Leg 31 – Oban to Craobh (27th August)
Timing was crucial on the passage between Oban and Craobh as there are a number of strong tidal races running south of Kerrera and into the Sound of Luing. This meant another early start to the day in order to catch a south going tide down to the Sound of Luing. However, we needed to time our arrival into Luing Sound carefully just as the south going flow is slowing down to a stop (slack water). At spring tides the water can flow at more than 7kts creating dangerous waves and whirlpools.
It was a cold morning but the sea state was smooth and the winds were light giving us an easy departure from Oban marina. The wind was forecast NW 3 or 4 but we were getting S winds which meant motor sailing with wind on the nose again!
Our first pilotage challenge was the rather confusing buoyage at ferry rocks, just down from Oban. The charts show a port and starboard buoy at either side of the channel. OK, so that’s nothing new. However, the buoys appear on the ‘wrong’ side of the channel. The starboard buoy on the port side, and the port buoy on the starboard side. Many sailors have made the mistake of sailing up the middle between the two, where to their great surprise they’ve run onto the dangerous Ferry rocks. What the buoys are trying to tell you is that you need to navigate around the edges of the channel, and to split north and south going traffic to one side or the other. Easy mistake to make though.
As we entered the Firth of Lorn we picked up a little more current running our way but still no sign of our NW wind. We were making good speed to arrive at Bogha Ghair reef to run down into the Sound of Luing. As the morning progressed the sun came up and warmed us up nicely, lighting up the mountains and islands in a beautiful golden light. No whales spotted today but we did come across a large pod of porpoises as we sailed past Inish island.
We had planned to be at Bogha Ghair around 0900. As the sea was mirror calm we decided to go in early at around 0820 as we could see a yacht ahead of us who seemed to be coping OK. It was starting to feel crowded since Mull, we’d been used to having the sea to ourselves.
The action didn’t really start until we passed the hazardous rocks of Fladda & Dubh Sgeir. Our speed had picked up to 7 or 8 kts and the water was much more active. Off the tip of Lunga there are some underwater rocky pinnacles where water depth goes from more than 20m of water to just a few metres. The tide hits these pinnacles and starts to circle around creating eddies and whirlpools, which you could clearly see on the surface due to the calm water. Sailing through, the bow of the boat would suddenly swing 20 degrees or more off in one direction, then a few seconds later swing back just as sharply. We were coming through near the quietest time making 9kts. We couldn’t imagine what it would be like here a few hours earlier when the tide would be running much faster and you’d have no steerage, let alone in rough seas.
Once through the main flow we tucked in to the eastern side of the channel near Luing in order keep well away from other dangerous tidal streams running into the Gulf of Corryvreckan.
We came out of the sound at the perfect time just as the tide was turning. We altered course to head NE towards Craobh and the tide now started to run gently N with us. We noticed our brand new charts were already out of date as the Ardluig starboard buoy off Luing has been replaced with a shiny new South cardinal. We really should check the notices to mariners for chart updates, but you don’t expect to with brand new charts!
The water was mirror like as we motored up into Loch Shuna. Our last challenge of the morning was the pilotage into Craobh. There are a number of dangerous rocks just off the entrance to Craobh. Some buoyed, some not! We decided to take on fuel before going onto our berth. Mooring twice in the space of several minutes seemed very easy for us now. Paul has learnt how to throw a rope and tie off a cleat from the helm, and I’m getting bow lines and spring lines tied off in double quick time. No one offers us help any more, which we’ll take as a compliment!
So nice to be tied up before 11am with the whole day ahead. The strong tides mean that it just isn’t possible to make any more progress South today, so time to relax and plan our next passage.
