The morning we left, the day dawned bright and beautiful, as if the previous two days had never happened. The other boats in the anchorage, presumably going south, left with the Sun, leaving it all to Maryanne and me. We took our time getting up and ready. We left just before slack tide at 3:00 p.m. The wind was in just the right direction to allow us to sail off the anchor, which I love.
With a reef in the main, we slowly sailed through the mooring field we had dragged through the day before. The giant boat was off its mooring and it was replaced with a tender that was smaller than the ball. As we entered the narrow part of the channel, the current accelerated us out of the sound past hills, picturesque houses with fishing boats moored out front and, most impressively, the village of Easdale, tucked underneath a huge cliff face.
Easdale town and one of the many lighthouses on route
We turned North with just the remnants of a current against us. A 41 foot monohull came chugging up from behind flying full sail and a Dutch flag. I thought briefly about tripling our sail area by putting out full sail and making a proper race out of it. In those conditions, I'm sure we could have had a knot or two on him. In the end, I decided to let him have his day. It was such a rare lovely sailing day that I actually didn't care if we were going half as fast as we could have been. We had 360 degree views of the most stunning scenery. Why rush it?
A few hour later, the sky darkened, as it tends to do here. It looked like a front was moving in from the southwest and it would be raining the rest of the day afterward. Also on the far horizon was the mast of a tall ship flying sail on the bottom three of five yards. I could imagine how a few centuries ago, such a sight would cause smugglers and pirates to throw up all available sail to escape. Chases happened at such slow speed then, with the participants spending maybe half a day between sighting and capture. We managed to round the corner into the Sound of Mull before she got to us. Just before we did so, we were joined by a small pod of our old friends the dolphins.
Duart Castle and Ardtornish Castle ruins
The rain arrived. We were pleased when it only dumped for 15 minutes and then blew off, leaving us with our previous sunny day. We turned into Loch Aline to anchor. Our original plan had been to anchor across from the town. Once we got a good look at the current flowing through the narrow entrance, we knew we would never be able to row across except at slack water. instead, we anchored a mile away on the other end of the loch by the ruin of an abandoned pier. We had a little light left so we decided to row in and hike into town to see how long it took. Everything was shut by then so we just turned around and went back. It's not a bad commute. The path is dirt and runs along the edge of the loch. Every few hundred meters, there is another waterfall crashing out of the green.
When nightfall came, we were enveloped by that deep dark that comes from being out in the middle of nowhere. The lights of the town (really, about three buildings) were way off in the distance. It was very relaxing.
1 comment:
If you have the ability, I'd like to ask you to fly your US flag at half-mast for the death today of Sen. Edward Kennedy. His funeral is Saturday.
It was Kennedy who sponsored, pushed and worked in the Senate to pass many bills, two of which have been vitally important to me and my children: Medicare and the Americans With Disabilities Act.
He will be greatly missed. An era has come to an end with his death and he deserves all honor that can be paid. I feel the loss myself, as his advocacy for the under-privileged in society touched me (and you) in a very direct, personal and vital way, and I am grateful.
Plus, he was a devoted sailor.
Happy Sails. Missing you.
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