We set off with full sail, but soon put in a reef. Later we put in the second reef. As the wind continued to be NE it was a beat all the way. On the way we saw the ship Pharos, which looked as if it was for servicing buoys and navaids, so I presume belongs to the Northern Lighthouse Board. It carried a small red helicopter on the bow – the ultimate status symbol on a boat. Pharos was coming the other way and did not seem to be showing any signal indicating inability to manoeuvre. It looked like a collision course to me, but it’s possible that Pharos’s fancy radar tracking showed we would pass safely, but I tacked to be quite sure.
Loch Skipport seemed to be well sheltered. We saw an Ovni anchored in Caolas Mor, but we went right to the innermost part, Linne Arm, which is almost connected to the inland Loch Bee. It is an extremely quiet place. About a mile from our anchorage there is a disused jetty with a track leading to it. A little nearer a couple of small fishing boats are moored, with access by a track. Right near our anchorage is a neatly painted cottage, with a small boat on a mooring nearby. There is no road access, or even a proper track, but someone seems to have driven across country to reach the place. Nobody seemed to be at home – I suspect that the main access is by water. No other houses or roads are visible except for a couple of ruined places. We went ashore near the cottage and took a walk towards Loch Bee. This is connected to Loch Skipport by a man-made canal, through which the water was ebbing quite quickly.
New today: small Sundew, possible Merganser on Loch Skipport.
Tomorrow we hope to go to Loch Maddy. This is further than today’s trip so will be a tiring beat as the wind is again forecast to be NE4-5. However we are very low on water and gas so would prefer not to delay.
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| The gloom lifts |
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| Loch Skipport is a quiet place |
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| Very quiet |
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| Loch Bee, which flows into Loch Skipport |
