Week 5 - Friday - Oban

Well we made it to Oban and are now sitting in the marina.

We hit the town yesterday and joined all of the other tourists - traipsing around on a wet day looking for something to do.

Oban is the gateway to the islands and as such has all of the main stores , including a very large Tesco, Homebase, Argos etc.

It is only lacking one type of shop - one that sells pipes!

To add to my Captain Rusty persona I think that I need to start smoking a pipe. My credibility as an old sea dog has been severely dented by Griff and the loss of my beard, so I need to strengthen my brand!

However amazingly, there is nowhere in Oban that sells pipes. Believe me, we tried every shop and asked every local. Griff was up for it as well, but no success.

In desperation to keep Captain Rusty alive we considered other options, such as going into the local tattoo parlour - an anchor would be a nice touch. However that route leads to divorce!

We finally settled on going into a pub and telling them wildly exaggerated stories of past exploits; until they all started call me 'Captain!'

Childish I know, but at least I regained some of my imaginary credibility.

VHF man coming to look at the radio today and possibly yet another distillery tour!

The Captain is a fraud!!!

Griff here, we left early this morning (6.30) to beat the storms and get back into Oban.

Last night was great we had a visit from a minke whale at around 11pm when he swam past the boat when we were having a nightcap on deck. It was still very light at that time.

Thanks to those of you who have supplied info on the captain and tennille. It appears that the captain has no sea faring qualifications and this has caused out own self styled captain rusty much heartache that anybody would try to pass themselves off in such a manner. As captain rusty says without a hint of irony or self awareness how could any body sink so low to use that title when not officially bestowed.

One interesting fact to emerge is that Toni tennille can lay claim to be the only "beach girl" as she was only girl to tour with beach boys as their keyboard player. Thanks to Andy Nash for that top fact.

We are now compiling our top ten list of public figures we dislike.
Any suggestions welcome but we have the top two nailed down.
1. Piers Morgan
2. Peter Mandelson

Updates to follow...

Week 5 - Thursday - Kilchoan Bay

Spent the night on a mooring buoy in Kilchoan Bay, which is at the head of the Sound of Mull.

Great views here and a very pretty bay.

Griff excelled himself yesterday with a chilli turkey meal. He used all of the chillies that were left over from the first week. They may have been past their sell by date (13th May) but they had lost none of their bite!

We ate this out of the dog bowls that I have on board. These were bought new and are clean i.e. have never been used by a dog! I still maintain that they are the perfect boat eating utensil. They are big, have a broad base and do not slide around when the boat is heeling over.

I have found that people are a bit squeamish about eating from them but Griff is a man after my own heart. He has embraced dog bowl usage and I would not be surprised if they become a standard part of his kitchen when he gets back to Wilmslow!

Early start today, as we head to Oban ahead of the strong winds that are heading this way.

Carry on Sailing!!!

Griff here...early afternoon we were becalmed and in our own Scottish version of the doldrums. Andy suddenly announced that it was "time to get his big boy out" I was a tad perturbed about this and was slightly relieved when he produced a much larger sail from his locker . He spent ages trying to get it hoisted but somewhat predictably it failed to do the job and after a couple of minutes flapping around he gave up and put it back in its sack. I have a feeling that Vanessa could have written the last para!!!

We realised today that we have known each other for over 30 years (at times seems so much longer) and know each others stories, embellishments and lies far too well.

Some help please...many of you will remember 1970/80s pop combo duo The Captain and Tenile. Was he in fact a real sea captain (he certainly had a cap and a pipe) or was this a persona he adopted to give himself a mystic that he didn't naturally have? As you can tell it has been a long day and we have run out of conversation.

Week 5 - Wednesday - inverie

Yesterday was a great day, with brilliant scenery and wildlife.

We spent last night at the Old Forge in Loch Nevis - the most remote pub in mainland Britain.

I had a plate of huge langoustines which I ate in the most inexpert way possible - spraying everyone who sat by me!

We have started meeting the same people in various places now, recognising each other by boat names.
'I say, weren't you in Oban last week.......ah, thought so'

Lots of war stories swapped and tips given on places to visit. I picked up some good advice about East Anglia for example.

Griff and I then made a dash for the dinghy, dodging rain and midges. A couple of verses of 'donald were's your trousers' on the way back to the boat and bed!

Heading south today after a bad weather forecast for Friday.

Dodo, sabre tooth tiger and scots...

Neil Griff here.., we have Discovered that scots are in danger of going the way of the dodo and sabre toothed tiger, there appear to be no scots in Scotland. Maybe this is because most of them have emigrated south to screw up our government and economy but we have literally seen more minke whales than scots in the last three days. English, Dutch Aussies and Poles but no jocks. We are not complaining but just a little surprised....food was great last night and we have been so lucky weather wise.

More later.....

Another minke whale and no photo!

Just rounding the Southernmost end of Skye and crossing the sound of Sleat.