Lochs and locks
A local saying in Western Scotland: “If the sun is shining, it’s going to rain.” Few utterances have more truth.
Pete and I had been sailing up the west coast of Scotland for three weeks by the time we reached Fort William and had probably endured about 60 squalls – averaging about three per day.
Yet testing weather, ferocious tides, big seas and all, I would not hesitate in stating that Western Scotland is the most spectacular place I have ever sailed.
It is mythical in its proportions, mysterious in its emptiness and medieval in its scenery
It is like sailing through a Tolkienesque fantasy.
Our original plan had been to make it all the way to Orkney before sailing back down the east coast but, as is so often the way with sailing, we ran out of time. The incredible coastline with its islands, lochs and coves all beckoning us in, waiting to be explored, combined with the erratic weather conditions and some of the strongest tidal races in the world, meant even the best laid passage plans often went awry.
But our forced shortcut proved a blessing in disguise. By the time we reached Fort William we had endured enough angry seas and minor
