From the concrete public slipway & car park just before the marina entrance our first port of call was to be Rothesay, 10ml away. I had to motor sail halfway across to G.Cumbrae until I picked up any wind and from there on a nice broad reach all the way across to Bogany point near Rothesay where the wind decided to leave me wallowing in front of a dozen keel boats racing up the channel. However there was no wind for these also and they slowed to a halt before any real decisions had to be made, so I lifted the board and motored the final 2mls to Rothesay harbour

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Crossing the Clyde - " or "Where did that come from?"

Being a bank holiday weekend, the pontoons were all full so the HM directed me to lay alongside the wall in the inner harbour at half the price (£4 / night ). The only problem was that the ladder protection piles were a few feet short of the bottom so when the boat rose you had to be careful that it didn’t get stuck under the wood. A brick from the harbour on a rope tied to the rollock then thrown out into the harbour made sure Dr.Syn pulled away from the wall as she (?) rose whilst I was asleep.

Saturday night was spent in The Taverna pub with Margaret Zaveroni ( Lena’s aunt ) singing good old country songs. I left there well after midnight with the prospect of navigating the chains around the harbour and the vertical ladder down to the boat ( still I was saving £4 ).

Distance 10ml.

Sunday Forecast SW3-4 inc 5. Barometer 1039 HW 0300/1530

Today was to be a late start, just as well with my head, so after a breakfast in Margaret Zaveroni’s cafe ( there’s no end to the talents of this family ) I joined in with the Trailer Sailers annual golf tournament on the putting green. Although I got a fluky hole in one, my team still lost.

At lunch time we all left to go up to the top of the East Kyle to Caladh harbour for the night. Caladh is not a true harbour but more of a very sheltered refuge behind an island. After beating all the way up as far as Colintraive the wind died and I ended up motoring into Caladh at teatime. The bottom is sand with good holding, but the shoreline is rocky in places. Rather than blowing up my Li-Lo I cadged a lift with another dinghy and we went ashore for a BBQ.

Like most of this area the sand seems to end at the LW mark leaving a rocky shoreline and I think it essential to have a small rubber dinghy. Mine is a 2 man Li-Lo which when not in use is rolled up and tied on the foredeck.

Having sampled Roy Beebe’s BBQ on the Solway rallies I know what Scottish BBQ’s are like and so I though I’d better have my tea first. True to form, just like Roy’s where you can see the flames from the Isle of Man, I think you could see this one from back at Largs.

On the way back to the boat at midnight the water was full of bioluminescent which sparkled at every movement in the water. This phenomena never ceases to amaze me.

Distance 9.5 ml.

Monday , HW 0345/1614 Barom 1032

Dawned dull and windy and the bigger boats were going on to the Crinan canal. I didn’t want to be weather bound so far from my car, and as I’d never been to this area before, I said my goodbyes and headed off under Genoa only to get more fuel at Tighnabruaich. On the way a pair of dolphins were sighted swimming close inshore but as usual, by the time I got to within 50 yds they disappeared.

After calling at the wrong pier near Auchenlochen ( nice beach though ), I backtracked to the proper one with the garage. This is the next pier ( in a collapsed state, like most of the piers in the area ) after Tinghnabruich pier. There is a slipway just before it and the garage is hidden at the head of the pier. ( Opposite the garage is a large hotel visible from the loch). The garage owner said he would think about putting a sign to seaward for the boats to spot.

It was here I found out that Scotland still has £1 notes and they are blue. I took what I thought was a £5 note from a waterproof locker and gave it to the proprietor only to be told it "wasna’ enough". I had to run quickly back to the boat & ask the helpful chap holding it on the slip who’s shoes were now covered, if he would stay there a bit longer. "No problem, I’ve got a boat and I’m always getting wet". The slip, by the way is bounded by large rocks, I know, I hit one. The wind was Quite strong and as soon as I lifted the c/board the boat was blown sideways. There was nothing I could do but just hang on and watch, but luckily Wayfarers are strong and there was only a minor scratch. But for a moment I really thought that this may have been the end of the cruise.

