We Have Visitors! Ardrossan, Port Bannatyne and Largs

We sailed from Tarbert under a beautiful blue sky in 10 kts of wind, which gradually died and we had to act like the majority of the Cruising Community over here and motor sail. The flat conditions made the porpoises easier to see, but it was a very uneventful 30 miles from Tarbert to Ardrossan.

Ardrossan is a huge harbour, in the 17 and 1800's Ardrossan became an important port for the export of coal and pig iron to the Americas and Europe. The harbour is 5m deep on a low water spring so no chance of running aground here! It was also a ship building port at one time.

Ardrossan Harbour - Visitors Pontoon far left - we asked to move to the 'for sale' pontoon as it was much nearer the showers.

Naturally it has a Castle - dating back to 1140 - infamous for 'Wallace's Larder' when William Wallace lured the English out of the Castle and slaughtered them, apparently tossing the bodies into the dungeon! Later seized by Cromwell, who dismantled most of it in order to build a fort in Ayr.

While in Ardrossan, we had a visit from more friends from Jordan - Jan, Eleanor and Tara plus baby Aden. There only seemed to be one restaurant anywhere near the Marina and fortunately it was a very nice one. We caught up for a few hours, and then went back to the boat to await our next visitors:

Team Etoile

Mark and Geoff arrived in shorts in the pouring rain - we sheltered in the restaurant as long as we could, then made a dash for the boat. No one comes to Scotland for the weather.

Luckily, the next day dawned sunny and very suitable for sailing, so after a group hug we set off to Port Bannatyne the long way.

We went inside the Cumbrae Islands in the hope of seeing some wildlife: we were not disappointed.

There were seals blending with the rocks

Gannets walking on water

And lots of Manx Shearwaters generally panicking at our arrival.

We practised tacking up East Kyle, on the East of the Isle of Bute. The charts showed a very narrow channel between the Burnt Island Rocks off the North of Bute so we went to check it out. While we were there the Waverley Paddle Steamer came through the channel. The 73m (17.5m beam) Waverley was built in 1947 and is the last sea going passenger carrying paddle steamer in the world, and it now travels a variety of tourist routes in the Clyde.

The Waverley firmly declares itself to be 'restricted in its ability to manoevre'.

Geoff has a quick power nap after all the excitement:

We turned round, hoisted the spinnaker and headed back down East Kyle towards our chosen destination of Port Bannatyne.

The Foredeck Crew congratulate themselves on a perfect spinnaker hoist.

The 'Welcome Anchorages' booklet describes Port Bannatyne as 'a port of call not to be missed ... ' shore facilities alledgedly include shops with essential groceries , 'coffees to die for' and with Pubs and restaurants offering local seafood. Well - we should know after Mallaig not to believe all you read. Suffice it to say that although the port was very beautiful, we took a taxi to Rothesay for dinner and there was not so much as a coffee bean to be found in Port Bannatyne.

Historically Port Bannatyne played an important part in World War II as the practice area for the X class mini subs that sank the Tirpitz. This waterway is still a major practice area for submarines and we are constantly on the look out for them as well as marine mammals

Port Bannatyne

Views to die for, not coffee!

Our journey on Sunday was to take us to Troon, again we took the long route. This time we were going all the way round the Isle of Bute, down Bute Sound to Arran and then across the Firth of Clyde to Troon back on the mainland.

The Narrows were rather narrow - we furled the headsail and motored through rather than try to tack in the channel.

The wind gradually built, as did the clouds, and by the time we reached Arran it was a steady 27kt breeze, gusting 30.

Clouds over Arran.

By the time we reached Troon it was not the weather for taking photos. On the positive, Troon really did have coffees to die for, and a full dinner menu to go with it - we had a great evening in Scott's restaurant / bar before heading back to the boat in the rain.

We held no real hopes for the weather on Monday. Initially it lived up to our expectations but after a huge Scottish Breakfast (George Foreman and Oven needed) the sun came out so we left Troon and set off for Largs - dodging yet another Caledonian MacBrayne Ferry that seem to be in perpetual motion between every rock in the Clyde.

The wind gradually died down, we went between Little Cumbrae and Great Cumbrae in search of marine mammals and submarines - none to be found this time, and headed for Largs, the mecca of Scottish Sailing.