Lamlash - 18 June 2006 (day 29)

Yacht Gothik

At Anchor

Lamlash Harbour

Isle of Arran

North Ayrshire

18 June 2006

Click here to see a map.

Logged distance: 27M

Chart distance: 24M

Time under way: 5h

Sunday 18 June 2006

We arrived in Campbeltown too late in the day yesterday for a laundry stop which is a bit of a shame. Had we managed to get the laundry done then I would have probably said lets go north to Adrishaig and the Crinan canal (no laundry facilities). There is some bad weather forecast in the next few days and before it starts it would have been nice to make some northward progress and skip some cruising in the Clyde - this would have given us more time in the north west. However we decided to carry on with our original plan and head for the eastern side of the Isle of Arran. A good bit of wind was forecast for today, quietening tomorrow then gales (force 8 and above) for Tuesday and Wednesday.

We set off from Campbeltown around 11 o'clock (after a shower at the White Hart Hotel) and headed west. The wind was a force 5 from the south with a moderate sea coming from SSW. We put a single reef in the main and slightly furled the Genoa to ease our motion through the water while managing to keep our speed between 6.5 and 7 knots. Before leaving, Ben had wished for some strong wind (he'd not seen much of it so far), "careful what you wish for" I said. The wind was fine but the sea being slightly abaft the beam made us yaw a little more than usual. George (the autopilot) doesn't like this kind of sea very much but was just managing to cope. I'm not sure Ben liked it very much either as he refused a lunchtime sandwich.

Once we rounded the southern tip of Arran and turned northwards the sea begun to soften a little. The apparent wind speed dropped as the wind was now coming from behind - this also made things feel much easier. However, as we approached Lamlash Harbour (our destination) the wind would change direction with strong gusts due to the effect of being close to high land. We shot into the harbour between the main island of Arran and the smaller, Holy Island, at around 7.5 knots. Somehow we had to drop sail! The genoa was easy (it just furls) the main a little more difficult. As usual it meant pointing the boat into the wind, now from the west, while Ben and Keith flaked (alternate folds of sail) the main onto the boom. The strong southerly swell coming into the harbour made us roll around heavily - Ben and Keith had to hang on but they did a sterling job without any mishaps.

As we approached to pick up a mooring we could see another larger yacht having difficulties. The wind was making the operation quite difficult. They had to go round several times before eventually succeeding. We tried and were a little more fortunate, however we had a smaller, lighter boat and without Ben's muscle power we would have had to go around again.

The town of Lamlash looked very pretty. Sadly we could only see the lower slopes of the large hills and mountains that extend beyond the town. In fact it was quite gloomy with heavy cloud cover. It was cold and raining at times. There was a lot of movement in the boat as the large bay was quite choppy. The rigging would whine in the gusting wind but it felt safe enough. None of us felt like going through the motions of inflating the dingy and going ashore - it was just too wet and cold. Even the gulls were not interested in sitting on the water. Ben cooked and we had more Haggis with mash and carrots. It warmed the cockles.