Slow boat on the West Coast

Mid morning, as the tide started to ease off, was decision time. We had no engine but there was the faintest breeze so we decided to go for it.

With me rowing the dinghy against the starboard side of the transom and Aleko wielding the spinnaker pole oar to port we could move the boat at over a knot.

As we left Craobh marina on the west coast of Scotland five days earlier it was obvious the propeller was badly in need of a clean – hardly surprising as it was mid-July and the boat hadn’t moved this year. Aleko and I were again borrowing Kalessin, a 40-year-old Westerly Konsort belonging to my elderly mother. Heading north-west towards the Ross of Mull, we chose an anchorage off Erraid (the unpronounceable Bagh a Chnoie Mhaoileanaich) where we could beach for a scrub.

At around half-tide the next morning we moved to the beach at the head of the inlet but misjudged the slope of the bottom and dropped the anchor too soon. By the time we grounded, going gently astern, we’d let out all the anchor chain and a couple of warps. However, we successfully removed a variety of crustaceans and molluscs from the prop and shaft, scrubbed the hull and were afloat again by lunchtime, ready to continue west to Gunna. Hauling in the entire length of anchor chain was no problem as my father had fitted an electric windlass some years ago.

I thought it strange that both echosounder’s electrics are somewhat muddled as instruments have been changed and added over the years. I was busy steering but couldn’t help much regarding Dad’s electrical systems anyway.