It's been a while since our last update as we've been busy meeting up with lots of friends which has been a great treat.

After our windy day at anchor in Loch Sunart on Friday 2nd, on Saturday mornign we left Loch Sunart early.

We sailed down the Sound of Mull to Dunstaffnage Marina, arriving about lunchtime. We met our friends David,  Synnøve and John, who came to visit for the weekend. That afternoon we visited Dunstaffnage Castle out on the point opposite the marina and walked around the grounds.

On the Sunday, we sailed over to Duart Castle in the morning, anchored off the castle for lunch then sailed back to Dunstaffnage in the afternoon. It was a nice, fresh, fast sail!

David, Synnøve and John headed back home on Sunday evening, and we had a chilled night on board.

On Monday afternoon, our friends Ali and Fin arrived to visit for a few days. We went into Oban for dinner and a look around, then back to the boat in Dunstaffnage.

On Tuesday, we sailed from Dunstaffnage to Tobermory, arriving in time for lunch. On the way we passed a square rig ship.

In the afternoon we explored the town again, went to the football pitch up the hill to have a kick about, and had coffee in the Western Isles Hotel when the rain decided to become a bit too torrential!

On Wednesday, when we woke up, the superyacht "Octopus" was anchored in Tobermory - not something you see every day! - and we watched a helicopter take off from her aft helipad.

We sailed back down the Sound of Mull in nice fresh winds, passing the lovely Fife ketch "Kentra".

The wind died completely at the bottom of the sound then picked up with a vengence off Duart, giving us a great, fast reach in 30 knots back to Oban. We went swimming in the afternoon, then Fergus made a lovely dinner with a bit of help from Fin.

On Thursday morning, Fin was a bit of a hero, diving into Oban Bay to rescue a ball! We motored in light winds from Oban, south past Easdale, through Cuan Sound, and south to Buidhe Island at Craobh Haven where our friends Mark and Helen live.

On the way, "Octopus" came out of her anchorage at Ardencaple and followed us past Easdale.

Our friends Pilar, Will, Hazel and Raffy arrived in the afternoon and we had a lovely dinner with 14 of us at Mark and Helen's house.

On Friday morning, we had breakfast together at Lucy's Cafe in Craobh, then Ali and Fin departed for home. In the afternoon, we went for a sail with Pilar, Will, Hazel, Raffy and Magnus. It was blowing fresh, up to 30 knots, so we decided to take the opportunity to try our storm jib, which we hadn't sailed with before. We sailed around Shuna, beating down Shuna Sound and making up to 8 knots to windward under storm jib and 3 reefs, which we were very happy with - although the sea was nice and flat!

Since it was still blowing hard, we went to Craobh Haven Marina for the night.

On Saturday morning, Pilar, Will, Hazel and Raffy departed to drive home to Bristol and we went to the Mid Argyll Show in Lochgilphead with Mark, Helen and Magnus. Lots of horses, cows, dogs, tractors, vegetables and mud! In the evening, we went to an OCC (Ocean Cruising Club) 70th anniversary Barbecque hosted by Simon and Sally Currin who happen to live near Craobh Haven. We met lots of people who have done far more adventuing under sail than we can ever hope to! We left about 8 to get the boat ready to leave then, after Archie and Fergus were in bed and the wind started to moderate as forecast, we left Craobh bound for Northern Ireland.

Our Scottish adventure is sadly at an end, but we've had a brilliant few weeks, got to some amazing places, met up with lots of friends, and had some beautiful weather between the fronts! When the sun is shining there really is nowhere like it.

Even in the wet it is beautiful and dramatic.

And anyway, as the saying goes, there's no such thing as bad weather - just bad clothing!