Here we are, in Scotland, and more precisely in the famous “Highlands”, one of the main goals for this year’s cruise. Majestic mountains Norwegian-like, “rias” and small houses Breton-like… we try and enjoy as much as possible despite unreliable weather…
More pictures (sunnier and sunnier) and a short drone movie on our page
Pictures.
We didn’t really do justice to Lochinver … or is this the other way around? Dark sky, constant rain, we have seen only a pontoon berth (rather expensive when coming from the North), a shower which was barely working, and constant comings and goings amongst fishing boats. We stop only for a few hours, to sleep after our long trip from the Orkneys, before setting sails again and making the most of the northerly wind to push southward – always running after this elusive Azores High !
The harbour is the only part of Lochinver we saw!
The shoreline is finally uncovering and we can see more than simply puffins
The trip starts just like it had stopped the day before, some good wind on the back, despite the rain, they grey surroundings and a pronounced swell. But in the afternoon, there’s change in the air… For a start, it is not raining any more. The clouds are thinner, we can make out the contours of a shore, mountains emerge gradually. Ahead on starboard, Skye makes an appearance. We can even see some of the Outer Hebrides in the distance.
There are still many puffins and guillemots around, but fulmars and skuas don’t seem to venture as far South. Gannets are also less present. Maybe they don’t like this strange thing which is blinding us in the sky: a ray of sunshine!
All that is well and nice, but there’s a force 7 near gale forecast for tomorrow, so we pull the helm and enter into Gairloch fjord. Or rather, Gairloch Loch as they say here. It is just the same (an inlet of water carved by ice between the mountains), but the Scottish version.
The landscape is becoming more and more grandiose as the clouds clear away, and Saltimbanque finds itself at the only available visitor berth in this tiny fishing harbour nested in the middle of the famous Highlands…
Gairloch, mostly a fishing harbour, but with one spot for visiting sailboats, right the size of Saltimbanque.
!
19th June: Gairloch (ashore)
It’s finally in Gairloch that we will really make our first contact with the Scottish Highlands. The harbour focuses on pot-fishing and excursions for tourists … who apparently haven’t made it here yet. There is an “off-season” atmosphere all around, and an authentic charm not disturbed by the few camping vans already there. We enjoy the stay all the more that the first night here is for free, for us coming from Lochinver: all harbours managed by the Highland Council (Kinlochbervie, Lochinver, Gairloch, Kyle of Lochalsh and a few others) have a “one night paid, the next night for free” system throughout their network.
Saltimbanque in the heart of Scottish Hghlands
Scotland: beaches, mountains, and a golf course in between!
We walk to the village to do some shopping. This is a nice walk along the shore, with views on the beach and on the mountains. The shop-owners confirm that the weather is particularly disappointing this year… yet there is some real progress: the air and the sea are getting warmer every day (as evidenced by our most reliable indicator onboard: the olive oil is turning fully liquid in the bottle, not hazy any more). It is less humid onboard… not fully dry yet, but that’s a start.
In the afternoon, Laure goes up for a run on the nearby summits. This looks just like Western Norway! These are the same mountains, geologically speaking, and there is an unmistakable family resemblance!
Norway ? no, Scotland !
20th June: Gairloch – Shieldaig (22M)
We need to make the most of this quiet and enjoyable day!
The wind has veered and we now have to beat. Never mind, it’s a pleasant force 3, under a clear sky and with the northerly swell flattened by yesterday’s wind. So nice to ditch the oilies and take a walk in front of the mast!
Bob is steering and we are enjoying the landscape: mountainous shore, and the Isle of Skye whose summits are constantly hidden in the clouds. Actually “Skye” comes from the old norse “sky” which means… cloud! We’re only short a mackerel or two to make the picture perfect, but our attempts at fishing are surprisingly pointless here…
The isle of Skye and its conspicuous skyline
Saltimbanque tacks its way into loch Torridon
This is not a long trip today, since there is a force 7 near gale forecast for next night… We only sail up to the next sheltered place, loch Torridon, reputed for its majesty. Indeed we pass some very nice peaks before reaching Shieldaig and its anchorage. We ponder the opportunity to anchor, but get suspicious about the surrounding mountains, which can sometimes create fall winds, and we choose the comfort of one of the two visitor moorings. Wise decision, with hindsight…
But for now, it’s a beautiful afternoon! It’s true! Almost warm even, 18 degrees inside the cabin, never seen so far in June! We pull the dinghy out of the locker where it was taking a looooong nap (since the Baltic trip in 2018!) and get ready to go to shore. For our greatest delight, the outboard engine, which Camille fixed this winter with the help of our friend André (thanks André!!), starts immediately and takes us to the small jetty maintained by the local community. In the Highlands, cruising facilities seem to be often maintained by local communities, and fees are payable in cash in an ”honesty box”. Or, by bank transfer to the organizations themselves (which we will end up doing here, given that we never found the said box).
