Kyle of Lochalsh to Eigg

Thurs 11th Kyle of Lochalsh

We decided to stay in Kyle of Lochalsh for the day as it was beautiful and sunny and we wanted to go and look around. Firstly though we tackled the cleaning of the Port side of the boat and the fore deck as it is was all looking a bit green from sitting still all winter. We went for a walk to the play park (of course.) Then to the top of the view point where we could see up and down the sound. We went swimming in the afternoon at a small pool and leisure centre which we had been to last time we were here. It is a very busy place the pool was full and there were loads of people in the gym. It doesn't look like it cost the earth to build (or staff) and once again the showers were far better than any of the ones in the pools in Shetland I have been to!

Fri 12th Kyle of Lochalsh

It was another beautiful sunny day so obviously we had to stay to clean the Starboard side of the hull. I decided to do some hand washing so we spent the whole morning doing that. The pontoon here is far busier than last time we were here loads of boats and people to talk to. Ali has been showing off the new stove he installed a few weeks ago and it is becoming normal to have men popping in for a look. The chimney even got a polish today!

One thing I overheard today made me think Ali is really a fairly well mannered skipper. An elderly couple were coming into the pontoon and as usual in these cases the man was at the wheel and the woman was on deck being barked orders at. I went over to catch a rope and OK she did get it all a bit wrong but it was a flat calm, there was no great bang as the boat hat the pontoon and it all ended OK but he shouted, 'No you stupid woman that's the wrong rope.' then thanked me for my help and I retreated quickly as he continued to get on to her. The only time Ali ever shouted at us was when the old Islay Mist did smack quite dramatically into the Small Boat Harbour due to Daniel and my disorganisation on the ropes. I can still her the crack now......
The old guy on the boat turned out to be very pleasant to talk to but a bit of a lunatic on the angry front. He took an adolescent boy by the scruff of the neck just for hanging around on the pontoon. Then when Ali was talking to him he stopped a man getting on his boat and asked him what exactly he was doing getting on his boat. The man replied, 'My boat is tied up to the other side of yours I have to get on to yours to get to it!' Luckily he seemed to like us!

In the afternoon Ali took the lasses out in the dingy in a bid to ease them back into dingy travel after the 'swamping incident.' They went to the seaward side of the MOD base to get a better look and thankfully didn't get apprehended or chased away. I went to the TV/Computer fixing shop to get on t'internet. Luckily I did as I had been putting the connection problems down to swing around on a mooring in Portree. It turned out that actually my Vodafone broadband dongle had reset my internet setting and I couldn't get on any kind of network. The guy worked his magic and hey presto emails came flying into the inbox. He only charged £20 after working on my computer for about an hour and letting me 'surf' for another hour. He really knows his stuff so if your having any evil computer problems in Kyle then you know where to go. He also informed me that my laptop was of a brand (Sony) destined to fail within a year and made me promise never to stick the Vodafone dongle anywhere near my computer again unless I install the older version of windows.

At tea time I had an even stranger experience in the Coop. I had to argue with a lady at the checkout for about ten minutes to let me buy a bottle of red wine to go with the steaks Ali was cooking!!!!! Honestly! A compliment apparently but I would not have been a happy bunny to have go back to the boat with sirloin but no Merlot!

Sat 13th Kyle to Eigg

On Saturday morning it was a bit rainy at but cleared up pretty quickly. We set off at high tide heading to Tobermory. It was flat calm and dull with the occasional light shower but it got brighter and calmer all the time (my kind of sailing!) We motored down the sound between Skye and the mainland which opens up into the 'Sound of Sleat' it is a very picturesque area. When it is clam and we are sailing it (dare I say it!) gets a bit boring, so Ali busied himself with making a steering seat out of some net he had found on the beach at Portree - now that's recyling for you! I whiled away the time making a few phonevcalls as there was a surprisingly good signal even though we were at sea between two sparsely populated hilly shores. Makes you realise how bad the reception really is in some parts of Shetland.

We were heading towards Ardnamurchan point when we decided to go to Eigg for a look instead of Tobermory as we have been there twice before and the calm weather meant we would feel more confident about anchoring. This turned out to be one of those coincidentally great decisions.... to be continued......