I slowly made my way back to Caladh for the evening, popping out of the harbour later to photograph one of the remaining Clyde Puffers ( VIC32 ) as she passed. I hope the EEC directives on exhaust emissions are waived for craft like this. Later I went for a short walk in the hills. I had run the boat aground 3 hrs before LW thinking this would give me plenty of time before it floated again, but the water returned to float me just after LW so it was a good job I didn’t venture too far.

Distance 6 ml

Tuesday. Forecast SE 3-4 HW 0425/1700 Barom 1037

A perfectly still sunny morning, which was to be the norm for the rest of the week. Hundreds of small common jellyfish were floating in one entrance and out of the other, together with the odd sinister looking one, and a few mature common ones about 1m in dia. With just a faint breath of air I ghosted after them bound for the top of Loch Riddon. A gentle F2 on the nose filled in and I took till lunchtime to get to the top of the loch. I anchored on a beach made up entirely of mussels, millions as far as you could see. I went for another walk and after the shipping forecast and a bite to eat, started off back down the loch in company with the Puffer. The wind decided to swing round through 180 deg. and increase ( a sort of sea breeze every afternoon and always on the nose whichever way I was going ), so with just the reefed main it took till teatime to get back. Still I was in no hurry, that’s what cruising’s about.

At the start of the Loch near the Burnt Isles, the wind died away for the rest of the night, and I motored the rest of the way to a spot opposite Colintraive where I blew up the tender and went ashore. This day was to be typical of the wind for all week.

I was preparing to stay here the night when the sky started to cloud over and I thought I heard thunder. Having a metal mast sticking up to attract any lightning I decided to row back to Cadadh which took three quarters of an hour towing the li-lo. The thunder I heard turned out to be the ferry doors dropping onto the slipway at Colintrave.

Distance 5ml

Wednesday. Forecast S 3-4 HW 0510/1800 Barom 1040

Left Cadadh towing the dinghy but had to heave it onto the foredeck as it was causing too much drag. I then motor sailed to Colintraive to find water, landing on the RH side of the ferry slip. The ferry office was the only place I could get water. Like a lot of villages marked on the chart in this area, when you get there there’s only one or two houses so you must be totally self-sufficient.

After a false start because I left my camera in the ferry office, I got away bound down the E Kyle for Rothesay, beating again in a gentle F2 coming straight up the Kyle. When I got near the entrance I decided to bear away into L.Striven. The wind decided to jump up a notch which meant a grand sail right over to the opposite shore where I encountered two more dolphins. I eased the sheets to take photos but I think the loose mainsheet block banging on the deck frightened them off, however I got one fair photo. I slowly made my way across to Rothesay for teatime and the wind decided to disappear so left me to row the final two miles to the town. I anchored off the beach to the right of the harbour intending to go in the morning. This was because I had decided to spend Thursday ashore and Thurs night in harbour and as dues were payable per day why pay for two when one was almost over? It was another perfect night and the boat only rolled in the wash of distant boats, and I was sheltered from what wind might come by the hills around the town.

Distance 11ml

Thursday. Forecast S 3-4 HW 0600/1900 Barom 1038

Up early and rowed into harbour to the blast from the ferry just leaving. I think it was his excuse to wake the town up as I was at least 100m behind him and rowing. I know Wayfarers are fast boats but I don’t think I could have got in his way.

First thing, after mooring to the wall again, a good shower at the prized Victorian toilets. The showers are the only modern part ( electric ) for £1, and like most modern things they malfunctioned by alternating hot and cold. Still it was nice after 5 days of just flannel washes inside a boom tent. Next, across the road for breakfast at Margaret Zaveroni’s cafe. This also made a delightful change after 5 days of hot cross buns and cereal without milk ( I’d spilt mine on the first day out ). The rest of the day was spent walking around the area. East in the morning and to the West of the town in the afternoon.

