Oban

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Sun 14th Eigg to Oban

I woke up at about 5am and poked my head out of the boat to check the anchor was OK and the sound of drums was still coming from the campsite.. It was still a flat calm so the anchoring was fine.

We left as soon as we dragged ourselves out of bed. Ali decided we should try a spot of fishing. We only got 1 mackerel at the first attempt. The girls loved it especially the usual fish anatomy lesson at gutting time. It stayed calm the whole day and dry for most of the day too. Last time we came down this way it was so rainy and cold we all stayed inside and left Ali and Lindsay outside in their oilskins occasionally passing them cups of tea to keep them going! We passed Ardnamurchan point which you always hear on the shipping forecast making you think it is a huge headland but it is just a little cliff. But we did manage to catch another fish here and between them they made a good fish curry!

It was so calm that Kaylee and I did some cleaning in the cockpit which she loves as she squirted cleaner everywhere.

We passed by ‘Balamory’ as the girls didn’t seem too interested in going. The rain started later in the day but not too much. The big ferries to Mull go past fairly quickly and we got a surprise with one of their bow waves.

We passed by the Lismore Island light house which was in the middle of a paint job. They do it with what looks like abseiling ropes. I wouldn't fancy that job! We got into Oban marina and tied up just as the rain was really starting- good timing for once!

Mon15th Perth

To our amazement when we got up in the morning we saw a familiar boat parking up just next to us. The 'Tup Nor' a German boat that we have met in Scalloway, Westray, Stromness, Kyle of Lochalsh and now here. We were all laughing about it as we really didn't think we would see each other again!

We cleaned out the boat a bit all easier with 240v electricity. Ali booked the boat to be lifted out on Wednesday so we decided to go to Perth today to see John Robert , Mary and family. Alisha and Kaylee were really excited to see their big cousins again. The bus ride to Perth was a bit hairy the bus driver seemed to be driving a little fast for my liking after he got delayed.

Mary had made a lovely meal and it was great catching up with what everyone was doing. The girls were delighted and raced around with their cousins until they were fit to drop. Ali and John decided to catch up properly after the rest of us had gone to bed (which unfortunately for the rest of us meant sharing all their news at full volume which got louder as the bottle of Jura got lower!!)

Tues 16th Perth
The kids got up early to see the big ones off to school and of course there were two men who took a little longer than the rest of us to surface….. Alisha lost her first tooth in Perth and is very proud of herself as she is now a 'big girl.' We pottered around for the whole day and all too soon it was time to get the bus back to Oban thankfully less of a terror ride this time! When we got off the bus the Oban and District Youth Pipe Band had just started playing. They were very good but Kaylee wasn't too impressed and was holding her ears. The rain and wind started just as we were crossing the bay in the marina's water taxi. Mr Angry had also caught up with us they are supposed to be taking the sea plane home to Largs tomorrow weather permitting.......

Wed 17th Oban
Lifting the boat out was cancelled because of the wind. So we got on with some washing and then headed over to Oban to find the swimming pool. We climbed to the top of the hill to McCaig's tower. We went off to the swimming pool which was a great place with all sorts going on. We had tea at the cafe which was rented out by the guy serving and had only two staff on at that time but he said he makes a profit. Ali said he should head up to Lerwick to take over the Clikimin cafe. The cafe was a fairly bumpy ride across and you had to watch where you sit so as not to get soaked.

Thurs 18th Oban
It was even windier today. The sea had been really banging against our cabin last night so we hardly got any sleep (of course the girls were oblivious and up at the usual time.) Cathy and Joan came down from Inverness to see us. Cathy took the girls a very noisy martian bashing game (pictured) which has been played with ever since. Joan and Cathy gave the girls some makeup with a mirror and Kaylee was in her element. We were going to go across to Oban and have tea with Cathy and Joan but the next skipper that was coming on ddn't like wind too much and there was every chance we would get stuck over in town so we stayed put.

Fri 19th Oban
Ali wanted to set off today but it was still very windy with really strong gusts as I discovered on the sea taxi when I went to get sailing supplies. I seemed to have the lucky seat in the middle of the boat and was the only dry person on it as the waves were crashing over it. The sea taxi experience made me fairly certain that the sailing was off. Which it was. We went for a walk around Kerrera isle between showers then we went over to the swimming pool again. The lasses got fish and chips on the way home from a chip shop with a photo of Rick Stein with the chef on the wall. Apparently a celebrity chef endorsement allows a price 'endorsement' too, it was a good fish though! Ali and I decided to eat in the marina seafood restaurant so we got some warm clothes on as it is an outdoors eating experience. It was a very good meal and we got talking to some others too. One boy was the skipper of a very large charter yacht in the harbour. He comes from a sailing family who lived in the Caribbean on board a yacht all of his younger days. He reckoned his first ever memory was being aground on a sand bank in Bermuda! We had to call it a night as the lasses were getting cold and the midges were coming out. Also we were getting up early to catch the tide!