The plan had been to head towards Dublin and hopefully enjoy a few days in the City. The weather obviously didn’t get the memo and conspired against us. As the trip approached the weather did improve. But the forecasts were suggesting gales and near-gales from the east or south east continuously for days on end. The day before it really looked as though we wouldn’t get out at all at the weekend and would have to wait until the worst of the weather passed on Monday.
However on the Friday the 2nd, the forecast improved remarkably and the 45mph gusts reduced under 30 mph and I decided to go for it. But instead of heading south, with days of easterly or south easterlies forecast, I decided up the West Coast would be a far more sensible idea.
I picked Martin Kean up from work in St Enoch Centre in Glasgow and we made good speed up to Craobh Haven arriving at the marina for 14:30. Misha was just about ready to go, and we just needed top top up the water and head out. We were ropes off at 15:15 and out through Cuban Sound at 16:15.
It was a cracking evening with those light easterlies driving us up the Sound of Lorne and into the Sound of Mull. We saw a few seals and at the back of 8pm we dropped anchor in Fishnish Bay just before Salen.
We had covered 29 miles in 5 hours and had sailed all the way. The strong gusts never materialised and it was a really nice, gentle sail into the evening.
Fishnish Bay was a great anchorage protected from the south and the east and we tucked in under a growth of trees in case the gales came, it would have given us some additional protection.