Skye, Portree, Torredon, Gairloch

 

I left home at 4.30 Sunday morning for the 550 miles to Plockton. The Polo is about to clock its first 100,000 and is starting to get expensive to run. However, you can't make omeletes without cracking eggs.  As I got further north the skies started to fill in and I drove through some pretty stiff rainshowers. The first five hours is dead easy motorway driving to Glasgow - ideal for listening to audio-books. After Glasgow the route takes me along the banks of Loch Lomond, across the great Glen and then to the Cairngorms - all round it is a real stinker of a drive because the roads are pretty bendy and I also get to follow a lot of campervans at this time of year.

kEEPTURNINGLEFT Skye cruise.Still003 road

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I am usually feeling pretty ragged by the time I get to Plockton in the late afternoon on Sunday.  I have yet to arrive there in any conditions other than overcast but if I stick at this long enough eventually things will come right. The dinghy is being left in the long grass by the sailing club slip so I had to put her upright and then enlist the help of a passing fit man to help me carry it down to the water. Then I loaded her up

kEEPTURNINGLEFT the slip kEEPTURNINGLEFT well laden dinghy

 

Once I am aboard and everything is stowed away then I can put the kettle on and have a nice cup of tea.

The next morning I dropped the mooring at about 5.30 and headed out into the early morning gloomy start of a grey day.

Light winds to start off with coming from the south so I headed up towards the gap between Raasay and Rona. But by the time I got there it had started blowing a good 20 mph from the south west. I decided to be a bit cautious so I dropped the sails and motored against the wind towards Portree on the Isle of Skye where I spent the night. The next morning the rain was coming in a series of squalls - about one every hour or so being blown down off the peaks of Skye. The island is a real rainmaker and soaks everything everywhere downwind of the place.

I left protree on the back end of one of the squalls and dodged them the rest of the day. It rained for 15 minutes and was then dry for 45. When the squalls came through I reduced sail, put the boat close hauled, raised the spray hood and just stood in the companionway waiting for the rain to stop. As soon as it did I rollwed out some more sail and carried on Northwards. I soon reliased that getting to Stornoway would require a wet frustrating sail so I brough the boat onto a reach and aimed for Loch Torredon where I spent the night - the next day was still bit dodgy so I just sailed when I could and eventually found my way to a lovely lttle anchorage right at the top of upper Loch Torredon.  I was doing a lot of reading though.

The following day was still bringing wet southerlies so I sailed around to Loch Cairloch for the following night. I sailed around the top of Rona - back through the sound between the islands and then hugged the coast in gentle breezes down the Eastern Shore of Raasay.

Back on the mooring by about eight on Friday night ready for an early drive home Saturday morning.

portree torridon

 

kEEPTURNINGLEFT Skye cruise.Still079 boom kEEPTURNINGLEFT Skye cruise.Still026 fishing boat   kEEPTURNINGLEFT Skye cruise.Still029 squall kEEPTURNINGLEFT Skye cruise.Still030 boisterous kEEPTURNINGLEFT Skye cruise.Still031 blowing kEEPTURNINGLEFT Skye cruise.Still032 flag kEEPTURNINGLEFT Skye cruise.Still034 motoring into it kEEPTURNINGLEFT Skye cruise.Still035 gloom kEEPTURNINGLEFT Skye cruise.Still036 boy kEEPTURNINGLEFT Skye cruise.Still038 entering portree kEEPTURNINGLEFT Skye cruise.Still039 leaving portree kEEPTURNINGLEFT Skye cruise.Still041 portree kEEPTURNINGLEFT Skye cruise.Still043 hobbiton kEEPTURNINGLEFT Skye cruise.Still044 portree kEEPTURNINGLEFT Skye cruise.Still045 leaving portree

After Portree I spent two nights in Torredon

 

kEEPTURNINGLEFT Skye cruise.Still079 boom kEEPTURNINGLEFT Skye cruise.Still063 seal kEEPTURNINGLEFT Skye cruise.Still061 raasay kEEPTURNINGLEFT Skye cruise.Still077 mooring kEEPTURNINGLEFT Skye cruise.Still052 lovely rock kEEPTURNINGLEFT Skye cruise.Still051 lovely rock 2  kEEPTURNINGLEFT Skye cruise.Still050 anchorage kEEPTURNINGLEFT Skye cruise.Still049 sunset

kEEPTURNINGLEFT Skye cruise.Still037 patrick kEEPTURNINGLEFT Skye cruise.Still091 sandwich kEEPTURNINGLEFT Skye cruise.Still076 anchorage kEEPTURNINGLEFT Skye cruise.Still028 candles

