Day 41 – 19^th July – Soay Harbour to Canna – 11.5 NM

Weighed anchor at 0840 to ensure we had sufficient water of the entrance bar and set course for Canna. The wind was northerly and if I had to guess strength it was F1 and apart from a brief sail when we fished we motored all the way to Canna, arriving at 1135. There had beena lot of boats in the sea that morning all making way to Loch Harport and when we arrived there must have been at least 20 boats around the anchorage. Many of these left shortly after we arrived but even with the few that remained there was still sufficient crew aboard to fill the two sitting at the local café/restaurant that evening for not-so-good fishy food.

For most of the day we walked the pretty island, searching out the viewpoints and guessing the islands around. We concluded that Canna was a brilliant spot for an overnight stay (or even longer), particularly as it’s about halfway from Tobermory to Barra.

Day 42 – 20^th July – Canna to the Borrodale Isles via Rhum and Eigg – 34.5 NM

A leisurely start saw us weigh anchor at 1035 and set off out of the harbour for Rhum, the island that dominated our southern view. The highlight of the morning was a Basking Shark that allowed us to pass untroubled at about 15 feet distant, eventually diving below the water when we turned back to observe closer. The wind was E F1/2 and the sea smooth, and we motored all the way to Rhum, setting anchor at 1230 in Loch Scresort, the main bay to the east of the island. After lunch and a brief spell ashore we set off SE for Eigg and after clearing the NE headland sailed inshore along the coast to the main harbour/anchorage to the SW of the island near Eilean Chathastail.

The pilot (Martin Lawrence pilot Crinan to Canna, published in 1987 with updates from the website) identified several moorings and anchorages but my favourite, Poll nam Partan was not viable (bar) at low water. This also ruled out the Boat Harbour and Galmisdale pier, leaving the only other anchorage off Galmisdale pier

Our approach to the area, as directed by the pilot, should be between the perches on Flod Sgeir and Garbh Sgeir, but it’s all changed. The construction of a new Calmac pier and associated navigation lights, most of which were not covered in the pilot, left me confused. However, the channel was now well defined and sufficiently straightforward and before we knew it we were approaching Garmisdale pier anchorage pushed on our way by at least a 2 knot current and a NE F3 that had appeared from nowhere.

The anchorage, tight at the best of times already had two big yachts anchored, and we decided to anchor upstream of them. It was a mistake and the only way to extract ourselves was the mess was by motoring full astern as we were running out of water very quickly. At this point we both noticed that there was oil in the water around the boat, something that had happened on occasions before. But the ensuing argument between crew and skipper about what went wrong resulted in us leaving Eigg for another time and forgetting the incident.  

Our sail across to the mainland and Borrowdale Islands started peacefully enough, but we hadn’t gone very far when a squeaking noise developed which was traced to the Halyard oil based shaft seal between drive shaft and stern tube, and a quick check revealed no oil in the reservoir. I quickly refilled the header tank and the squeak disappeared, and it suddenly occurred to me that the oil we had seen earlier was out of our seal. It was worrying because if it seized using the engine would rip the rubber seal off letting water enter up the stern tube and we decided to closely monitor oil usage.

We sailed almost all the way to the Borrowdale Islands, anchoring at 1920 using the engine only for the final 2-300 metres and thankfully there was no oil used. After dinner we had a short trip ashore, a truly beautiful part of the world.  

Day 43 – 21 July – Borrowdale to Arisaig – 10.3 NM

Weighed anchor at 0935 and cleared the islands before sailing in a light S, which soon disappeared, and we motored the rest of the way, arriving at the fuel jetty at 1140 and then anchoring at 1225. Thankfully no oil had been used in the shaft seal, and we decided to press on cautiously.

The main reason for our stay in Arisaig was to take on supplies and to meet our daughter and husband who were joining us for a few days sailing, and we had a leisurely walk around the headland and stocked up with food before they arrived at 2015.

Day 44 – 22^nd July - Arisaig to Tobormoray via Muck – 30.1 NM

We left our Arisaig anchorage at 1035 and with no wind whatsoever motored down the channel and into the open sea towards Muck. I kept a regular eye on the stern gland oil reservoir, but there was no indication of any usage and it suddenly occurred to me that the only times we saw any oil emerge was when we going astern.We entered Port Mor and anchored amongst several other boats at 1315 and after lunch we went ashore for a wander around this lovely island. At 1535 we were again off, motoring south for Ardnamuchan Point, and were about 1 mile off Port Mor when we spied another Basking Shark, passing it within 10 feet, and again it submerged before we could get back to it.

We passed Ardnamurchan point at 1640 and picked up a mooring at Tobermoray at 1830, and had a great evening amongst the fleshpots.

Day 45 – 23^rd July - Tobermoray to Loch Aline – 13.5 NM

We slipped our mooring at 1220 and motored clear of the mooring area before setting sail down the Sound of Mull. The wind was a NE F2/3, one of those infuriating winds that kept shifting just a little so that continual adjustment was needed to keep the sails filled and not flapping around.

Apart from that everything was in our favour – the Loch Aline ferry left just when we were a half mile away, the wind backed westerly as the entrance to Loch Aline, then backed further, blowing us up the narrow channel and into Loch Aline.

After a quick cuppa we all went ashore for what turned out to be a long walk in different directions, our daughter up the hills with her husband, the oldies (us) around a long circular walk. We slept well that night.

Day 46 – 24^th July  - Loch Aline to Loch Creran – 22.3 NM

Passage planning was relatively easy – we needed to be through the entrance and into Loch Creran before high water at 1425 BST because the tides at the entrance to the loch can be quite strong. It was, however, neeps so that we didn’t plan that thoroughly.

We eventually weighed anchor at 0835 and motored down the loch in flat calm conditions, which remained with us the rest of the day. At 1000 hours our daughter Claire updated the log with the following:

By 1140 we were near the entrance to Loch Creran and by 1230 had moored at the MRC moorings at Barcaldine. Our trip was all but over, and the crew were keen to get ashore an onto the 1315 Oban to Fort William bus and to our cars, so I was abandoned to pack up and sort out the boat

My first action was to phone Halyard, the manufacturers of the shaft seal to ask what I should do about the my problem. For once the company provided a real telephone number, with a real person that answered after 2 rings. The person I wanted was at lunch but the telephonist assured me he would phone me back on my mobile. 45 minutes later he phoned and, after a short Q&A session told me what he thought was wrong and how to fix it. 20 minutes later I had carried out the checks he suggested and he was spot on – a sleeve secured by 4 grub screws had come loose and the installation was out of spec. I couldn’t find the right allen key to tighten them so rang Halyard back to get the right key size so I could buy one locally. Once again they phoned me and promised to send me the right tool FOC. Next day 8 grub screws and an allan key arrived through the post.

THAT IS OUTSTANDING SERVICE FROM HALYARD, particularly as the seal is at least 8 years old  

Mary arrived back at 2020 with the car having taken Claire and Ray to Arisaig, and we had a quiet last night afloat together.

Day 47 – 35^th July – Loch Creran to Aberdour – 0 NM

Nothing much to say – we packed the car, shut stop valves, turned off gas and electricity and went home – journey over.