Saturday 1 July
It is already the first anniversary of my crew moving aboard permanently – where has the time gone? Kip represents Mate’s very first sailing experience, around 40 years ago, when she spent a wonderful week aboard a Barbary ketch based here, exploring the Kyles of Bute and Arran in a week of warm, sunny flat calm. The village is infamous for witches and smuggling, but neither of these was in evidence through the morning’s rain. This gave the crew the opportunity for some retail therapy in the marina chandlery, as they finally tracked down the Holebrook sweater that Skipper has been seeking for months.
Other celebrations included a big brunch, clean heads and washing me down before refilling my water tanks – boy, they know how to party. Oh, and in a drier afternoon, Skipper was able to properly fix my windlass switch.