Sailing around Bute August 2010

Steve Cockerham asked me to join hm to sail his 34 foot Sadler, with him, Andy Rackham and Ruari Kirwan. We sailed out of Largs on 21st August after an overnight on the boat and a meal in the marina. We sailed up the coast, past Largs town on our starboard side ... we were doing a steady broad reach with the wind blowing from the east (coast side).


We made good time up the east coast of Bute - which is divided in two by the Highland Boundary Fault. North of the fault the island is hilly and largely uncultivated with extensive areas of forestry (the highest hill is Kames Hill at 267 metres) and to the south the terrain is smoother and highly cultivated. The western side is known for its beaches, many of which enjoy fine views over the Sound of Bute towards Arran and Byte's smaller satellite island Inchmarnock. Bute is separated from the Cowal peninsula by the Kyles of Bute.


This northern part of the island is sparsely populated, and the ferry terminal at Rhubodach connects the island to the mainland at Colintraive by the smaller of the island's two ferries. The crossing is one of the shortest, less than 300 metres! We let it pass ahead of us. In the 1940s/50s Bute served as a naval headquarters (we saw the remains of this), and before that, in WWII, it was a camp for Polish Armed Forces, (unofficially thought of as a prison for Sikorski's political enemies).

We moored up on a blue buoy overnight in the bay of the village of Lamlash (in Scottish Gaelic - An t-Eilean Àrd)


This is the largest village by population on the Isle of Arran It opens into the Firth of Clyde, 4 miles to the south of ferry port Brodick, in a bay on the island's east coast, facing Holy Isle. After we tied up around 6 pm we put the 'pram cover' up over the cockpit, just in time as the heavens opened! After a beer we then took the tender to have a few pints and a meal in the pub. Back around 9.30 pm and bed! We sailed back after motoring into the Clyde. Back by lunch time and got home for 5ish.

Bamburgh - 28th August to 4th September 2010

We spent a week in 'Whimbrel', Armstrong Cottages (Joyce's place) in Bamburgh, Northumberland. Jean, Alison & Peter plus Margaret and I ... and Ginny, made up the guest list. Plenty of walking on the dunes and beach for me and Ginny ...


... and for Peter and I - who walked a circular route, down to Seahouses, and out into the countryside ... then back towards Bamburgh ... about 6 or 7 miles.

We had some time in the second hand book shop in Alnwick - Barter Books - an old railway station with model trains running above the bookcases - a fun place with a great choice of books (I bought seven or so!) and a coffee shop.



Jean & I did the Farne Islands, which sit a mere 2 and 5 miles off the Northumberland Coast mid-way between Seahouses and Bamburgh. These spectacular Northumberland islands have been called 'Britain's ultimate wildlife experience'. We went out of Seahouses on Glad Tidings IV. We spotted plenty of seals - Grey Seal (Halichoerus grypus) - meaning "hooked-nosed sea pig" - is found on both shores of the North Atlantic Ocean. It is a large seal of the family Phocidae or "true seals". It is the only species classified in the genus Halichoerus.



It is a medium sized seal, with the bulls reaching 2.5–3.3 m long and weighing up to 300 kg; the cows are much smaller, typically 1.6–2.0 m long and 100–150 kg weight. It is distinguished from Common Seal by its straight head profile with nostrils that are well apart, and fewer spots on its body. Bull Grays have larger noses and a more convex profile than Common Seal bulls. Males are often darker than females, with lighter patches and often scarring around the neck. Females are silver grey to brown with dark patches.


We saw Kittiwakes, which nest on tiny ledges on cliff faces and fulmars - which nest on isolated cliff tops. We saw Greater and Lesser Black-backed Gull and Rock Pipit, which nest around the lighthouse on Inner Farne. We also saw Cormorants which nest on some of the smaller, rocky islands, plus a lot of Gannets - which actually nest on Bass Rock off the Scottish coast but come south in search of food. Also saw Guillemots, Razorbills, Terns, Shags, Cormorants and Eider Ducks.

As we motored around the islands we passed the famous Pinnacles ... and enjoyed the control that the skipper exerted as the tide ebbed and swirled so we could get a good look at the seals.



Before we turned away from the Outer Farnes, to go land on the Inner Farne we got a treat ... a rare one at that ... an admittedly long distance, but nevertheless a view of the White-tailed Eagle (Haliaeetus albicilla).



Jean and I landed on Inner Farne. We explored the tiny island having first visited St Cuthbert's Chapel - interesting that some of the mouse heads carved onto the seats had been chiseled off, and stolen as souvenirs, in WWI.



While on the Farne Islands, Saint Cuthbert instituted special laws to protect the Eider ducks and other seabirds nesting on the islands. These may have been the first bird protection laws anywhere in the world! Consequently eider ducks are often called cuddy ducks (Cuthbert's ducks) in modern Northumbrian dialects. We walked around the tiny island peering over cliffs at sea birds, especially Kittiwakes, that had no sense of acrophobia in any degree, such was the perils of their perch and their insouciance.




Jean and I slowly wandered around Inner Farne, past the medieval pele tower and Victorian lighthouse.

Some photos I took remind me of Andrew Wyeth's painting, 'Christina's World' (see above - the photos looking up the field to the lighthouse) and this one below - reminded me of Hopper's 'Lighthouse At Two Lights'