16th-17th August, Mallaig to Loch Ewe
Sally sorting us all out!
After a great fish supper in Mallaig, we had to say goodbye to Sally the next morning. She slept through her 5 a.m. alarm call but made us all cups of tea before we all trooped off to the Mallaig train station to send her off on her train. We then got on with setting up for new crew joining us – involving a thorough shower, clean laundry and victualling. Sally’s absence is sorely felt, but on Sunday morning we had Sally’s revenge – sadly she had left her mobile phone behind … and the alarm was still set for 5 am! When everyone was stuck in twisted tubes of sleeping bags with zips jambing, all struggling to find ways to surface from our jumbled sleep of swaying dreams and fogs of consciousness, we were all silently wishing others more success – noone succeeded in getting to the alarm for a long time and next day we amiably spoke of Sally’s revenge! And here is our last photo of Sally.
Mast tip scraping the Skye bridge
Loch Ewe - the world to ourselves + a few seals
At 1030 we set off in a fresh grey breezy smurry (see last post) on a course for Plockton, north of Skye. If you could see the maps of the Kyle of Loch Alsh you will see the Kyle Rhea, a bit further south, which is extremely narrow and has a fantastic tidal stream that quite quickly picked up the boat and threw it through the narrows at high speed. Soon after we were passing under the Skye bridge and heading for the beautiful anchorage at Plockton – just up and round the corner from Skye.
Salty sea-dogs of Bold Explorer!
I miss you and am truly sorry that my early morning wake-ups were still present even after my departure (NOT).
I just wanted to send a quick note telling you all I love and miss you guys, and sending me off at the train station in Mallaig meant a lot to me–as I am sure it did to you to know that you were finally rid of the dawn-giggler!
Love and miss, and all the best!
Sally
Ps. Please tell Duncan that his gift was one of the best, most practical ones I’ve ever received and that it was promptly and happily used. I’ve saved the packaging because the note still makes me laugh.
Hi Sally, Fabian here – we all miss your vibrant joi de vivre! Duncan got your thanks about the nail clippers. We have found your certificate and other papers – the default option is that they will get back to HQ in Dartmouth. We had a great sail across the north of Scotland and down to Inverness. Just entered Caledonian Canal and we get going properly tomorrow. I hope your start of studies go well, I really appreciated your company – I have always found that more than half the fun of going on these types of sailing adventures is the company you mix with and, put simply, I think you are the best yet! Take care and good luck with your future plans – you deserve the gods to smile on you.
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