Finally we got a day of sunshine. The weather warm and the breeze light. We were in no particular hurry as our destination today was in Loch Linnhe…. not too far. We waited for the tides to be with us going left down the sound of Mull. After filling up water and bits and bobs, we slipped our lines and sailed out into the blue. It had been really nice to stay on the pontoons and I think we felt refreshed! The breeze was force 2 and the direction meant we could sail straight down the Loch in flat blue shimmering water and warm sunshine. The perfect sailing conditions! Various ideas we’d had about where to go. Loch Achoire was top of our list. There used to be mooring buoys and a Lovely little restaurant called the boathouse ( as usual!), in years gone by but sadly it went to the wall and along with it the bouys which means anchoring. As it happens the winds being light made it tenable. It’s a very steeply shelving Loch with a drying out head, which makes good places to anchor, sparse. It is a dramatic Loch, completely surrounded by high green mountains of Morvern. They look like enormous slumbering green dragons . Achoire meaning cauldron suggests what it can be like in windy conditions when the catabatic winds sweep down causing viscous squalls. Today however not so! On entering the Loch I spotted a bird soaring high above in the sky. Grabbing the binoculars I could see it was an eagle and followed its flight path Down the green slope for a few minutes before losing it in huge bracken. Definitely a golden Eagle ….. brown, huge indented wing tips but no white tail like the sea eagle has. Later on in the evening sun we were sitting at anchor having a Glass of wine, and saw a pair of them wheeling above. We could hear the characteristic plaintive mew like cry of a raptor. As the sun was going down it lit up the underside of their wings which was indeed golden. A magical moment in time. We were not alone in the Loch. 4 others were here too. We anchored to to Right of the Loch near the old restaurant. We were lucky, and the forecast was thankfully accurate …. the wind did not get up.! Even though it did turn in the night.
What I learned today….. that I need to improve my “bowline on a cleat whilst the boat is pulling away from you “ technique … so I practiced on the pontoon and discovered I have to do it anti-clockwise, so maybe that’ll help! … I hope! Sue x
Silica mine 
Loch Aline 
Glensanda super quarry☹️ 
Sleepy dragon 
Loch Achoire anchorage 
Angelique 