To Holy Island and Arran

One of the nice things about being in one area for a little while is that you can take your time, not being under pressure to get anywhere, so we spent yesterday morning in Troon, finishing off the washing and stocking up. We walked into the town and visited a nice butcher who vacuum packed portions of meat for us followed by Morrisons where we stocked up with essentials like beer and wine, and the gin was on special offer. We needed a taxi to carry it all back to the boat!

After lunch, with a strong Easterly wind whistling through the rigging in the marina, we left for the 15 mile trip to Lamlash Harbour on Arran. Sailing almost due West we opted for a quiet sail with just the Genoa unfurled as we weren't in a rush to get there. Pleasant sailing in bright sunshine although still a bit chilly.

Approaching the entrance to Lamlash Harbour.

We anchored at 17.20 in the lee of Holy Island, close to the jetty and house which is run as an Interfaith Centre by a Buddhist group who own the island. After a g & t in the sunshine in the cockpit and a dinner of Scottish pie we settled down to some reading - no phone or internet signal here!

The Interfaith Centre

A quiet anchorage

Sunset over Lamlash

After a quiet night we awoke to a South Westerly breeze kicking up a bit of a chop, got the dinghy blown up and went ashore for a walk. The Buddhists welcome walkers provide you respect their beliefs and do not intrude on any of their retreat areas. As the breeze was picking up we opted for the low level walk along the West coast of the island rather than along the high ridge down the island centre, seeing, amongst other things, the wild Eriskay ponies and wild goats as well as the cave where St. Molaise, who lived on the island in the 7th century as a hermit, made his home. St Molaise, son of the Irish king of Ulster and a Scottish princess was said to perform miracles from an early age and opted for the simple life of a hermit rather than the more comfortable life which he could have led.

St Molaise cave, pretty basic!

Goats!

Pillar rock light, on the South East side of Holy Island, the end of our walk.

Returning to the boat the wind was now quite strong and rain had started. We got quite wet returning on board. The anchorage was not very comfortable in a strong South Westerly, even though the anchor was holding well. We waited for the rain to ease off before moving round the corner to Brodick, much better shelter from winds from that direction. We eventually gave up waiting and, after a forecast which gave winds between South and West for at least the next two days, upped anchor in the rain to blow around the corner to pick up a substantial visitors mooring in Brodick Bay. We intend to stay here for a few days and hopefully do some walking on Arran, not least because the moorings are free!

The Holy Island anchorage with the wind in the SW, but before the rain and strong winds set in.

We had a quiet night last night in Brodick but it's now too windy to get ashore. Rain has just started, hopefully that heralds the wind strength dropping!

 

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