We slept like logs overnight and I felt too rested and refreshed when I awoke this morning. The anchorage was a bit gusty during the early part of the night, but it didn’t disturb us in the slightest. Dinner was steak pie and roast potatoes, and I may have enjoyed a bit too much but again, it made me sleep.

The morning was bright and blue and windless. The hills were reflected in the water and there wasn’t even a ripple as we made morning coffee. Linda raised the anchor and did a grand job of it. We motored off westwards down the loch.

After the first corner there was a touch of wind, so we unfurled the foresail and stopped the engine. We were sailing! By the time we were abeam Salen we were shifting between 7.5 and 8.5 knots in 15+ knots of wind with gusts up over 20. We sailed quickly all the way down the loch past the north of Rigsa and made our way to Oronsay. 

At Oronsay we managed to get all the way to the entrance to Loch Drumbuidh before the wind was on the nose, we stowed the foresail and motored into the Loch. The entrance is quite spectacular with rocky shorelines on either side and a surface rock on the SE of the entrance. Past there it was clear water all the way to the east-end of the Loch. We sussed out the NE anchorage and the SE anchorage and stayed in the SE anchorage. We dropped the hook at 13:30 and spent the afternoon watching the view, reading our books, and relaxing in the March sunshine. It was 18C in the boat when I started cooking and 20+C when I served.

Dinner was venison stew. The venison we bought at Salen along with fresh veggies that went in too. It was washed down with a nice St Emilion and crappy television. It’s as good as it gets. 

25.3 miles in 3 hours