May 11, Back in Oban and ready for sea

After the winter on the hard, Taonui was launched April 19 and I spent the next two weeks getting her ready to go cruising.  An unexpected major piece of work was repairing two holes in the stern of the fibreglass dinghy. Scotland had some bad storms last winter that caused considerable damage to yachts both on the hard and in the water. Taonui's dinghy was blown off the boat in December and landed stern first on the rocks.

 

Coryn arrived May 3 and several days later we took the bus to Edinburgh. After two days of sightseeing including an afternoon at the excellent National Museum, we rented a car and headed for the Borders. Rolling hills covered in newly sprouted wheat, barley and the distinctly yellow rape, make this one of the scenic must-see areas of Scotland.  The ruins of the  magnificent abbeys built in the area from 1200 to 1500 attracts thousands of tourists every year.  Historically, the Borders were in almost constant turmoil. The Romans had much grief in trying to tame the Scots and ended up retreating behind Hadrian's wall. By 1100 the Scottish kings controlled the area but were in constant battles with the English. To complicate matters, the locals, later known as the Border Reivers, were totally unmanageable by anyone and loved to steal from the Scottish establishment, the English and themselves.  They gave first meaning to the term "clan warfare". Later, religious strife and succession problems of both Scottish and English kings and queens (Mary Queen of Scots, various James and, of course, Bonnie Prince Charlie) made everyone's life miserable. And so it goes on.  A referendum is planned for 2014 for the Scots to vote on Becoming independent from the UK...if only they can agree on the wording of the question to be asked.

We got back to the boat this afternoon. Tomorrow's forecast is for lovely weather, but on Sunday a new low will slide south bringing SW Force 8, maybe 9. A good chance for needed food shopping and laundry. We'll start out early nextweek heading north into the Western Isles.