A cruise from
Arisaig to the Outer Hebrides on 'Callisto of Parkstone'.
Whales and Wobbly
Engines.
(Awarded the McKendrick Runner-up
Cup)
Our Boat Callisto is an
Elizabethan 30 Based in Arisaig North West Scotland, It is crewed by Dave,
Myself (Shelby) and our seadog Jack, Who loves swimming. This years holiday on
Callisto, our Elizabethan 30 started in June as we arrived at Arisaig. We
launched and loaded her up for what we hoped would be a great summer cruise.
Accompanied by Jack our border collie we left Arisaig at 13.30hrs and sailed out
of the pass towards Canna. We were suddenly surrounded by fog and had to start
the motor as the wind dropped. It was really eerie not seeing anything but mist.
As we approached Canna we kept our eyes peeled and suddenly she appeared about
20 metres ahead. We motored into the harbour and dropped anchor. The water pump
had started to leak so we emptied the bilges before settling down for the night.
Monday 5th June. Dave changed the seals in the water pump and checked the oil.
It was full of water. He drained the engine and changed the oil, but it was
still milky, A chap on the next boat Oriana gave us some extra oil and we
changed it again. The oil pressure was still down so Dave took the excess
pressure valve off and cleaned and reassembled it, and that seemed to cure the
problem. As the water pump was worn we decided to order a replacement before we
ventured further from our base. We had a meal onboard to celebrate Daves
birthday and then sat in the cockpit with sundowners to watch the sunset.
Suddenly other people in the anchorage were looking down into the water and we
headed to the bows in time to see a basking shark swim slowly around the boat,
he stayed in the anchorage for about half an hour lazily circling the boats
before heading back out to sea. Dave took Jack, for a swim to shore, and then we
settled down for the night. Friday 9th June. We set sail at 09.30 hrs for
Arisaig but the wind dropped and we had to motor sail all the way.
the mooring at 18.45hrs. We ordered a new water pump from Bukh and Dave fitted
it. Finally on 23rd June we sailed out of Arisaig and to Loch Scresort on Rhum .
It was a pleasant sail and we covered the 18 miles in 4 hours and dropped anchor
in 6 metres. Dave took Jack ashore and we had a quiet night. We weighed anchor
at 14.00hrs and sailed north west to Soay harbour. There is a bar across the
entrance and we had to arrive near high water to clear it. We motored into the
harbour, keeping the two transits in line at 19.00hrs. We were one hour before
high tide and had 3 metres on the echo sounder. It was a lovely and tranquil
evening and we watched two herons feeding their chicks on the cliff edge. It was
a great anchorage and we were the only boat there. There was no wind forecast
for Sunday so we spent the day sitting in the sun bird watching and taking Jack
for forays ashore. We motored out of the pass at high water 07.00hrs and as
there was no wind we decided to motor to loch Scavaig on Skye, to see the Cullin
mountains. It was lovely and there were 6 boats on anchor amid this spectacular
scenery. We motor sailed back into Soay sound and as we cleared the West of the
island a nice N.E. breeze sprang up and we sailed at 3 - 4 knots to Canna. The
anchorage was empty as we dropped anchor at low tide in 3 metres. We went ashore
with Jack and had a nice walk in the sunshine. It was a lovely day and the sun
was very warm. Eight more boats arrived during the day and we all had a peaceful
night in this lovely anchorage. Tuesday 27th June. The forecast was for variable
3 to 4 becoming SE 4 to 5 so we set sail for Loch Boisedale on South Uist in the
outer Hebrides. The sea was like glass and the wind never arrived so we had to
motor sail most of the way. There were no boats to be seen and we saw lots of
puffins and guillemots . We arrived at 20.00hrs at the harbour and found all the
free moorings empty. There were gales for a week. We did manage to take Jack
ashore once with the outboard motor but it stopped working so we had to row,
this was made much harder by the dinghy inflatable seat having a puncture so we
had to blow it up each time we went to and fro. The gales finally finished and
we set sail on Monday 3rd of July at noon with a fresh NE and headed South to
Eriskay. By 14.30hrs we arrived at the entrance but had trouble identifying the
transits to get into this rock-strewn harbour, as we slowly crept forward we
brought them into line and headed in tying up at 14.45hrs on the last free
mooring. It was a very pretty harbour and very protected, we sat out in the
lovely surroundings enjoying a sundowner as the afternoon turned to evening. We
left Eriskay at 11.00hrs and motored South in the glassy sea towards the Island
of Barra. A large yacht motored well off our port side and were surrounded by
lots of sea life which we thought were dolphins but later , in the anchorage
they told us that they were 5 or 6 basking sharks. As we entered the Channel
into Castle Bay a Humpbacked whale surfaced and blew just in front of our bows,
almost close enough to touch. We stopped the engine and watched for 15 minutes
as he circled us and kept blowing. It kept rising and rolling over, showing the
full length of its body. It was truly awe inspiring. He was bigger than Callisto
and seemed curious about us. As he swam off we motored into the bay and picked
up a mooring. There are twelve free moorings and we got the last one. We were
detained again by gales but on Sunday 9th July it was a bit calmer. The whole
harbour was decorated and they had a ceremony for the blessing of the boats.
