Today from Loch Torridon towards Mallaig was mostly boring motor sailing. We are on a journey and have a deadline, a proper sailor would wait for four or five days for the wind to be helpful, but we just tend to go for it. Today that means that we used motor sailing to beat into the wind for about 12 hours, from 4am to 4pm when we arrived at Inverie Bay on the south side of Knoydart peninsula. However, when we turned eastwards at the Skye Bridge we were able to sail in the relentlessly south wind and turned to motor off for a couple of hours as we then sailed across Loch Alsh but unfortunately then had to drop the sails and motored through the narrow Kyle Rhea. It was fun to reach a speed of 9 knots against a wind of 32 knots and with a bit of ‘roost’ (rough water) it all became quite exciting. But we were soon back to motor sailing into a southerly wind and took it in turns to sleep below. Towards the end of the day we did enjoy sailing into Loch Nevis to reach Inverie Bay. We had intended to stay in Mallaig, but the marina manager told us he was full and could not offer us a berth. We decided to go elsewhere and had moored in Inverie Bay. We had a few pints in The Old Forge which claims to be the most remote pub in the UK. We played pool on a dodgy table and then got involved in a doubles tournament with a lovely couple from Nottingham on a pool table that had more slopes than a whole range of Munros.




The local beer was called Severns after a group of seven soldiers who tried to stake a land claim after the first world war on some plots of land on Knoydart. Sure enough the Laird beat them in the high court and despite their service to Queen and Country they were soon sent on their way. We set out to drink seven pints, one for each of the seven veterans, but the pub ran out of that beer and we had to drink some other fizzy pop which was not quite suitable for a tribute. Towards the end of the evening Pete got quietly told to quiet it down by the Landlord, he was spouting off about some old story or another. So the only thing left is to try and get back safely to the yacht with a dodgy salt infested outboard motor, at least the wind is onshore. Wish us luck.

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