09-Apr-2004 -- High tide at 09.30 so no rush in the morning. Crewman Stirling would like to note that the captain insisted he would be awake by 5am, but instead snored extremely loudly until at least half past seven. (only goes to prove that jet lag can be overcome with enough tiredness and rum). Breakfast was instant oats and macaroni cheese. The weather was horrid – cloud down to the ground and drizzle/rain. In fact, there was some debate as to whether it was raining or the cloud was being blown horizontally at us. At least the wind was not too much although it is difficult to tell in a protected anchorage. We left the inner pool and sailed out with the tide through the channels. The passage was marked for keel boats with pairs of beacons which when kept in line keep the boat in deep water. These beacons were set up by “Blondie” Hasler (an extraordinary character who, amongst other things, led a famous commando raid on Bordeaux in 1942 and founded the Special Boat Service and modern single handed ocean racing and invented self-steering gear for yachts).

With wind on the nose we tacked out of the loch. The fresh breeze was welcome to crewman Stirling, who had slept with his gloves in his sleeping bag to dry them out, forgetting that he’d spilt petrol on them during the previous day’s motoring and consequently spent the night breathing petrol fumes. Visibility was much better than the previous day so we decided to record another confluence visit with clearer views. A single pass through the confluence gave us a bulls eye but the best GPS photo is 21 metres so we will claim that! After the confluence we headed north up the coast but gave a wide berth to the famous Gulf of Corryvreckan with its whirlpool and 10 knot tides. Even 4 miles offshore the tidal flow was enough to cause breaking waves. It was quite disconcerting to be in a dip between waves, with a wave ahead – the water was well above eye-level sitting in the boat! After that we were sailing off the wind (down hill) and were back at Luing by 17.30.