Mull and The Small Isles - UK Wayfarer Association

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Oban - here we come CGatting ready It does not seem to matter how much time we have for preparation, at the last minute things are always a bit of a rush. For any trip there are a few basic things that are essen- Oban. I am surprised that so few peopie seem to start from Oban. It has supermarkets and all kinds of shops, chandlery. There is an excellent campsite a couple of miles out of town at Gallanach and a perfect Wayfarer launch site just over rough road surface on this bit of the M6. wheel nuts on the M6 And then it came to me * what I had forgotten to do after ad- justing the trailer wheel beartiai - like sails, rudder, tiller, The secret here is to always leave them in the boat, then it is impossible to forget them. And for a short trip most other things you can manage without. But for a long cruise in a fairly remote part of the country leaving an important bit of equipment or clothing behind is not a good start. It was not so much a question as to what we had forgotten to bring, more a question of what I had forgotten to do.... 1600hrs and we were away, heading for Scotland and the road from the campsite at Puffin Dive Centre. I like to settle into a long cruise with a day or so to make sure the boat is sailing okay and just to acclimatise. Oban lets you do this. Rather than having to sail straight out into the wide opnsea a day or two to gmake down the Sound of Mull gives a nice gentle start to the holiday,.td.Adornx The trailer seemed to be rather noisy this time, was the boot closed properly? Was there something rattling in the car ? Oh well I guess it is just the ings - tighten the wheel nuts. We were lucky. three nuts were still on though they had worked loose. The wheel itself work ed as all thees was knackered as all the holes were enlbargd,y aond thestd whnere alhbdl worl n. Weht chngedu the whreelnt and tgt headed into Stafford looking for a 4th nut and some new i flc studs. And our next bit of luck was it was only 5pm and we found a Rover dealer still open with spare mini wheel nuts and studs. So we lost an hour but averted what would have been a nasty accident. It was about 0200hrs when we arrived at the campsite at * ~~~~~~~Oban. within 5 minutes the #- - II ^ / * 2 tent was up and we were in our sleeping bags, it was cold and I was regreting not taking our winter bags already. Kerrera/ . { / ~campsiite ,_/Zp - r ban Gallanachmore campsite overlooking Kerrera Sound 4
Oban to Loch Aline Day 1 Saturday 18 May We awoke to the loud broad 1more than F2 and on the nose. We had about 5 hours big buoys in the harbour, saying to Clare `are n't those Car- Norfodk accent of Mike John- of fair tide, our chances of dinal marks ?-. And over the son announcing that he was making Tobermory tonight side bf the boat the seaweed off to Tesco, it was 0300hrs. a did not look too good, but and rocks were quite clear on definite chill was in the air but that did not seem to matter - the bottom in less than 2' feet plenty of blue sky and sun- it was a beautiful day in mag- of water. Well no big deal the shine which was warming nificent scenery. centreboard and rudder just things up. We meet Rob, Car- I am much more relaxed sail- pop up and in the light wind oMtne, Stuart and Simon and ing in Scotland now. I feel that conditions it is no problem, Matt. all comfargetens ita lled I know and understand the just a gentle reminder not to in their large tents. take l a waters - how they change be too relaxed. shower - perhaps the last for 2 weeks ? - and Clare goes for some fresh bread in town. By with different conditions where to expect shallow water how the winds might vary Oban is a main ferry port, so keep a watchful eye for ferries coming to and leaving from 1100hrs we are all gathered at t e wris ai va Oban - and they are pretty the launch slip loading and meant f that had not checked frequent. riggNgEourboats. bThe inec the charts or tides too care- From Oban Harbour we is NE F3/4 and fine, bathed in sunshine and sheltered from fully. Firstly it was close to a low spring tide and we had reached across to Lismore and Lady's Rock. The flooding tide any breeze it is pleasantly warm ashore, had to launch off the end off the slip. And now the second was quite noticeable, sweep- ing us up Loch Linnhe. Being 1330hrs and we are all away thing as we tack across Oban lazy we had not plotted a fromtheslip, andhe ared al aharbour we find the bottom. I course, and a couple of times was just looking at these great we had to head up a bit to lay C _-6 _ * __ _I X _I _* '_a)_EE TS _ SS_ H.,v l.0 _r _ l C_(IU..,4- i1 a) II i>.i 1'i . ;,j,f __ i- a) S~~~~
Page 1 and 2: Mull and The Small Isles Four Wayfa
Page 3: Wherever you sail there is a specia
Page 7 and 8: DAY E _ _ X, 0 t _ Loch Aline to St
Page 9 and 10: Breezy lunch stop at The tides ebbs
Page 11 and 12: 0 U) .0a'~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 0 S _-f
Page 13 and 14: To the open sea at last DAY 6 Thurs
Page 15 and 16: the dark Cuillin mountains on below
Page 17 and 18: ~*. Eigg and Rhum DAY S Satura 25 M
Page 19 and 20: anchoring is the best option below
Page 21 and 22: they are all somewhat mysteri- down
Page 23 and 24: Recovering the boats from Arisai `
Page 25: Books are to be returned on or befo

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