Fishing boats came in from all around the island decorated with flags. All the
yachts on the moorings dressed themselves with their own flags and we really
enjoyed the day. After the blessing the local and fishing boats had a race
around the harbour rocking all of us poor yachties as the passed us at full
speed. As the gales finished we headed back to Loch Boisdale where we only spent
one night. The forecast was S.or SE 4 or 5 so we headed North
for Loch Skiport and Wizard Pool. It was a great sail and we anchored next to
Wizard Island in lovely sunshine. We climbed to a great vantage point above the
anchorage to take a photo and absorb the beautiful scenery. It was a fine night
but another gale was forecast, so we decided to stay put in this lovely place
until it passes. The gale hit us at dawn and we decided to re-anchor as the wind
turned West and we were dangerously close to Wizard Island. It took ages to get
the anchor up and it was really hard to motor into the wind with our ancient
Bukh 10 . Finally we found a good spot and anchored letting out most of our 40
metres of chain. We had a sleepless night with all the noise but by morning it
was a lot calmer, although very rough out to sea. Next day dawned sunny and
bright with a light SE so we weighed anchor and sailed North, It was very misty
at first but it cleared and we could see Skye on our port side. As we closed
Loch Maddy we started the engine and noticed that the oil pressure was dropping,
so we decided to take a mooring in the Armaddy bay just inside the entrance to
Loch Maddy. A small fishing boat came by and gave us some mackerel and we told
him that we were having engine problems. Dave inspected the engine and suspected
that the oil seal on the main shaft had gone. Dave took Jack ashore to explore
the bay and then we had a quiet night on the mooring. On inspection of the
engine the next day Dave found a leak in the casing around the oil seal. The
chap with the small fishing boat came back today and offered to tow us to a
mooring much nearer the village in Wee Harbour. We accepted gratefully and it is
a lovely place. He told us we could go to his house and help ourselves to tools,
then went off fishing again. We later found out that he was the retired doctor
from the village and now spends all his spare time fishing for fun and giving
most of his catch to visiting yachts. Dave could not get the large outside
flywheel off to inspect the engine further and as the weather was so glorious we
decided to relax for the day, the only thing we could do was to try to slow down
the leak and sail back to the mainland. We were invited for drinks on the boat
on the other mooring called 'J.Feaver'. with captain Tim and Frances and a good
night was had by all. They also have a dog onboard, this year we have seen about
10 boats with dogs, which really surprised us as last year we only saw one. Next
morning the wind was forecast West so we slowly motored out into the channel and
headed towards the mainland but the wind went round to SE so about 4 miles out
we turned around and went back to Armaddy bay. The wind continued SE for 10 days
and without an engine we decided to wait for it to change. From the mooring we
could see sea hawks circling above us and one an evening we saw an enormous stag
with his herd grazing on shore. We were surrounded by seals and often dolphins
would pop into the bay to explore. As the sun set one evening we saw a very
large dog otter fishing nearby and watched him as he took some of his catch
ashore to eat. It was a really relaxing time, but finally the forecast was NE 4
or 5. and we left the mooring at 09.00hrs heading SE for Arisaig. The wind
increased and we made great time although at one point we had to put 3 reefs in
the Mainsail. But we covered the 65 miles to the entrance in 12 hours and
arrived at our mooring at 21.30 hrs tired but happy to have got back under sail.
We decided to have the boat hauled out and as we were taking down the burgee a
fellow HYC member on Aphrodite came by to say hello. When Dave took the flywheel
off the engine he found that the seal around the shaft had gone and we decided
that it was probably time for a new engine as the Bukh had let us down twice
this year and ruined our chances of exploring further afield . Also the 10 hp
was not really powerful enough for our boat in strong head winds or currents and
we could only motor in a calm sea at 4 knots so the engineer at the marina took
out the old engine and is fitting us a brand new 20hp Beta for next season. I
advertised the Bukh on the internet site 'Boats and Outboards' and we sold it
before we left, which should help with the cost of fitting the new engine.
Callisto is now sat waiting for her new engine to be fitted and we are looking
forward to perhaps being able to sail further afield next season, knowing we
have a reliable
engine. Total distance run 287km. Dave, Shelby and Jack (the dog).