Conwy Berth Holder Sails his Bavaria 32 to West Coast of Scotland
Dear All
Things have been going well in Scotland and the weather has been wonderful until today when a front has come in and we have our first rain of the trip. It was ironical that it should be raining in England over the Jubilee weekend when in Scotland, not renowned for its weather, it was sunny with blue skies. Sheila is doing really well and for the first couple of days we carried out various evolutions such as anchoring and coming to a buoy which she handled really well, she on the wheel and me doing the technical bits.
Last week was the Scottish Series, a major racing event on Loch Fyne based at Tarbert but many of the yachts stayed in Portavadie, where the atmosphere was magic, with live entertainment, late bars and lots of atmosphere. Keith Belfield and Eda were here in Enigma for the duration and we all ended up doing Scottish country dancing on Friday evening until after midnight when we gave up long before the band. Great fun.
Victoria and John and Hannah (now 16 months) came out with us the other day and we went to Otter Ferry where we went ashore in the tender and had lunch at the Oyster Catcher, one of my favourite stop offs for. We’ve been twice this week and on the first occasion I enjoyed a big plate of langoustine and a couple of pints of Guinness – bliss. The small landing jetty is paid for by sponsorship and you can sponsor a plank and have a little brass plate mounted on the planking so we got one to commemorate Hannah’s first run ashore – a memorable occasion!
Yesterday we went to Oban with Hannah et al and went to the seal sanctuary, where Hannah was fascinated by the otters and some of the big fish. She is really starting to say more words now and copies and mimics things you say to her – highly amusing!
The weather is forecast to pick up next week so we should get in plenty of sea time, although the children will have gone home by then. Everything so far has confirmed that we have made the right decision in bringing the boat to Scotland and we are loving the whole experience; the facilities, the environment and above all the warmth and friendliness of everyone, especially the marina staff. Never been happier.
Looking forward to seeing you soon.
Warm regards
Vince
