DAY 8: 17 JUNE OBAN TO UIST, OUTER HEBRIDES – 70NM
Morning came quickly and by the time I came downstairs, Dobbo was already in the lobby of our B&B eager to start his adventure. We headed back to the boat and put on our oilskins, wary of what lay ahead even though it was a beautiful morning.
I turned the isolator switch on, expecting to hear the usual bleep as the electronics came to life. Not this morning: nowt, nothing, nada. Must be getting tired, I thought. A couple more flicks on and off, along with a good spray of WD40, and things started bleeping as they should.
We were underway just before 6am, taking the north channel out of Oban Bay into the Firth of Lorn. I know this area well, so I didn’t really need the chart, but I’d already paid the price for being complacent when I ran aground near Dublin. At least that was a sand bank – in this part of the world most of the hazards are unforgiving rocks.
The tide was flooding up the Sound and the water was like glass. I took up to 30 knots, revelling in the idyllic conditions. Before we knew it, we were approaching Calve Island, the rocky islet that protects Tobermory’s natural harbour. It was still only 6.45am but the local fuel station didn’t open until 8am so I took Dobbo on a quick sightseeing tour. We crossed the Sound into Loch Sunart and then on to a magical safe-water anchorage on the southern shore called Loch Na Droma Buidhe (pronounced Drambuie). From there we went further up Sunart, through the narrow channel between Risga Rock’s sheer granite and the
