After a week of solid sunshine Dominic came up from London as the weather turned and the tail end of hurricane Alex hit the UK.
We picked him up in Troon last Thursday and then had to make the decision about venturing out. There was a strong blow forecast for Friday and Saturday, beginning to decrease on Sunday. If we did not go on Friday, then we would not be going on Saturday either, which would mean being stuck in Troon. But if we went on Friday, then we could get up behind the Isle of Bute which would provide shelter from the winds and some of the most beautiful sailing grounds in the area. We decided to go.
The wind was high 20s, gusting low 30s and Vagrant performed well, with 2 reefs in the main, the stay sail and then the reefed genoa. The sea state was quite lumpy, to say the least, which was not the best welcome back on-board for our guest. But we made it to Rothesay on the Isle of Bute in about 5 hours.
The town of Rothesay was a disappointment. It was quite run down, the castle was shut, there was no restaurants to eat in and the pubs looked uninviting. It was also raining. We decided to go back to the boat and feed and water ourselves.
The next day we sailed up the Eastern Kyle, in some nice wind and flat calm seas. We picked up a mooring buoy belonging to the Colintraive Hotel, where we had a stunning meal that evening. We also went for a beautiful walk up Milton Burn.
Having soaked Dom several times getting ashore in the dingy, we decided he had suffered enough, and so the next day we opted for a marina berth in East Tarbert. The scenery on the way there was stunning. The wind picked up considerably as we rounded the point and went up into Loch Fyne, requiring reefs in the main and providing me with a thorough soaking in the process.
East Tarbert was a pretty harbour with an interesting castle ruin, which we explored the next morning, before departing for much more sedate sail back to Troon.
Great weekend, despite the dodgy weather. Many thanks to Dominic for making the trek up to see us.
Had a great time, thanks for a nice wee hol xx
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