On Sunday I departed Armadale for a shake down sail over to Arisaig, on the mainland side of the Sound of Sleat. Wind NE F4 so it was close to a dead run. I hauled up the new mainsail which is now fully battened, the benefits of which are that it holds a better shape so is more efficient, it doesn’t flog so will last longer, but it weighs about 25% more than the old one, or maybe I’m 25% weaker than last year ! The channel into Arisaig is long and winding and can be down to 1m in depth in places at LWS. I timed arrival for about mid tide and rising and encountered a minimum depth of 2.5m under the keel. The channel opens out into a wide pool with the village of Arisaig at its head.
The following morning I ventured ashore, Arisaig Marine operate a boatyard, moorings, shop and cafe, and have a pontoon with water, accessible all states of tide. In the village is a Spar and what makes this place the ideal spot for crew changes is that it has a station, the last but one stop before Mallaig on the famously picturesque line to Fort William and Glasgow.
Later on Monday I set off back down the channel for a short sail south, around the corner, to the Borrodale Islands. A stiff westerly was blowing and a fair sea had built outside the entrance. We sped along at 7kts on a reach before bearing away east onto a run into Loch Nan Uamh, giving the many reefs and skerries a wide berth. As we pushed on up the loch an enormous rainstorm was fast approaching from astern. It looked like it would engulf me just as I was about to anchor but luckily it passed by about a mile off. The anchorage is one of many gems in this part of the world, nestled in a bay, protected by islands, far from any civilisation and surrounded by beautiful mountains.
Very close by is a wide pebbly beach where the fugitive Bonnie Prince Charlie boarded a ship and fled to France, having hidden in a cave overlooking the bay.
Wednesday, with just a few knots of wind I sailed up to near the head of the Loch to see the impressive railway viaduct, then beat back down and turned south into Loch Moidart. This is another typical glacial melt formed Loch, where the entrance is narrow and littered with rock dropped by the melting ice. Further in the depths increase and the channel broadens. A couple of miles of further on I crossed a shallow sandy bar with a minimum 1.5m depth to spare at an hour before LW. Behind Riska Island is a fabulous anchorage, surrounded by steep wooded hillsides and cliffs. And overlooking us, standing on its own little island, is Castle Tioram, once a stronghold of the McDonalds.
Need to catch a mackerel tonight or it will be a thin dinner, so hoping the new lures do what they say on the packet.
The Adventures of Sea Orchid 