Shieldaig is a cute and quiet village. Less touristic than Gairloch, it counts only 86 inhabitants on one street, bordered by white houses with the face to the loch and their back to the mountains – and a school (!). The village was created in 1800 as a training base for soldiers in the Napoleonic wars and turned to fishing after 1815. Our steps lead us to the head where the view towards the rest of loch Torridon is splendid. This is however also our first encounter with the dreaded “midges”: tiny blood-sucking fly, swarming in some places in Scotland. A real nuisance, but not enough to spoil this nice hike.
The one street of Shieldaig seen from Saltimbanque
View towards the end of Loch Torridon, looking more and more like a mountain lake!
The wind is due to increase overnight, but we expect shelter from our anchorage at the head of the loch. False! Around midnight the wind picks up at once and starts blowing in a gale. The mountain, which was supposed to stop the wind, is only accelerating it, creating squalls on the bay. Lucky us to have picked a solid mooring, checked and vetted for 15t boats, and equipped with a 50mm line. We should hold… much better than on our anchor!
The wind will keep blowing in a gale the whole night before decreasing the “strong wind” in the morning. Not the calmest of nights… and our plan for the following night is to sail in the 15 hours window (before the next southerly near gale) to the next loch. So today is spent onboard despite being a warm and sunny day, between short naps and blog-writing sessions, rocking on the still lively sea…
As soon as the gusts subside, we leave this bay with much relief, and some hope that the next one will be better sheltered. But this loch is so beautiful that we forget all about our short night even before being out of it!
Leaving Loch Torridon, better for its views than for its shelter!
Dolphons !! It had been so long !!
It blows a weak southerly today, we tack between Skye and the mainland. It’s a grey and wet evening, and we don’t understand why the current is still against us. But we are making way however. No time to linger, there’s a next near gale coming…
This is when we get exactly what we needed to cheer us up between two showers: the visit of a pod of dolphins!!! 2 adults and 2 youngsters which will stay and play around the boat for an hour at least! It’s been so long since we saw dolphins for the last time, as they are very rare in the North Sea and inexistant in the Baltic. Magical! The pod ends up coming back to check on us twice during the night, even when the wind has died and we are motoring our way through the dark, on a straight line, but the eyes wide open to spot any lobster pots which could get jam our propeller…
We reach Plockton in the early morning, and hope to pick up one of the 15 visitors moorings and wait out the gale there. Alas, the bay is full of boats and all the visitors moorings are occupied! Aren’t we off-season?! After checking on all parts of the bay, we take one big yellow mooring just to sleep a few hours (tired as we are after two sleepless nights).
Plockton in the very first hours of the day, it's beautiful but it's not really a secret.
As we wake up in the middle of the morning, there is one visitor mooring free. We grab it just before the wind picks up, and we can finally relax. The shelter seems good here and indeed we will only be exposed to a few gusts.
Plockton’s reputation as a charming and picturesque village is well-deserved. Small houses (with a Breton air) facing the sea, manicured gardens full of flowers and of the iconic and exotic “yucca” palm trees, mountains (with a Norwegian air) in the background… the best of both worlds! There’s even a castle standing across the bay to remind us that we are in Scotland.
Plockton, manucured gardens with a view to cute little houses and majestic mountains
Plockton, main street
The impression of having found the perfect combination of our two homes (Brittany and Norway) gets only stronger in the afternoon, as we walk along the shore towards the castle. The creek at low tide smells like seaweed and looks like a “ria” in Brittany…except… the forest floor is carpeted by blueberry bushes! And under the oaks, giant rhododendrons bushes make up most of the undergrowth! They are huge, way bigger than the giant we marvelled at in Egersund!
Tropical mangrove ? Nope, scottish rhododenron!
And for a perfect end to the perfect day: dinner at a local restaurant, with haggis, fish soup, and local seafood.
23rd June: Plockton – Kyle of Lochalsh (12M)
Loch Carron under the sun, no photoshop !
