We arrived in Port Ellen on the island of Islay on Saturday 26 June.
Sunday we went to Loch Tarbert on the west coast of Jura then over to Colonsay for lunch on Monday before going to Bunessan on Mull for the night.
Tuesday we visited the island of Staffa and Fingals cave then on to Tobermory.
Saturday 03 July.
We are in Tobermory having arrived here on Tuesday and the weather doesn't look good until at least the start of next week. Gale force 8 to 9 are being forecast for the local areas. We are waiting to see if the weather gets better enough for us to go to Coll and Tiree before returning to Tobermory and then venturing south down the Sound of Mull and then turning left up to Fort William. Fingers crossed!
On occasions because of the hills we have been cut off completely, not being able to get phone or VHF receptions. Not even BBC radio 2.
Map showing the route we followed from N.I. to Scotland and back.
Thursday 08 July.
The force 8 to 10 gales have finally stopped and after 10 days we left Tobermory. We had planned to go to Loch Aline enroute to Colpach for the Caledonian Canal, but we had a call from a local boat "Thimble" that was also leaving that morning and going to Linnhe Marina at Shuna Island and so we accepted the invitation from Geordie and Diane. We left at midday and headed south down the Sound of Mull and then left up Loch Linnhe to Shuna island. Having arrived at the marina and picked up a mooring we invited geordie and Diane who are from Inverness onboard for a drink. The next morning we continued our journey up Loch Linnhe to Colpach. Not a brilliant morning as it was raining a bit and the visibility was about 3 miles. We were sailing and making our way quite comfortably up the loch with the tide, but as we passed Fort William and only a mile from the lock at Colpach things changed. It started blowing 30 knots plus, luckily we had just rolled the sails away. We battled our way towards the lock taking the odd wave over the bow. Even the local ferry put a call in to the lock asking if he could come in as he was getting battered against the pier at Fort William. We got safely in to the lock and everything was calm. For some reason all of a sudden it blew up and it wasn’t local. Speaking to people who were coming down the canal they also experienced it and the lock operators said they stopped work because the boats were crashing in to one another.
Friday afternoon having already gone through the sea lock and the into the canal we ascended Neptunes Staircase, a set of 8 locks that take you up to Banavie. It takes about 90 minutes to negotiate the 8 locks at the top of which there are pontoons with water and electric. There’s also toilets, showers and a laundry complete with ironing board and an iron. We had an 8 day pass for the canal at a cost of £168. This included a key for all the facilities along the 60 miles of canals and locks to Inverness. Saturday morning we set off through Loch Locky and Loch Oich and stopped for the evening at Fort Augustus. Sunday afternoon we dropped down through the locks at Fort Augustus in to Lock Ness and sailed up to Dochgarroch Lock which is about 5 miles from Inverness.
Monday 12 July - We had a nice cycle ride along the canal to Inverness where we had lunch. The next day on the Tuesday we set off again back in to Loch Ness and stopped at Urquhart Castle. 
Rain prevented us from going to the Nessy Centre on the same day so that had to wait until Wednesday, when we did it in the rain then instead. After lunch we set off back to Fort Augustus arriving just before tea. Time for a laundry run before we go out this evening.
Thursday – We ascended the locks at Fort Augustus and made our way to Gairlochy at the south end of Loch lochy where apart from the locks being closed, they stop at 6pm, we had decide to stay the night. This turned out to be 2 nights because gale force 8 to 9 was forecast for Malin and Hebrides so we didn’t really want to drop out to the sea. Also the bad weather meant that boats we rafting up at Banavie which is at the top of Neptunes Staircase, the 8 locks that you have to descend before you go through the 3 sea locks. It was quieter at Gairlochy and we had electric.
Saturday 17 July – We left Gairlaochy at 1.30pm to travel the short distance to Banavie before The Lord of the Glen cruise ship which only just fits in the locks came the other way. We arrived at Banavie at 3pm just as the Lord of the Glen was letting go so we had the berth it had just vacated for the night.
Sunday 18 July we entered Neptunes Staircase at 8am for the long descent through the 8 locks and then in to the 3 sea locks to venture out again in to Loch Linnhe. Everything was O.K. in the canal, except for the rain that is, but as we dropped out of the canal in to the last lock the wind increased from 7 or 8 knots to 23 knots. Any way we ventured out and once we cleared Fort William the wind moderated but it was mostly on the nose so we motored down Loch Linnhe towards Oban, but decided to spend the night at anchor off Port Ramsey at the northern tip of the island of Lismore. Monday morning it was still raining and we contemplated staying put but it brightened up later in the morning and we set off for Oban.
The boat is moored just to the right of the Lighthouse maintenance vessel, that's the big blue hull and white top one. We are staying here for 2 nights before setting off south again towards Crinan, Giga and Campbeltown. The rest of the day was bright and sunny.
21 June - Puilladohbrain (pronounced puldohran - pool of the otters) Its between Oban and the Crinan canal and is a popular anchorage. A busy little [lace with boats coming and going all day. We stopped and paid a visit to the local pub for an evening meal and had an enjoyable chat with 2 crews from Ireland. They keep their boats in Strangford lough. We mentioned that we intend calling in there on our way back and they offered us their moorings to use as they will still be away. Nice one - another free night.
22 June - Crinan.
We didn't go down the Crinan canal but stayed at anchor in Crinan. We cycled along the canal, occasionally helping others to negotiate the locks. After seeing how hard they are to operate I'm glad we didn't try it.
24 June - Gigha Island.
Fantastic little island with white sandy beaches. Pity about the rain. We stayed for a couple of nights. All the moorings were taken so we anchored. The bay became quite busy later on with several other boats arriving and dropping anchor. We didn't go ashore the first night as the weather wasn't so good but we could see and hear the partying on the beach. They also had a local raft race. The rafts were left for the kids to play on during the following days.
Above - Ieaun playing with other kids. Sunday we cycled about the island, which took about 2 hours, it's not very big. The locals were having a sponsored car wash at the fire station. The island is owned by the inhabitants so the fire station is theirs and they have a junior fire fighters club to entertain the kids. They all had their own uniforms which looked like the real thing.
For a continuation of the story go to "The Journey Home" page.