Oban to Port Patrick

We're finally on our way back after a fantastic three and a half months in Scotland.
We left Oban in the early hours of Tuesday morning, heading south to Gigha. A lovely sail in mostly light winds but with a bit of a sting in the tail. The clouds gathered about an hour before arriving and it blew up to thirty knots, making end of the journey fast but the anchorage a little bumpy.
We decided against going ashore as sorting out the dinghy is hard work in a blow but were entertained by the crew of a neighbouring boat playing the bagpipes in the cockpit.

Mull of Kintyre

Left early on Wednesday and had a cracking sail down to Portpatrick, a lovely old fishing village. We went past the Mull of Kintyre under sail and with three to four knots of tide behind us. We acheived a speed over the ground of over ten knots for about two hours and seven to eight knots for the rest of the trip. Instead of coming in at five in the evening as predicted, on an average speed of five knots we were tied up and buying fish and chips off the quay by two o'clock.

Port Patrick is our very last Scottish port and has proved a bit of a treat. Bright sunshine, lovely walks and beaches and a friendly atmosphere, we wish we could stay longer but have decided to continue as planned and set out for Whitehaven tomorrow.

Harbour

Lighthouse

From the Mull of Kintyre it is only twenty miles across to Ireland, another big temptation. It seemed sad to be so close and not to go and visit, but we've promised ourselves a return trip in the not to distant future to circumnavigate Ireland.