Tall Ships Ketch – SCOTTISH ISLES ADVENTURE

We started off in Oban north pier at 1pm. We each gave a brief introduction to each other followed by attempting to learn everyone’s names. Then we went over what do in case of a variety of emergencies (fire, man overboard, illness). The plan for the week was also covered.

We departed from Oban at around 3:30pm. We left the pontoon using the motor and we were shown how to use the fenders. Once we had left the pontoon, we were shown how to tie up the fenders and ropes. We hoisted the jib (front sail) using the winch. Some of us were given opportunity to steer. Later, we performed a gybe to point us towards Dunstaffnage.

We docked at Dunstaffnage around 4:50pm

For dinner some of us prepared chicken fajita tortillas and we ate around 6pm. Whilst the cooks cleaned up, others spent time on deck admiring the view.

We left Dunstaffnage at 9.30 after a breakfast of cereal and tea. During the voyage we went up to four sails on the ship, we past the Corryvrechn where there was no whirlpool. Afterward the wind died down so we had to make do with just the motor. We spent a long time looking for porpoises and seals, we also spent time learning many knots and directions of sail. For lunch we had sandwiches and pork pies.

We had dinner on the boat which was spaghetti bolognaise before we came in to port Ellen at 7.30 then we had a pudding of pineapple and banana crumble with custard.

Today the wakeup call was at 8:00 with a breakfast of crumpets and a vast variety of spreads and toppings which we had at 8:30. Then after cleaning the boat we had an hour and a bit to kill, so some of us went exploring the island Islay and others cherished their free time on the boat and in the shops in Port Ellen where we were docked. After getting back to the boat at 11:00 we got ready to set sail and left the marina at 11:30.

The day started with a little breeze with clouds in the sky so we were able to turn of the engine and went at a steady speed with the sails up. But as the day progressed the skies cleared and with this the wind disappeared making us go back to using the engine with the aid of the tide moving us at a speed of 8 knots. However, after a lunch of chicken wraps the wind began to pick up at around 2:30 and soon the sails were filled leaving the engine redundant and soon it became strong enough to allow the boat to heel over, reaching a top speed 9.6 knots.

Along the day’s journey there was plenty of wildlife to see. Unfortunately, there was not a porpoise encounter today but we did manage to see multiple seals. Also we had the luck to see lots of gannets hunting and diving for their prey in the sea.

Tonight we docked at a marina in Campbell Town and had a supper of pork chops and veg.

We awoke at 8:00 today and had breakfast at 8:30 with a large choice of cereals.

We left at 9:30 from Campbeltown and set off for Largs. There was little wind during the beginning of today’s leg of the journey. It was a clear day, giving us a clear view of Ailsa Craig as sailed eastwards along the south of Arran.

Around noon we had a lunch of pesto pasta. As we turned north the winds picked up and made use of all four sails. Chris bake some delicious chocolate fudge cake with walnuts despite the boat often tipping towards 30 degrees. As we neared Largs marina we spotted a dolphin.

We pulled into the marina in Largs at 7:30 and had an amazing chicken curry for dinner.

We got up at 8:00 this morning and had a breakfast of Bagels and a wide range of spreads and headed off to Gareloch at approximately 10:00 to pick up our inflatable tender that was being mended at one of the boat yards.

We had a lunch of Jacket Potatoes with options of baked beans, cheese and curry from the night before. We then headed to Kip Marina to finish our voyage and saw a wide range of wildlife including Terns, multiple pods of Porpoises and a dolphin and some seals.

We arrived and moored up in Kip at around 5:00 and after scrubbing the decks we had a large supper of many sausages and mash with vegetables.