A Minor Flood

The rain lashed the deck and I was happy to be cosy in our bunk.  The great thing about mooring bow to wind is that you can leave the top hatch board out, for ventilation.  The rain was so ferocious that I got up to admire it.  Yes, the wind was now astern and the galley surfaces and local sole were awash with water.  The top hatch board was in the cockpit locker so I threw off my pyjama trousers before thinking 'we're in a marina' and pulled them on again.  I dashed out and was instantly soaked through.  I should have taken the shampoo with me.

I know what you are thinking:  Pyjama trousers?  Please remember that, while you Southerners bask in temperatures of 30 degrees, we up here are still waiting for summer to start.

Yesterday we left the Caledonian Canal by the Corpach Lock and headed back to sea.  The weather was strangely peaceful.  Yes it was a headwind but very gentle, dying to nothing.  And it was sunny!

Corpach Basin

We tacked slowly down Loch Linnhe, enjoying sailing in flat water without the engine running.  But by the Corran Narrows the wind had died, so it was back to motoring.

Corran Narrows

We pulled into Dunstaffnage Marina for the night and refuelled, ready for the morrow.  The trouble is, there are gale warnings out for this area, and the weather map has nasty red patches (shipping forecast) and coastline (inshore forecast) denoting strong winds.  And the winds are still stuck in the SW.  So tomorrow may become mañana.

Rosie and I spend a lot of time trying to work out how to tack against the strong SW wind.  Tacking against wind and tide is foolish.  Tacking in wind over tide conditions is also very silly.  And then there is the small matter of arriving somewhere which is suitable for gale force winds, often only in the squalls, but quite enough to drag an anchor.  How many weeks can low pressure systems sit out in the Atlantic to the NW of Scotland, without a break?  We shall see!

But every cloud has a silver lining, which is now lighting the marina with sunshine, and the stiff breeze is quickly drying the washing (and the boat).

A Drying Wind




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