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4th August 2006 - The Sailing Meet Adventures on the High Seas Friday morning and Skipper Dave, assisted by Able Seamen Rab and Mike, sailed 'Avilion' round to the agreed rendezvous point (The Tighe an Truish Pub, Clachan), via pubs on three different islands. Calum, Fiona and Anne helped Jim, Skipper of 'Starlight' sail from Corsair, number of pubs visited unknown, but likely to be more than one. Dave and Lucy eventually arrived, just after pub closing time, to find the crews slightly less than able! Despite a detour into someone's garden, and some wandering around seaweed covered rocks in the dark, everyone made it onboard, for some sizeable nips before bed. Saturday morning started drizzly, but with a good wind which wafted the smell of bacon and eggs across the water from Starlight to Avilion! Breakfast mutiny was avoided with some hot buttered rolls and eventually we were declared ship shape and set off for the Sound of Mull, en-route to Duart Bay. As we sailed past Duart Castle, the wind dropped and Starlight's motor stopped working. It took some time for the trimaran to make it into the bay for some engine repairs. Rab, Mike, Lucy, Dave and Anne went ashore and set off up Dun da Ghaoithe, a hill just above the bay, which forms part of a horseshoe round to Scallasle Bay. The remaining crew fixed the engine and sailed the boats around the headland to meet them. The hill walking party didn't quite make the full horseshoe, but got down in time for Jim to ferry everyone back to the boats on his dingy. With everyone safely back aboard, surely nothing more could go wrong... It wasn't until Jim's dingy had floated a good 20 metres from the boat that anyone noticed. Luckily, with the engine now fixed, Jim was able to give chase and the runaway inflatable was quickly re-captured and lashed tightly to the trimiran. Quote of the weekend goes to Skipper Dave, who returned to his own boat before the chase commenced, only to announce, "the buggers have gone off with my gin and tonic"! With the adrenaline subsiding, thoughts turned to our stomachs and the next potential disaster loomed. Would we make it to Lochaline before the pub stopped serving dinner (or worse, beer!)? We quickly raised the anchors and set sail full steam ahead for the far shore. Rab phone ahead and the folks in the Lochaline Hotel kindly agreed to keep the kitchens open and even met us as we got off the boats. We filled our bellies with fish and chips, sticky toffee pudding and pints of Guinness and calm was restored once more. Sunday morning saw a fair breeze and when high tide came, both boats departed, or attempted to. This time it was Avilion's turn for electrical problems and the anchor had to be hoisted manually. Everyone eventually sailed back with fair winds and great views of Mull shrouded in mist and the sailing meet ended with all boats and people accounted for and more or less in tact. Unfortunately the same couldn't be said for the onwards transportation. Rab's car had an exhaust problem and Lucy's car had a flat tyre (pancake flat!). The weekend finished later for some than others!! A big 'thank you' to Dave and Jim for a fantastic sailing weekend. LH
Starlight sailing out of Lochaline harbour
Pensive Skipper Dave ("I hate it when I leave my shoes ashore")
Beer o'clock aboard the Avilion ...
... while the crew of the Starlight take matters more seriously
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