Oban to Gigha
After waiting out the winds for a day in Oban, Phil and I caught the tide south towards Gigha.
We had initially decided to head to Bangor, Northern Ireland via the Crinan Canal and Campbeltown, but talking to Pam and Ted the Crinan can take a while especially with only two people on board. The preferred route was therefore the Isle of Gigha and then Glenarm. This was very good advice.
The tides seem to conspire to make us leave at 05:00, so we set off south with a few other yachts. There is an area of heavy tide flow between Luing and Scarba, so we wanted to get to this point at the right state of tide.
As we passed through marked outfalls and whirlpools on the chart, our SOG ( speed over ground ) hit 11kn with a water speed of 4.5. Outfalls did not seem to be a problem, although steering through them was all over the place. The Whirlpools were worth avoiding.
I did notice that when running the engine, the speed vs engine revs seemed to have dropped, so I made a note to have a look at the prop when we arrived.
We phoned ahead to Gigha, as the almanac says that they only have 9 moorings available, and only 2 were in use as we arrived. After some enquiry at the shop and the hotel, it seems that the moorings were provided by the council and are free to use, together with the toilets and the showers at the landing point.
The water was wonderfully clear, so I decided to put on my drysuit and scuba kit to have a look at the propeller. It looked like a christmas tree made of seaweed. I removed all the fouling, inspected Serenity's hull and fittings, then went for a 15 minute swim around hoping to meet a seal.
The local restaurant provided an excellent meal, and we settled down to a very quiet and comfortable night on a mooring.
We had initially decided to head to Bangor, Northern Ireland via the Crinan Canal and Campbeltown, but talking to Pam and Ted the Crinan can take a while especially with only two people on board. The preferred route was therefore the Isle of Gigha and then Glenarm. This was very good advice.
The tides seem to conspire to make us leave at 05:00, so we set off south with a few other yachts. There is an area of heavy tide flow between Luing and Scarba, so we wanted to get to this point at the right state of tide.
As we passed through marked outfalls and whirlpools on the chart, our SOG ( speed over ground ) hit 11kn with a water speed of 4.5. Outfalls did not seem to be a problem, although steering through them was all over the place. The Whirlpools were worth avoiding.
I did notice that when running the engine, the speed vs engine revs seemed to have dropped, so I made a note to have a look at the prop when we arrived.
We phoned ahead to Gigha, as the almanac says that they only have 9 moorings available, and only 2 were in use as we arrived. After some enquiry at the shop and the hotel, it seems that the moorings were provided by the council and are free to use, together with the toilets and the showers at the landing point.
The water was wonderfully clear, so I decided to put on my drysuit and scuba kit to have a look at the propeller. It looked like a christmas tree made of seaweed. I removed all the fouling, inspected Serenity's hull and fittings, then went for a 15 minute swim around hoping to meet a seal.
The local restaurant provided an excellent meal, and we settled down to a very quiet and comfortable night on a mooring.
posted by Jenny Bailey @ 13:59
1 Comments:
At 8 July 2008 at 15:09 ,
M. Muzammil said...
Your pictures are really nice. I like looking at them. The sea is a very interesting place to go. Thanks for sharing them. Keep it up!
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