Skipper´s update from the Island of Gigha, Argyll, Scotland

kilehagen1

We lost our lovely family crew in Oban on Saturday last week, but were joined by Stuart Black and Fraser Greive from Inverness simultaneously. We came here on Sunday after spending a night and a morning in Ardfern (to do the laundry and avoid strong winds that caused four lifeboat call-outs that night in the Oban area!). However, we have not been able to leave again yet due to strong south winds related to a series of depressions rolling in from the Atlantic and proceeding northwards up the west coast of Scotland.

When we arrived in Ardminish bay, Maggs Mcsporran was on the pier to greet us. She lives on the island, and has like her uncle been involved in the Gigha Community Trust that did the Community land buy-out, bought three second hand windmills, and generally helped the get more residents, better housing, and some small enterprises started. Now Maggs works for Highlands and Islands Enterprise, and is a good friend of Stuart´s. She took us for a tour yesterday to the north of the Island, and also joined us on board for an evening meal, which was good fun. Tonight we will all go to her home for a meal.

We have also explored a bit, and enjoyed a great lunch at the Boathouse pub and restaurant just by the Pier. They have an excellent local chef, and there is a lot of local produce  including lobsters, scallops and oysters, delivered fresh daily by a small fishing boat. That was thanks to Fraser.

We hope to be able to leave early on Thursday morning with the outgoing tide, and reach Bangor at the mouth of Belfast bay in Ireland about 12 hours later after catching favourable winds.

Stuart and Fraser in the pub, and Maggs, Fraser and Stuart at the north end beach, which has a north and a south sandy beach for bathing. Maggs said it was where the Royals bathed off the royal yacht ht Brittania when doing their annual sail around the north (back in the old days!).

Published by kilehagen1

I LIVE IN N W DENMARK, ON THE LIMFJORD. I AM A SCOT IN EXILE UNTIL SCOTLAND GAINS ITS INDEPENDENCE FROM ENGLAND. I AM AN EMERITUS PROFESSOR, WRITER, SAILOR, AND AMATEUR MUSICIAN, GARDENER AND SOMETIMES A PRACTICAL GUY WHO SAWS OUR FIREWOOD, GROWS VEGETABLES, MAKES CIDER ETC. I HAVE A COUPLE OF LONG VOYAGES BY SAIL UNDER MY BELT, ONE A CIRCUMNAVIGATION OIF SCANDINAVIA THROUGH THE RIVERS, LAKES AND CANALS OF N W RUSSIA IN 2014. AND ONE TO BRASIL AND BACK IN 2018-19. I AM A MEMBER OF SUNDSØRE SAILING CLUB IN DENMARK AND THE CRUISING ASSOCIATION IN THE UK-

3 thoughts on “Skipper´s update from the Island of Gigha, Argyll, Scotland”

  1. Not, of course, that Fraser and Stuart are not also lovely! Great crew! They visited Campbeltoun by ferry and bus today, and a local owned distillery called Springbank, Whi h malts its own barley. We will leave at 0630 tomorrow for Bangor in Ireland. It looks like a southerly wind again, however, which means a long sail, arriving in the early morning of Friday.

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  2. Pingback: Skipper´s update from the Island of Gigha, Argyll, Scotland | John Bryden

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