You know you’re in Ullapool
when the little town is a sea town,
lorries roll from the docks,
a gaggle of girls buy ice-cream,
the dogs hang round gossiping
the road goes nowhere
and two old people hold hands

Sally Evans

I had to retreat to the aft cabin where the mattress was firmer and my back could recover.

The rain was still pouring down, everything was wet. It was getting a bit tedious but I consoled myself there was good weather on the way.

We took the boat into the harbour, literally dodging the cruise ship tenders that waited for no one on their way in and out, to collect the bikes. Bikes packed up again and stowed away, we departed as the cruise passengers stood in groups along the seafront awaiting their coach to take them to some highlight of the Highlands. There has been a lot of controversy whether this form of marine tourism brings much economic benefit to the areas they visit. The cruise company is owned by a foreign company, the crew were mostly Philippine, the supplies ready stocked and trips ashore contracted out to large coach companies. However I am sure the passengers spend in the local cafes, gift shops, galleries and distilleries. The ship would have to pay dues for berthing and there would be  associated onshore jobs at the port. The huge emissions were the main issue.

In our little boat we were not pure, no wind means deisel engine on. We have wind and solar power which gives us all the power we need so we don’t need gas to cook on. Our dinghy is powered by an electric outboard charged by the renewable energy we generate. We do our best to leave mimimal impact and contribute what we can to the coastal communities we visit. Luckily that means buying homemade cakes, seafood, gifts and crafts!

Sailing out Loch Broom was like a slalom course through the creel pot buoys but in some ways we don’t mind as support this sustainable way of fishing unlike the bottom trawlers and dredgers. Now we were told there is a new form of fishing which not only trawl on the seabed but the seabed is electrified to catch the razor clams that jump out, unfortunately lots of other bottom dwellers are shocked and get caught as by catch. I did wonder what the long term thinking in these practises was.

It was so dull, grey, cold and wet, the seascape was monotonous and uninviting. I had four layers on, thermal hat and sailing boots and still felt chilly. We knew it was going to be a long day so settled in to it. There wasn’t much chat. The land was saturated and every river and burn seemed to be pumping the water off the hand into the sea. I did feel for the visitors as this was an exceptionally wet and cold spell.

Nearly eight hours later we dropped the sails and gladly motored back into pretty Badachro bay and took a mooring just for ease.

We had an amazing dinner of hand dived scallops the size of the Skipper’s palm, Stornoway black pudding drenched in garlic butter then the left overs of last nights roast lamb, creamy mash tatties and veg. That lifted our spirits and warmed us up.

I checked the forecast and it still promised sun and clear skies tomorrow.

Here’s hoping.