Day 12 - Tinker's Hole (Erraid) to Crinan and the return canal trip

Our final day in the islands began early, the plan being to catch the tide along the Ross of Mull and hopefully hit either Corryvreckan at slack water or, if we were too late, at least hit the tidal gate at the top of the Sound of Luing at the turn of the tide. Sailing the West Coast demands this kind of tidal planning, where hopefully one carries the tide for just the right length of time, then hooks into the next (opposing) tide at the correct moment to facilitate the next stage of the journey. The crew seemed less than pleased at beginning so early, but once settled down into the reach across the Ross of Mull they cheered up somewhat, with Seaman Finnegan cave-spotting again and Seaman Farago just happy to be sailing.

It was a brisk sail at first, and with the open sea to leeward we could see the various weather systems spread out across the sky, with sunlight shining off the sea here, and a raining cloud there, with a variety of shades in between. For our part, we managed to stay totally dry, and though we had moments of grey, as we turned into the Sound of Luing, the sun came out and we enjoted a brisk sail back down towards the Dorus Mor, in the company of a little junk-rigged Vertue which fairly scooted along the shore of the island after jumping onto the tidal stream off Pladda lighthouse. We reached the Dorus shortly after 3pm, approaching slack water, and with the sun beating down mercilessly. The wind had died, and so it was under the faithful Yanmar that we motored through the swirls and eddies, threatening but far less tempestious and malevolent than during our previous transit of the Dorus.

On reaching Crinan, we locked through the sea-lock immediately, and proceeded to motor at great speed through the opening stages of the canal, hoping to reach Cairnbaan by closing time at 5pm. Alas, it was not to be however, and so we berthed at a secluded spot just down from lock 13, and prepared to spend the night.

After a short while, we were joined by the Vertue from earlier, and the Skipper got to look over some fascinating features of this clever little craft, not the least of which was a simple clip on home-made barbeque, the details of which were duly noted for further implementation on the Good Ship. Seaman Farago took the opportunity to take some eerie photos in the beautiful evening light, before we wandered along the tow-path to the Cairnbann hotel, about a mile from our berth for the night, for a quiet but well earned pint. It was dark by the time we returned to the boat, and after a long days sailing it wasn;t long before the crew turned in for a peaceful night's sleep on the canal.