Friday 12 July

Up early, I was awake two minutes before my alarm went off at 06:30. How this happens I don’t know but it’s a regular thing. Kettle on, back to bed with my phone to check the forecast. North or northwest force 3-5 in the North Channel (which we have to cross from the north east to the south west), 2 or 3 in the Firth of Clyde where we are now. By ten to eight Temptress is on her way after the skipper had swabbed the side deck to remove several large patches of guano. The anchor came up without an issue so our fears about mooring detritus were unfounded despite a report from a friend yesterday afternoon saying someone he knew had recently lost an anchor.

The forecast it turned out was overly optimistic, in the harbour the breeze scarcely registered and was from the south. Once beyond Holy Island we told ourselves it was the shadow cast be Arrans mountains to our north. Sadly that proved wrong too. We motored on, the south going tide offering only a small amount of assistance to our passage. By ten thirty Temptress had under forty miles to go. Blue skies and the sun was warm. Shorts on, watermaker on.

Making good progress and crossed the 400 nm mark by lunchtime. The sea though is sloppy, residual swell from earlier wind. The main sail was lowered, neatly folded on the boom to avoid damage as the cloth flip flopped back and forth. Without its steadying influence the rolling from side to side was worse but we motored onward with the tide now well and truly heading south, our speed increased to seven and half or eight knots. At this rate Temptress should be tied up in her berth shortly after four o’clock this afternoon.

Eventually there was sufficient wind to sail so we unfurled the genoa and pootled along rather more slowly than we’d been motoring. The next couple of hours were peaceful, some dolphins briefly came to play, a few ferries crossed our track and one cargo ship was heading northwards. All too soon Temptress was sailing across Belfast Lough towards Bangor.

As NI was wearing a cloak of cloud when we first spied the coastline we thought we would be putting back the layers of clothing stripped off in the Scottish sunshine, however the blue skies travelled with us. The marina as we entered was warm and sunny. A piper or pipers were playing ashore.

Back in our berth, a phone call from our agent informed us the sale of our house in Molesey had fallen through. The cash buyers, who used that as a lever to both offer below the asking price and push us for a fast completion, were unable to get a mortgage! Annoying as we’d spent the week prior to our holidays rushing round to gather all the paperwork on our side so our new to us solicitors had everything needed. Still no time to dwell on in that, there was work to be done on the boat.

We sorted Temptress out so she was securely moored, plugged in to the mains and put the cockpit tent up. After a shower to wash the salt off, we headed across the marina for sun downers with friends who were about to depart on their own cruise of the Clyde. It was a lovely way to end our cruise, passing on the baton as it were, we just hope Ludder Too has better weather over the coming week.

Our four hundred odd miles in three weeks have been a bit of a mixed bag. As someone commented, we have though made the best of it and to be honest we have very much enjoyed life onboard again. Temptress remains our cosy home as she has been for the past twenty four years. Despite the weather we have had a grand time, have met up with friends, made new friends and visited harbours both new and well known, finding new places to add to a long list of favourites to return to. And after it all, The Outer Hebrides remains a destination to explore on another voyage.