Downwind joy

Downwind under foresail

Sailing down the Sound of Mull: this is what it's all about. Lovely sailing downwind, just the foresail (genoa) giving us 4-5 knots of speed. Around us are lots of yachts and the occasional ferry and commercial vessel and the most fantastic scenery (that the camera simply doesn't capture).  The navigation is easy except when a key mark, Lady Rock, was hidden behind another yacht which caused a frisson of excitement as in "where's the b****y mark, I'm not sure of the bearing... which means the direction to steer for non-yachties.

View from the helm, including "satnav for sea"

This is clearly a wonderful cruising ground with lots of options and places to visit - most of which we have swept by because we have a schedule. Tobermory would make a fantastic base: if the weather's rough you can go inwards to relatively sheltered waters and lochs, and when the weather is settled you could go outside - north to Skye or south to Iona.  We did a bit of the outside in fairly rough weather which was slightly hard work - the boat is considerably stronger than its occupants, and that's undoubtedly the right way round.

Lismore lighthouse

The vast panorama that opens up as you sail down the Sound of Mull is breath-taking. Green hills and darker mountains on all sides and huge expanses of blue water.  Every now and then a line of clouds pass over, dropping some rain and boosting the wind, and then it calms down again and the sun comes out.  For the yachties, we were getting NW F3 increasing to F6 for 10-15 minutes. You could see it coming on the water, and each time SIRENA IV surged forward and the helmsman/woman might let out a cry of "woo hoo".

Now we are moored up in Dunstaffnage, 3 miles north of Oban: it's a very pretty little bay that is stuffed with yachts and motor cruisers.