Blowin' in the wind

As Graham said, after 2 days on board unable to go ashore we hadn't killed each other - that bodes well for our marriage I think. But I was going slightly stir crazy. Those who know me will agree that I am not one for sitting still doing nothing.

On Monday morning we listened to the Coastguard broadcast of the forecast and couldn't believe our ears. Having just ridden out the Force 10 storm the Met Office was now forecasting yet another gale - the third in a week. The forecast for Monday wasn't actually looking all that bad so we were faced with some choices. We could head over to Gairloch and try again to get a space on the pontoon, or just stop temporarily to get water and provisions before attempting to get further north. When we arrived at the pontoon we managed to raft against a Sadler 34 "Beez Neez". The skipper told us that they had found out that all the ports north of Gairloch were full - Ullapool, Lochinver and Kinlochbervie. There we were, on a pontoon and able to get off the boat and stretch our legs, buy fresh food and talk to other people! So should we give all that up and head north, potentially getting stuck at anchor in another port? It was a tough decision to make, but we decided to stay put.

After securing the boat we went up to the Harbourmaster's office and paid our dues. He is a very cheery, helpful chap and is working hard to develop the pontoon facilities for visiting yachts. He even told us that they just had electricity installed last Friday. We couldn't believe our luck! Shore power means we can use the fridge as much as we want, turn on the de-humidifier and charge up our laptops. All things we take for granted at home.

Gairloch is a reasonably-sized village. I wouldn't call it a town. That afternoon we went exploring. We found a great butcher with lots of local produce and fresh fruit and veg and sussed out where we could do some much needed laundry. There are also quite a few cafes, restaurants and pubs to choose from, including the Mountain Cafe which does fantastic (and huge) homemade scones and great coffee (don't have the soup though).

So what happens next? Well we are in the hands of the weather gods, and something tells me they don't like us much. Another deep low pressure is making its way towards us and the Met Office keeps changing the time to impact. It currently looks like we'll have gale force winds for most of Wednesday and Thursday - perhaps even severe gale 9. We are resigned to being here until at least Friday. But worse than that, judging from the surface pressure charts there is more to come. This is incredibly frustrating as if this goes on for much longer then we'll have to abort our plan to get to Orkney and the Caledonian Canal. Everyone we have spoken to has said they haven't known anything like this weather pattern before. We are both feeling quite despondent. So many times on this trip we have had to sacrifice the things we want to do and places we want to see because of the weather or technical problems. We are just trying to stay positive and make the most of our time ashore, but it's hard sometimes when we are both so disappointed.

So if anyone lives in the Gairloch area and fancies lending us a car for a day please get in touch! Failing that, any suggestions of places to visit that don't require a car would be much appreciated!