Today’s elegant start (leaving the mooring under sails only) is followed by a short and pleasant trip today! Sunny and beating in a force 4 breeze, we tack in the Loch Carron, between Skye and the mainland. What a nice country – when the sun is out (at least 10% of the time in summer…)
We reach the bridge linking Skye to the mainland just as the tide is turning and look for the small pontoon in Kyle of Lochalsh. We had spotted the Ovni 365 from a little distance already, and her friendly Quebecois crew shouts out to us “come here, there’s space behind us”! »
Very well, the berth is almost sheltered against, guess what.. yes, another southerly near gale forecast for tomorrow!
Kyle of Lochalsh, reserved for nice looking aluminium boats!
In this “kyle”, Haakon Haakonsson, Norwegian king, had assembled his fleet to prepare an attack on the army of the young Scottish king Alexander III, in 1264. In the end the shrewd Scot through plodding diplomacy delayed the attack into the autumn months, and the fleet got scattered in a gale, lost the short battle of Largs, and control over the Highlands. There only remain the names of the village across, Kyleakin (=”kyle of Haakon”) and a few other Nordic-sounding place names…
24th June: Kyle of Lochalsh (ashore)
Since we have to stay ashore, we might as well be efficient. The last laundry dates from Lerwick and clean clothes are needed… amongst various errands, the day will be busy we filling up water, grocery shopping and working on the blog.
Once the chores are done, we can indulge in social activities! Eric and Clare, Quebecois living in Novia Scotia, come for a coffee and we chat about sailing in Canada, Europe and the Baltic. In addition to the usual exchange of cruising information, we talk a little more: yes, they know Carrick, the other Brise de Mer 28 which sailed to Greenland almost 20 years ago. They also know the crew of “La V’limeuse”, about which Camille read all the books when she was young. It’s not everyday that we meet people from the other side of the ocean, and it’s interesting to hear about their perspectives and cultural references too.
The bridge to the isle of Skye. To its right side, the Highlands that we are leaving to visit their cousins from Argyll on the South!
Finally we go for a walk… in shorts! (or rather with the trousers legs rolled up, because this temperature took us by surprise and we don’t even know where our shorts are packed actually). Nice views towards Skye, fishing boats forgotten deep in hidden creeks, white sand on tidal beaches… instants remind still remind us of one or the other of our homes (Brittany and Norway), but we are getting used to the landscapes being simply typical of here, and getting accustomed to the Highlands specificities.
Tomorrow the high pressure should push up towards us, giving two days of weaker wind, we can continue our route South! Our plan: passing the Kyle Rhea, between Skye and the mainland, which has strong tidal currents and acts as a natural gate between the Highlands on the North, and Argyll on the South of Scotland…
Achiletjoce - 05/07/2024 22:07:35 Coucou les filles
Ravis de vous retrouver sur l'eau.
Toujours aussi sympas vos aventures et votre plume enrichissante.
Belles contrées traversées, que de vents du sud! L'été n'est pas encore arrivé en Bretagne, profitez du climat écossais.
On vous embrasse SuDad - 03/07/2024 21:52:12 On s'essuie machinalement le visage à ces descriptions météorologiques.(un peu honte d'être au sec et au chaud). Tous ces paysages légendaires, ces noms qui ont "de la gueule", les avoir sous les yeux, ça doit émouvoir. Peut-être pas autant que l'humidité, évidemment. "Connaissance du monde" en Ecosse, on y est. Evidemment, les bruits, la pluie, les odeurs, les embruns, le vent, ça s'imagine moins bien. Vous, les actrices, vous remplissez merveilleusement le contrat, pour nous spectateurs, bouche bée.
Chouette séance. Merci. A la prochaine... mum - 03/07/2024 20:28:48 le rhododendron est phénoménal ,serait il arrosé de whisky Kirstie & Neil S/Y L’Escale - 03/07/2024 15:47:48 This post is a beautiful combination of precious memories, and views of the many places we missed in these spectacular waters…but from your descriptions, the weather we experienced in 2017 wasn’t unusual for this time of year. What treasures when the fog and rain clouds lift ;-) Etienne - 02/07/2024 14:56:39 Désolé pour ma maladresse 2 commentaires vides ! Voilà l'Ecosse magnifiquement racontée et décrite. Bravo pour votre parcours dans une météo pas très conciliante. Je me rend compte aussi qu'on a eu beaucoup de chance d'avoir pu goûter aux 10% de beau temps ! On vous souhaite une belle météo en mer d'Irlande. la mamou - 01/07/2024 09:50:04 Bien beau mélange de Norvège et de Bretagne ....Dommage que le temps soit plus que breton ...Il faudra revenir ...;-)