Friday. Forecast SE 3-4 HW 0715/2010 Barom 1038

After another breakfast at MZ’s, paying my harbour dues, and a visit to the supermarket, I was away by 8:40 heading for Killchattan on the south east side of Bute. I had to motor sail nearly all the way as the wind was very fickle. I tried mackerel fishing without luck but it was probably too early. At Mountstuart I passed a sandy beach that a Wayfarer could pull out on but the rest of the coastline was very rocky. The water was very clear and took some getting use to. Seeing rocks beneath the keel after the sandy waters of Morecambe Bay was a bit scary. I suppose if the eye’s don’t see it you don’t worry about it.

After the shipping forecast I headed off to round Little Cumbrae before going up the East side to Millport. It wasn’t until I had rounded the southern tip of Little Cumbrae that the breeze came back and allowed me to stop the engine. I had cruised with it on tickover, just pushing me along at less than walking pace, from leaving Killchatten and had only speeded up once when a large naval auxiliary looked like it wanted to see how strong Wayfarers were. The breeze came from behind at about F3 and I fairly romped along goosewinged into Millport at 18:00 where I picked up a spare mooring behind one of the little Islands and settled down for the night just watching the antics of the wildlife on the island.

I was using an Admiralty small craft edition chart and I also carried a normal chart of a section of Cumbrae and I was very disappointed in the amount of information left off the small boat version. There were houses and a castle on Little Cumbrae, these were shown on the full size chart and ordinance survey map ( another essential item ) but left off the small boat version. Other things were left off also like villages and buoys, important for small boats that rely on shore features as much as buoys. I don’t think I’ll buy another.

Distance 17 ml

Saturday. HW 0840/2130 Barom 1032

The previous night, cirrus appeared in the sky and the forecast gave SE 3/4 with a complex high. Whenever I hear the word complex in a forecast I’m very wary, but for now the sky was clear and there didn’t seem to be an excess of wind so I decided to take the long route back to Largs by going up the West side of Cumbrae and around the top. However when I got out to the West side the wind was heading me at 3/4 . I was reefed and just couldn’t make any headway. A lobster fisherman’s dahn buoy kept appearing at my side each time I came back on the same tack and after half an hour I gave up and ran back round the bottom and tried to go up the east side. Here the wind was blowing in the OPPOSITE direction and fading, so I had a leisurely run up Great Cumbrae and crossed over to the opposite shore when opposite Largs. I had to use the engine to get across as the wind dropped away again. I beached near the slipway ready to haul out on the evening tide. This gave me time to get the car and trailer and off load some of the heavy gear. All the while the wind increased from the shore until at 1700 hours it was recorded at NE7 by the marina, and although the sea had no fetch in it I was jolly glad to be back.

Saturday night was one of the worst nights I’ve ever spent in the boat, even though I was sleeping off the water in the car park . I thought either the tent (polythene sheet) would be ripped off or the boat was going to get blown over. However, both survived and on Sunday I safely made the 6 hour journey back to Yorkshire.

I always take a barometer if I’m away for a week, this year I had to sneak the one from the dining room wall as the little mechanism I had in the boat contracted the usual open boat syndrome, my wife wont know till she reads this.

I found this area a delight to cruise in especially for single handing as you are never far from some for of shelter if needs be. The weather this time was perfect, unusually so for Scotland. A week of sun with the wind picking up in the afternoon and dying away in the evening. I thought I was equipped for everything but the heat nearly caught me out, and on Friday I really thought I was getting sunstroke and wouldn’t be able to go on. Seems silly as Largs was only 10 miles or so away but the sun was physically draining me. SO BEWARE early on in the year on water.

The only navigational hazards to be aware of are the many fish farms dotted about, but they are all buoyed well so should not present too much of a problem as long as you keep to seaward of them.

As I’ve said earlier, a little rubber dinghy is essential to explore the area fully, as is being self sufficient especially in water. I carried a 4 ltr container with an extra 2 later in an empty pop bottle. Two 4 ltr containers to start would have been just enough before finding somewhere to top up. *