Ardrishaig to Tarbert

13/9/25 - 21/9/25

After a short but very pleasant sail across to the east side of Loch Fyne, we picked up a buoy at Otter Ferry.  The cormorant that was stood drying out its wings on the buoy, along with all its friends on the other ones, looked at us with a degree of disbelief that it would have to move.  Sorry cormorant!  After dispensing with the very soggy foul weather gear from the earlier soakings and drying ourselves out we settled in to a very pleasant evening, bobbing on the open sea again.  We nipped ashore in the evening to eat at the lovely Oystercatcher pub, taking full advantage of the very convenient pontoon to tie up the dinghy and walk ashore.  

Mooring buoys or cormorant perches?

The following morning everything was cold and our stuff was still damp from the day previously - welcome to autumn!  However the wind was from the southeast and we enjoyed a good sail (close reach on the port tack) down to the beautiful village of Tarbert.  As soon as we were alongside and had the shore power on, the dehumidifier and small fan heater were plugged in and operational!  Further deluges continued during the course of the day and it wouldn't be until the following morning that I managed to dry out fully my running shoes, trail shoes and hiking boots from previous days' efforts!

However, the forecast was showing glimmers of improvement and a respite from the exceedingly wet weather, and we ventured out on the Monday to walk the ten mile section of the Kintyre way from Skipness to Tarbert, catching one of the local buses (whose size and livery reminded me distinctly of a converted ice cream van!) to the start point.  The track winds up from Skipness, following a very pretty wooded stream, and the outline of the Isle of Arran gradually faded into the distance behind us.  Unsurprisingly, the track was boggy over the hilltops but the rain held off and we really enjoyed the yomp back to Tarbert.

Kintyre Way looking back to Arran

The following week was the slowest that we had experienced on Evolene, insofar as we decided to stay put until the Sunday in order to take in the Live at the Loch festival at the weekend.  However, our slowing down was also mirroring the gentle slowing of the sailing season.  Friends are starting to migrate ashore, boats are settling into their respective marinas for the winter and generally the pace of life is slowing to the darker evenings and cooling temperatures. 

The facilities at Tarbert marina are exceptional and there is a wonderfully welcoming community feeling amongst all of the boats calling Tarbert home for the time being.  A walk ashore would usually take longer than expected as we would invariably: chat to the gentleman in the middle of a massive sanding and varnishing project aboard his beautiful older motor cruiser; get a friendly lick from Bow, the 7 week-old, adorable, black labrador puppy; talk to the Harbour Authority staff who take such great pride in the work they do; meet live-aboards settling into their winter berths; watch training boats from the local sailing schools; or welcome new arrivals in anticipation of the weekend festivities!

Pretty Tarbert

With downtime like this, Stuart and I enjoy a mix of boat maintenance and cleaning, physical activity, catching up with life admin (emails etc) and reading, doing jigsaws etc.  I usually pick up a jigsaw or two from the local charity shop wherever we stop and had great fun tackling an all black one this past week!  (When underway I can roll the jigsaw and felt around a cardboard tube, securing with three velcro ties, to be brought back out once the boat is stationary again.)

A challenging charity shop jigsaw

As the weekend approached boats continued to arrive, including our friend, Tom, aboard Pegasus, and his crew, Eddie (whom Stuart knew from his Glasgow & Strathclyde University Naval Unit days) and Dave (lead singer of the 1980s group, Boys in Darkness, who used to support Duran Duran - fascinating who you come across in this sailing life!).

Live at the Loch is a free music festival, with acts playing across several venues in Tarbert, including a marquee at the top of the marina pontoons.  There are food kiosks around the square outside the marquee and thankfully the weather stayed dry.  On the Friday evening we watched Eriska and Heron Valley, both of whom were excellent, with their roots in traditional Scottish folk music and dynamically energised.  The vocals by Abigail Pryde of Heron Valley were particularly stunning.  

Heron Valley

Happy faces!

By Saturday afternoon, Eddie's partner, Heather, had arrived and I had my dancing partner sorted for the evening!  Second Hand Elastic Band were huge fun and whilst they only did covers of well known tracks, the pizzazz with which they were delivered was second to none!  The headliner for the Saturday evening was the Elephant Sessions.  Think traditional Scottish music meets Ibiza!  I have not danced so much for a long time and loved every second of it!  And my feet certainly felt it the following morning!  We had such a super time and it was a great way to mark the drawing to the end of a fantastic season aboard.  And did we say, it was totally free!!  We'll be back if at all possible next year!

Elephant Sessions

Needless to say, we enjoyed a slower start on the Sunday morning but with the wind filling in from the north, it was time to cast our lines and untether from the land once more.  We probably only have just over a week left of cruising around before we head towards our own winter berth of Ardrossan but a few more bits and pieces to get done first...!