Summer Isles

This weekend, Whit, is usually taken as the beginning of summer in the UK. It is certainly so here in northern Scotland. The high pressure continues, the wind stays from the NE, no rain. Not so in southern England. It rained on the magnificent Thames River pageant which we watched on a big screen TV in a warm sunny pub in Ullapool along with a happy crowd there to drink it all in and especially to cheer on their own Ullapool four man gig that had gone down (by road) to row in the 1,000 boat flotilla. All good fun with lots of home cooked cakes, scones etc., kids running wild in dress-up "royal" costumes, rowing machines etc. Ullapool is a friendly place full of interesting welcoming people. Many are not from here but are attracted by the lifestyle....lots of community activities, two excellent book shops, great access to wilderness, including the nearby Summer Isles which must be one of the best kayaking locations in the UK. Winding waterways, big tide range (12 feet), many sandy beaches.

We spent three days in Ullapool, some of which was taken up with repairing the windlass. When we were retrieving the anchor in Inverewe the windlass gave out a horrible grinding, grating groan and stopped. The motor had fallen off, the spindle had fallen out and oil was running out. Three 6 mm bolts that hold the heavy motor in place had pulled out. We went to Ullapool and rushed to telephone the windlass manufacturer in Norway for their suggestions. It was Friday afternoon before a long weekend. Thankfully we got the boss who emailed instructions for disassembling the windlass, refilling it with oil and the suggestion that the three 6 mm be replaced with 8 mm bolts. Fifteen years ago it would have been easy to find a machine shop in Ullapool that was servicing the then thriving fishing fleet. Today all that is no more. The nearest help would be a 2 hour bus ride to Inverness. Well it so happened that in Oban I had spent a day showing a young man (and his wife and two littl'uns) how to sail their recently purchased 45 foot yacht. Their previous boat was 24 feet. They were most grateful. His father is a fisherman (langostines and crab) out of Ullapool so we called for advice. Two hours later we were having drinks in a pub with the father, his wife and a friend who had the required tapping tools and a drill press. Eight AM the next morning he picked me and the windlass up at the dock and off we went to an old stone barn that was now used by him and a friend building wooden boats. There, amidst the lovely smells of wood chips, oils and varnish we did "the necessary" and the windlass is again fully functional. Later that morning everyone came out to the boat for coffee. The fisherman and wife told how grateful they were for the help given their son, the boat builder was delighted to explore Taonui as he is in the process of restoring a 45 foot steel yacht, and we were more that happy to have the machining work done and that afternoon we all gathered at the pub to watch the Pageant on the Thames. There is an accepted truth amongst yachties "what goes around comes around".

Earlier last week we visited the world famous gardens at Inverewe. Masses of rhododendrons of all colours, tall mature trees from around the world and a carefully tended walled garden of flowers and vegetables...and with the warm weather, midge's!!. These are even smaller than no-see-ums and can they bite!