We left Tobermory under a bright sun, but it wasn't to last... The rain and bad weather just keep coming these days...We had a grand run of about 3 weeks, where not a drop of rain was seen, but it would appear that things are back to normal for Scotland
It was a little sad to leave Tobermory and the Isle of Mull in general - not exactly sure why - but it's such a nice little area...and did I mention there's a famous cat here! But we're not looking for a place to stay, and we have to get going anyway - need to get some hook time in..... Although, we would have to stay one night in Oban to hide from a bit of weather...
As we got out of the harbour we watched as Tobermory disappeared behind a small island, in moments like this I always wonder if we'll be back, somehow - I'm not so sure I will be, but never say never or something like that...going...going...gone!
The trip down to Oban only took about 5 hrs, and we just took our time, I didn't even check the tide or currents...we just got underway. On longer trips those things are 'must check' items to as leaving a few hours earlier or later, in some cases, can cut the time of your trip in half - and if there is motoring involved - not checking - is wasting diesel. We also know the currents round here are only about half a knot - so nothing to stress over.
The only moment of excitement was when a huge ferry passed and I forgot to adjust our course so as not to take it on the beam(side-on). I noticed it at the last minute, this huge swell speeding towards up - we took it at about 45-degree angle - I shouted down below "Hang on little hobbits!" as the bow got lifted and dropped, and for a second or two - gravity was just absent as things lifted and then hung in mid-air and then just fell as gravity returned- the end result was an awful mess...but hobbits were fine though!! You wouldn't believe how much swell is generated by the wake of these huge vessels, it's just incredible how much water those vessels displace.
The scenery on the way down was nice, but as the sun was in our face a lot of photos didn't turn out too well - it got kinda overcast as well - photos were just all blurry and the scenery blacked out by the glare of the sun, I did salvage a few...I hope not too many! I keep forgetting to put the UV filter in my camera...
Getting into Oban was real easy, and Oban is just a giant town full of stuff - so we will be sure to make some quick supply runs to the 'regularly priced' shops - There was also a pretty sunset we got to see - calm before the storm!
After having been in so many small places for the last while - it was strange to hear all the noises of people, cars, and equipment - It was all a bit loud - I was also feeling a bit land-sick as well, so that didn't help matters either!
But the noise of the world was a bit overwhelming - Walking into a food-superstore was just odd - And it was just nice to get back into the safety of our boat away from everything - a coffee, the familiar rock of the sea, and a pet of the cats and all was well again! Land-sickness is a real thing, when I go into shops, or small places - especially toilets that have no windows - I get dizzy, even just walking on the street, I keep tripping up as my feet except the ground to be moving and are still compensating for the movement of the sea - even though we're not on it
The girls didn't get too much 'deck time' here as there were a lot of dogs running around, not that there's anything wrong with that, I just get a little concerned my crew should one of them attempt to board our home. There was one dog in particular - And I went over to his owner just to let him know that I had two cats and that if he was walking his dog past my boat without a lead on, just to be mindful in order to prevent any kind of situation - Seeing a fully-grown man having a hissy-fit at the thought of having to be respectful to others on the pontoon was hilarious - as he roughly clipped his dog to a lead I explained that he didn't have to do that, it was just if he was walking past, just to be mindful to the fact that there are two cats onboard - and as my crew doesn't wander around the pontoon he was unlikely to have an encounter, I was just making him aware - the hissy-fit continued...
Not all yacht owners are polite, and there is a certain level of smug elite entitlement that some yacht owners excrete from every pore in their bodies - Now, this guys dog had already had altercations with two other dogs on the pontoon and my cats were not going to be the third altercation - That being said - Most yacht owners are just fine, they understand that on the pontoons it's a bit of a community, and we all kind of look out for each other as best we can - but there's always one. It's OK, where we're going tomorrow - they can have all the deck time they want - fairly sure we will be alone....we're going to go to a tiny island called Lunga. I've never heard of most places we go - they just happen to be in range, the wind just happens to be right - so we go. We were also quite keen to leave here as there's even more bad weather due in another few days, and we've some ground we need to cover....early start tomorrow!