Toucando: Mull

Wednesday, 19 June 2013

Mull

We left Oban on Monday... After a morning of looking round the shops. We stocked up on groceries. I bought a tartan blanket/picnic rug. Anne bought some cake tins and a cook's measuring cone. We set off across the Firth of Lorn. Anne helmed most of the way across. It was a light wind from a not entirely helpful direction. After some tacks we were able to lay a course between Lady's Rock and Lismore Island and Anne was very pleased to have got us into the Sound of Mull under sail, when a Bernudan rigged boat had come to a dead stop. As we passed from Firth to Sound a strange tidal whirlpool (very smooth and flat) turned Toucando through 90 degrees, but we were soon back on course.
By now we were only doing a knot and a half. Pete took the helm as we motored up the Sound of Mull, navigating with the aid of an iPad. Anne started work baking a cake.
We enjoyed High Tea before getting into Tobermory where we found a pontoon berth. I cooked Penne Tobermorese, which has some resemblance to Bolognese. We visited a local bar for a pint of 80/-.

Anne helming us across the Firth of Lorn

Passing Lismore

Pete helming up the Sound of Mull

The sponge in preparation

The finished article

Tobermory in the evening (it's light until 2300 here at this time of year)
On Tuesday Anne and I went for a walk around Trishnish a peninsula towards the west of Mull. Starting by a fantastic white beach at Calgary, we walked round to the cliffs, a raised beach (from a time when the sea level was higher), a whisky cave and two deserted villages. We saw no eagles, but many wagtails, and heard cuckoos. We dropped back down the hill to Calgary beach where we were in time for the return bus.
In the evening I cooked venison sausage goulash. For desert we had Scottish strawberries and raspberries. Barbara, the intrepid single handed skipper of Moon River, joined us as we made our passage plans for the next couple of days. We had a convivial evening. The skipper climbed into his pilot berth leaving the crew chatting and washing up as the day drew to a close.