In the middle of nowhere

With the forecast predicting fives and sixes we took some time out from sailing to spend it with Kirsty's parents and explore some of the immense scenery around Arisaig. A few miles up the road is Loch Morar, a fresh water loch that runs into a picturesque river, the loch has 500 metre peaks surrounding it. The sun was shining and the wind was blowing, but the scenery is breathtaking. We walked along the northern shore for almost 3 miles before finding a sheltered pebble beach to stop for lunch of roast chicken and carrot cake.

The walk back was just as scenic, and having learnt our lesson from the previous day we stayed ashore and showered before going out that the evening.

Today we left Arisaig to pick up Kisty's parents in Mallaig before heding up Loch Nevis. We'd had strong wind in Arisaig, so I'd let 45 metres of chain out. It was a good idea at the time but later when the windlass has to pull up all the chain which, 40 metres of which is now covered in a thick foul smelling tar like mud, the idea had lost its sparkle. Bucket after bucket of water was washed over the chain, the deck, the chain and the deck, but still black water, or patches of mud would appear on deck and spread. The Scottish mud is like Essex mud, but black. It doesn't just stick to the chain, it coats it, so you can't see the chain links, just a line of thick black ooze coming over the bow roller, coating everything in and around its path. Eventually the anchor appeared and we were able to get on our way. We got to Mallaig about 12:30 and picked up Kirsty's parents who were on the quay waiting for us. Once on board we headed out past Inverie and up through the narrows to inner Loch Nevis. I was going to phone my dad to wish him happy fathers day, but when I picked up my phone I had no service. It wouldn't have been so bad, but the post in Arisaig left at 15:30 on Friday, so the card I posted at 16:30 won't have left until 12:00 on Saturday. It should arrive on Monday. I'm sure my dad will understand.

Kirsty's parents like camping so they brought their tent to stay in tonight. They often walk into the wilderness for days at a time, and the idea of taking Pixie somewhere they haven't walked to was too good an opportunity to miss. We motored the length of the inner loch looking for a good campsite and anchorage, and found somewhere shallow enough to anchor near a secluded beach. One of the problems with the loch is that it has steep sides, so finding a spot of between 5 and 10 metres deep that doesn't drop away to 20 or 30 within 5 metres from that spot was an interesting task. Add to that the need to pitch a tent nearby and the choices limited themselves to one place. And what a great spot it was. We're the only yacht in the inner loch. In the end we laid a kedge anchor from the stern to stop Pixie swinging into rocks or the shore.



The evening was spent around a fire, food was cooked on disposable barbarcues, just the crackle of burning seaweed echoing off the hills broke the silence. Seals played in the water by Sprite our tender, and midges flew around us. Liberal application of Expedition 50 seemed to stop them biting. It was only after the breeze died that they became a problem. By 11pm it was still light, but we had all had enough to drink, so Kirsty and I came back to Pixie, and left the midges and Kirsty's parents alone together.


The midges don't seem to have followed us out to Pixie, although she is quite close to the shore. We'll see what the bites are like tomorrow.