On a beautiful Saturday morning we set sail southbound from Craobh in light breezes and a strong tide we ended up in Loch Spelve eventually but went via Crinan. We made good progress and almost immediately were seeing seals and porpoises. Approaching the Dorus Mohr with hefty currents Misha was being swept around and with an easterly we went past further south then tacked up and in through the gap.
We were swept into the Loch at 8kn and you could see the westerly counter-current clearly as a river running through the water.
We had to beat into the easterly wind to get into Crinan and anchored up outside two yachts in the middle of the bay between the pier and the island.
I prepared a lunch of baked camembert with berries and blueberry compote served with crusty bread and a glass of wine. We stayed until we were sure the tide had turned and we would have the current with us through the Corryvreckan outbound.
The whole time we were swapping round with Neil, Karon and Linda getting shots on the wheel so everyone felt they had a fair share and leaving the Loch Neil was on the helm most of the time with Karon taking it just as we went into the Corryvreckan.
As we passed through at a good 9kn on the start of the westerly tide a pod of porpoise were fishing nearby and they had two very small juvenile with them. One of which still had a pink underside they were so small.
We sailed out towards Garvellachs but then headed north before we got within shooting distance and replanned due to the lighter winds. A bit of tide calculations later and we were heading into Loch Spelve.
We anchored up in the NE corner and initially the wind was a bit stronger but soon settled and I set up the BBQ. Dinner was burgers and bratwurst with salads and boiled corn on the cobb. As dinner was cooking there was an otter swimming about us and fishing for a total of 45 mins. His torpedo surfacing was of particular note! No photos though so ‘it didn’t happen”!
Misha’s calorifier (hot water ‘boiler’) decided to throw a wobbly! The water was flowing out the emergency pressure relief valve and we didn’t notice until it had emptied the whole forward tank into the bilge. Thankfully the bilge is very clean so we were able to just pump out using the bilge pump without fear of contaminating the Loch. It also meant we had no hot water and when we used the water pump at all it was sending our second tank into the bilge too.
We had a lovely early night, slept well and grabbed the 09:30 tide out of the Lock in the morning heading back to Croabh. A good sail was enjoyed and we got all the way back to Loch Shona under sail including a fair trott with the tide through Cuan.
Back at the marina, I worked out the calorifier is knackered and have ordered a new one. Which replaces next weekends sailing trip with a bit of marine DIY.
Total 52miles over 10 hours sailing.