Jura encircled

Located at the northern end of the Sound of Jura, Craobh Haven is an excellent starting point for a cruise. The main drawback is that with wonderful cruising grounds to the north, south and west, it’s hard to know which way to go. The previous year, when my partner Aleko and I borrowed my mother’s Westerly Konsort for the first time, I’d thought of going to Islay and ended up in the Outer Hebrides because the weather was too good not to. This time we would head through the Gulf of Corryvreckan and then decide.

With the tide not turning to run west and north until late afternoon, there was no hurry and we left the marina after an early lunch. I had planned to anchor off Scarba to wait for the tide but when Aleko heard that the mackerel were in he had other ideas. We headed up the Sound of Luing against the tide, crabbing across towards Scarba where the sails came down and the line went out. Soon he had caught dinner and by the time the fish were gutted we had drifted down to the entrance to the Corryvreckan. It was still early on the tide but we hoisted the sails again to give it a go.

Keeping close to the Scarba shore to stay out of the strongest current we were hit by some powerful gusts blasting down off the island. Kalessin