midday today to head south to Lochranza on Arran. The forecast was SW 4 or 5 occasionally 6, and it's a relief that the forecast is now bearing more of a resemblance to the weather we experience.

We had more than 30 knots over the deck at times but it was good to be sailing again. Canals are all fair and well, but Pixie was born to sail, and with a good breeze, and more importantly calm water, Pixie was positivly romping along at over 6.5 knots.


The wind was steadily increasing so I tucked in 1 reef, then as the wind built to over 22 knots I took in another, reducing the headsail at the same time. We were sailing comfortably and fast and then the wind died. We drifted for a few minutes until I shook out the reefs.

The wind then came back to 14 knots from nowhere and rapidly built to 30 knots apparent. Then eased to around 25 knots so I took in a reef and some genoa and we were on course for Lochranza. It was great sailing.

We picked up a buoy just as the heavy clouds dispersed, so now we're sat here in the sun, with a couple of swans after some bread


It's been good to have a boisterious sail today. The sheltered waters of the Clyde seem a luxury after the west coast, no waves, no swell, no scary tidal races. It's taken us ages to get here, but Pixie's new home waters look set for some excellent sailing.

Coast to coast

The weather on the west coast has been appalling. Luckily on the Crinan Canal it has been beautiful. We arrived at Crinan on Wednesday morning and having seen the forecast we decided to make the most of the 7 mile passage to Loch Fyne. We spent most of the rest of the day lapping up the sunshine in the cockpit, finally managing to top up the tans and read a few books.


On Thursday we ventured through the first lock and gently motored along the narrow canal. Unlike the Caledonian, in the Crinan canal you have to operate the locks yourself. With two people this is somewhat tricky, but by no means impossible. Initially we got lucky and went through the first 5 or so with another boat. Many hands make light work and we were getting through them at a good pace. We decided to stop after number 8 and went alongside a pontoon for the night. We ate well at the Cairnbaan Hotel and had a little too much to drink. Neither of us slept that well. This could have been due to the alcohol, or it could have been the torrential rain waking us up. We thought we were in for a whole day of it but we dragged ourselves up and through a few more locks. This time we were on our own. Graham was on the boat and I was ashore operating the locks. By the end we were well practised and I was relishing the challenge. By lunchtime the sun came out and it stayed out. We arrived at Ardrishaig at about 1700 and promptly relaxed with an ice cream followed by a beer.


Tomorrow we'll head back out to sea as we begin the last few days of our 14 week trip.

Sunny Scotland?

The anchorage at the top of Shuna was pleasant and peaceful. There was a light breeze from the south, and with our plan to head south it would mean that the trip down to Crinan would be under engine. We raised the anchor (without the tripping buoy today) and motored off towards Craobh Haven to refuel for our trip through the canal and on towards Largs.

We set off from Largs at 1200 motoring at 5 knots to get down to Dorus Mor, a narrow gap formed by an Island to the south of the Craignish peninsular. Tides through this gap can run at 8 knots, and with wind against tide is can get very rough, as photos in the guide books will testify. Today however it was a puppy compare to the wild dog it can be. We timed it just about spot on, when the tide turned on our favor we had a quick passage through and on to the entrance to the Crinan Canal. Compared to the Caledonian the entrance to the Crinan is narrow in comparison. The other difference is the way they handle the ropes. On the Caley, ropes are passed over the hook an back to you in a long loop, on the Crinan they prefer to have a bowline tied in one end and just have that over the hook at the side of the lock.

We had a nice surprise when we went top pay. We were able to upgrade our Caledonian transit licence to a two week licence which will give us longer to get through the Crinan and save us £20 as well. Worth considering if you are planning to do both canals in within a two week period of time.



We're now in the lock basin basking in the sunshine and taking it easy. There is very little breeze in here and looking back out towards the Sound of Jura, there's not much wind out there either.

When the sun comes out there really is no better cruising ground than Scotland. You just have to wait around for the sun, which can take a while