We crossed over to Scotland at the end of May as planned. It was an upwind battle, so having left from Strangford Lough, we spend a last night in Ireland in the lee of the Copeland Islands outside Belfast, then pushed on for Scotland the next day.
Our first stop was Loch Ryan, which is pretty enough but best known for the Stranraer ferrry to Belfast. The next day, (upwind again) we pulled into Cambeltown for a few days.
Here we met Bill Fraser, an interesting Kiwi who is the current owner of Ceil III. The boat didn't look much from afar (we were only pulling alongside to take on water in a busy marina), but beneath the business of a well-cruised yacht lies the winner of the 1973 Sydney-Hobart. Bill is limping along a bit at the moment due to a failed head gasket, but is heading down to the Isle of Wight with the plan to win the Round the Island Race at the end of the month. Look out for him! I've already suggested he takes the engine out.
Cambeltown lies near the south of Kintyre. It has a memorial garden for Linda McCartney. But hold all thoughts of mist rolling in etc. ... on Vagrant, Kintyre and Arran are referred to in more vulgar terms - study their outline on a chart or a map to understand more.
Then on slowly around Arran. First into Carradale Bay...
And then Loch Ranza, where we basked in the Sun until 10pm...
Brave things happend in Glenan Bay, and the next day behind Inchmarnock. We know there are real cold water swimmers reading this, so let's not make too much of this...
And finally, we're tucked in on a mooring off Lamlash, looking over at Holy Island.
Tomorrow we head over to Troon to pick up our friend Dominic and reprovision. Then we'll set off for a windy/rainy/fun few days around Bute beckon.
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