 

On Thursday I sailed around to Gairloch - which is very posh and has some lovely wooden yachts - and some that are gently rotting away

kEEPTURNINGLEFT Skye cruise.Still088 old boat kEEPTURNINGLEFT Skye cruise.Still087 wooden boat kEEPTURNINGLEFT Skye cruise.Still086 wooden boat kEEPTURNINGLEFT Skye cruise.Still085 clinker kEEPTURNINGLEFT Skye cruise.Still084 wooden kEEPTURNINGLEFT Skye cruise.Still082 wooden kEEPTURNINGLEFT Skye cruise.Still081 wooden kEEPTURNINGLEFT Skye cruise.Still059 weird boat kEEPTURNINGLEFT Skye cruise.Still058 rotting boat kEEPTURNINGLEFT Skye cruise.Still056 rotting boat

 

Finally back through the gap and then following the Raasay coast to Plockton

 

kEEPTURNINGLEFT Skye cruise.Still092 rock kEEPTURNINGLEFT Skye cruise.Still093 waterfall kEEPTURNINGLEFT Skye cruise.Still090 sky kEEPTURNINGLEFT Skye cruise.Still071 sailing kEEPTURNINGLEFT Skye cruise.Still070 yacht kEEPTURNINGLEFT Skye cruise.Still072 sails kEEPTURNINGLEFT Skye cruise.Still073 running kEEPTURNINGLEFT Skye cruise.Still094 dutchman

This is about Sailing around Britain.

26 Responses to “Skye, Portree, Torredon, Gairloch”

  1. 1 August, 2016 at 4:50 amTed B. (Charging Rhino) says:

    How are you and the mast-furling main sail getting-along??

    I know the shape is horrible for light airs, but what’s you’re impressions so-far as to heavier conditions and the perceived/real “safety” of not having to go-forwards on the deck? Especially when single-handing?

  2. 1 August, 2016 at 8:21 amdylan winter says:

    I like being able to perfectly balance the boat for and aft by rolling out a bit more mian – on Harmony I had three reefs to choose from – this is infinitely variable. But it is very ugly and produces much less drive than the Harmony main.

  3. 1 August, 2016 at 12:16 pmMartin Roberts says:

    I see a curve in Flat Eric!

  4. 1 August, 2016 at 12:23 pmdylan winter says:

    more a sagging leach than a curve I fear

  5. 1 August, 2016 at 5:07 pmNiall says:

    What’s the midge situation?

  6. 1 August, 2016 at 6:02 pmSimon says:

    Re: the petrol pump photo, I was in Glasgow yesterday and I was surprised how cheap petrol was up there 1.06 rather than 1.12 down here in Hampshire. We have just been racing on Belfast Lough – well worth a visit when you come south. An easy day sail from Scotland.

  7. 1 August, 2016 at 8:19 pmJustin says:

    I’ve just fitted dual line main sail reefing which is brilliant as I have the shape of slab reefing but don’t have to leave the cockpit to put them in.

    I now have a bright red mainsail as I was so taken with your red genoa that I thought why not a red mainsail. It makes quite a talking point and gets people chatting to me on the dock.

    Just done over 1000 Nm over the last couple of months. High point was anchoring under La Coupee on Sark and otter in Treguier river and dolphins at dawn off the Runnel Stone having motored back across the Channel in no wind.

    I may get to Scotland or Ireland next year but, Dylan, the weather doesn’t look too appealing!

    Keep it up Dylan. You are an inspiration to us all.

  8. 2 August, 2016 at 12:02 amdylan winter says:

    no probs yet this year – too cold I guess

  9. 2 August, 2016 at 9:56 amdylan winter says:

    I love a coloured sail

    brighten my life up and makes the boat more visible

    I also find the red pretty easy on the eye

    my main reason for using it is that it goes well with nthe scenery and you can see the shape of it on a camera

    white just looks white and shapeless

    D

  10. 2 August, 2016 at 11:18 amJustin says:

    The other thing I’ve got is a yellow, red and blue uv strip on the genoa which not only is very pretty but makes reefing easy as you can tell how much you’ve rolled in. Brilliant.

