Dinner last night was tasty – the sea bass was cooked very well and was great to have some samphire.
The sunset was also amazing although annoying the sister boat was parked just next to us therefore ruining all the photos..
Everyone was a bit tired and exhausted after the rough ride so conversation was a bit intermittent at dinner. Captain Alistair gave us a run down of today’s trip which kind of filled me with a bit of dread. Seven hours sailing back the way we came with potential for some choppy seas. Looking at the route in detail, there were two sections that could be potentially dodgy.
So breakfast at 8am and underway by 8.30… most people took the seasickness tablet. And I positioned myself (and Husbant) on the top deck with a good view of the horizon. So we were all set!
The boat sailed through and round the bit where Husbant had been unwell but there was no swell. It was a bit chilly on deck so once the sun disappeared we ventured down to the saloon. There was no swell once we turned into the Sound of Mull and there was no swell as we rounded into Loch Spelve.
I was bored most of the day. I admit it and Husbant identified it early in the day. I could not just sit and watch the world go by for 7 hours. Wordle, Connections, Guardian cryptic crossword done. Read a bit of my book. Done. Looked at my new recipe book (thanks for the recommendation AnnieB, I love it and the other two foodies on the boat have orders copies too:
I have bought the blackthorn sea salt already…
So we were promised otters, mussels and perhaps a golden eagle at Loch Spelve. It was raining. We had had a lovely soup for lunch on the boat as we were sailing as it was a very flat sea. So having sat doing very little (I did play three games of dominoes and a game of chess – it was that boring), I was definitely up for a trip off the boat despite the pouring rain. As Husbant says, no such thing as bad weather, just bad clothing.
Three of us braved the rib trip to “dry” land (such a misnomer) and got to the mussel place which had a sign saying ‘Sold out, Mussels due Wednesday’. Bad news for us and worse new for chef. “In Search of Seafood” should probably be rethought although I guess we went searching to seafood but there wasn’t any! The next disappointment was the lack of otters. Husbant reminded me of the time we went diving to Manta Point where we were guaranteed to see Manta Rays. They never showed up. So we now can add No Otter Point – or even better it was otterly pointless. And guess what, the eagle didn’t show either…
So a tough day, in my view. It was a 9-hour sail with very little wildlife or birdlife or sealife. But we did get off the boat and walked in the rain for an hour.
Gala dinner lacked mussels but in their place we had haggis, neeps amd tatties, served with a whisky sauce! Very different, but very tasty.
Main dish was beef bavette with lots of trimmings… followed by chocolate marquise with raspberries. A good gala dinner!
Last night in our cot! Am looking forward to spread-eagling in our bed at home and having a cup of tea brought in – although I am not sure the pre-breakfast pastry will happen. Breakfast is at 7.15am and the crossing might be choppy so more seasickness tablets with our porridge tomorrow. We disembark at Oban and spend the day trying not to spend money on silly tat from tourist shops…
Thanks for reading! More adventures to come later in the year.
Snoo's kitchen 