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Lough Neagh Sailing Club
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Achilles 24' - Icthus - Trevor Currans
The Doldrums of Corryvreckan
Thursday 26th June
ETD 08.30
ETA 19.30
Time 10 hrs. Avr. speed 3.5 knts Distance 35 nm
Loch Spelve 56° 23' N 05° 41'W
Next day we headed North for Loch Spelve on the Isle of Mull, sailing West of the Garvellachs to avoid the strongest
part of the Great Race, which flows West on the ebbing tide from the Gulf of Corryvechan. After rounding Rubh an
t-sailein we had a tremendous sail with a force six with the occasional stronger gusts. These strong south easterly’s
pushed us along the West Coast of Jura at about eight knots with the tide for an hour and a half. However, as we
crossed the Great Race the wind just died. It was a weird experience! Within a couple of minutes or less we were
totally becalmed. We sat for five or ten minutes watching in amazement the swirls of the race as they formed a patterned
runway on the sea extending from the Gulf as far as we could see to the West.
We fired up the engine and motored down the Firth of Lorne to our next anchorage in Loch Spelve, catching supper, by way
of a few mackerel, on the way. Sadly, despite the fact we have a fish finder on Icthus and both Alan and I have fished
in the sea since our school days; this year, for the first time we found supper hard enough to catch. Yes, there were
fish but they were very small. This seems to concur with the media views of fish stocks in the West of Scotland.
Loch Spelve is a beautiful spot which we have used before, but sadly some of the splendour of the anchorage is now lost
with the increased number of fish farms in the Loch. Depleted wild fish stocks, through greed and chemical pollution
supplemented by farmed stock in cluttered sea cages, which create water pollution and increased fish parasites, what a
tragic paradox.
Sailing in the Rain
Friday 27th June
ETD 11.00
ETA 15.00
Time 4 hrs Avr. Speed 3.5 knts
Dunstaffnage 56°27'.04 N 05°25'.97W Distance 14 nm
We woke early to a typical Highland morning of cold mist and rain which we staved off with bowls of hot porridge,
laced with Scotch and topped with brown sugar and cream. We then donned our foul weather gear to face our first wet
day on the boat. We motored out of Loch Spelve through the fish cages in search of a breeze to take us across the Firth
of Lorne. However, the wind didn’t really come and we had to motor sail for most of the day.
Our passage took us on a sight seeing trip to Rubha Seanach at the Southern end of Kerrera, from where we went North
through the Sound, passed Oban and on to Dunstaffnage Marina which is at the mouth of Loch Etive, a few miles West of
Connel and the impressive Falls of Lora. Dunstaffnage was going to be our base for a few days as we had planned to meet
up with some friends. They were flying up in their Cessna light aircraft from Dublin to North Connel Airstrip, which is
only a few miles from the Marina. The plan was to spend a few days in the area, sight seeing by boat and plane; and then
for Alan to jump ship and return with them to Dublin.
The Long Haul South
Sunday 29th June
ETD 13.00
ETA 21.50
Time 8.50 hrs Avr. Speed 5 knts
Loch Sween 55°55'.69 N 05°41'.26W Distance 42 nm
After stocking up the boat with provisions and a last trip into Oban for the obligatory presents for the family,
and a few bottles of ‘the good stuff’, to see me through the winter, we left Dunstaffnage in blistering sunshine and
not a breath of wind. Stripped down to our shorts and plastered in sun cream we motored towards Kerrera, this time
following the Western shore in the hope that we might find some wind in the Firth of Lorne. As we approached Bach
Island on the south of Kerrera we could hear the drone of the Cessna. Our aviator friends flew a couple of orbits
and gave us a wing wave before disappeared into the blue sky. We motored on passing west of Seil, at which point we
started to get a bit of a breeze. By the time we had reached Beinahua at the northern end of Luing we were able to
hoist the sails and cut the engine. With the aid of the strong tide we made excellent time through the Sound of Luing.
Icthus heading south into Jura Sound.
At the south of the Sound we sailed into the Sound of Jura, keeping to the clear water to the Scarpa and Jura side.
After passing west of Ruadh Sgr we then started to close on Kintyre at Danna. The wind freshened into the evening and
by the time we had rounded Danna and sailed up to our anchorage at Tayvallich in Loch Sween we had some very strong
gusts. The anchorage was surprisingly busy, with about five yachts. As we were last yacht in all the good anchorage’s
were taken. With the freshening wind in a fairly open anchorage, with what was by now a North Easterly, we had
difficulty getting the anchor to set. Therefore, we dropped a second anchor just to be on the safe side. We had
covered a considerable distant that day, several hours of which were to the drone of the engine and didn’t get to our
anchorage until dusk. This was a tiring day but a satisfying day as it got us well down Kyntre to a convenient point
from which we could make our crossing back to Islay.
Return to Islay