    Really pleased with my Ullmans mainsail.

    J

  11. 2 August, 2016 at 4:07 pmDave Barker says:

    Before I moved to Portugal my face used to look like that first thing in the morning….

  12. 2 August, 2016 at 4:49 pmhenrik scheel says:

    Is the sun ever visible in Scotland sometimes? Get back south D, and hurry up. No reason to spend more time in the grey dull north.

  13. 2 August, 2016 at 8:54 pmDavid and jackie says:

    If the wind is from the SW and blowing over Skye, you are in the rain shadow by Raasey so should be drier. Air is descending from the hills, warming and thus less likely to rain. Thats why east coast of Scotland a lot drier than west coast – and sunnier. I used to teach geography.

  14. 2 August, 2016 at 10:06 pmdylan winter says:

    I have sat on the boat watching the clouds build from nothing to rain squalls – blooming amazing

  15. 3 August, 2016 at 7:30 pmmichael says:

    You need to crack on a bit Dylan, the further south you get the easier and cheaper the car journeys become, you seem to have stalled a bit on the west coast of Scotland. I can’t wait to see your Cornish cruises but looks like that will be many years away yet.

  16. 3 August, 2016 at 9:49 pmdylan winter says:

    sorry M

    the scottish coast is amazingly crinkly

  17. 4 August, 2016 at 11:34 amGiles says:

    Once went aground on Mersey Flats. Told a crew member to head for the green buoy marking the edge of the channel to Brightlingsea whilst I popped below to put the kettle on. The green buoy turned out to be a small green sailed dinghy.
    Dangerous these coloured sails…

  18. 4 August, 2016 at 7:18 pmMIke says:

    Junk rig ;-)

  19. 4 August, 2016 at 9:59 pmMike says:

    Rate you’re going, you will be too by the time you see Cornwall ;-)

  20. 5 August, 2016 at 9:34 pmPaul Surtees says:

    Hi Dylan,
    Really looking forward to the videos, but the blogs and photos are an excellent stopgap!
    Hope you nip into the Solway Firth before heading south. Lots and lots of mud and more seabirds than you can believe.
    Are you planning on visiting the Outer Hebrides while on the west coast?
    Cheers,
    Paul

  21. 6 August, 2016 at 8:11 amdylan winter says:

    my plan is to spend august and september sailing around the nothern parts and as far wast as the weather lest me – then beat a retreat to a yard nearer to glasgow for the autumn sailing when I hope to get to Isla and Jura to film the geese. Then make another assult north next summer. My plan is to use Katie L for the solway firth and the Irish sea costs. Worry not I have spent many happy hours admiring the mud of your home turf

    D

  22. 7 August, 2016 at 6:07 amTony Mindling says:

    I’m astonished that no one else has commented on your reading choice. Someone once said something like the novel is the great lie that tells the great truth. Your blogs, photos, and videos have helped bring to life those parts of the books that take place around the British Isles.

    I’m on about my third read through the Patrick O’Brian series and it is new every time. I’m in “The Commodore” now, so it is soon to come once again to an end. Fortunately O’Brian wrote many other books in addition to the Aubrey-Maturin series, so there are treasures I have yet unearthed. .

  23. 7 August, 2016 at 7:53 amdylan winter says:

    the weird thing is that I am slowly losing the knack for reading novels. I love non fiction books and really enjoy them – the boat is the only place I read and finish novels – at home I usually start reading and then after about 100 pages I start scanning and skipping sections but on the boat I can read for hours

  24. 13 August, 2016 at 2:17 pmKeith says:

    Those Aubrey-Maturin books are wonderful. I’ve taken to the audio versions lately and have enjoyed them too – like a radio play. Finished Desolation Island not long ago. BILLINGS! Billings there! Do you have access to an MP3 player Dylan?

  25. 13 August, 2016 at 4:52 pmdylan winter says:

    I do have an mp3 player and would very much like to listen to them

  26. 25 August, 2016 at 3:02 amJohn says:

    Nice pictures, Loch Lomond can be beautiful but not when you are behind a caravan. The Balahulish Bridge, Portree and quite highland beaches where old cars tractors and boats go to die.
    Again many memories

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