We spent a day cleaning the boat and doing various other tasks before returning home. On a visit to the Spar shop we met Barry Pearson who runs The Container Gallery (www.thecontainergallery.co.uk) selling pictures and other works of art. We had stopped to admire Barry's Stag yacht that he is refurbishing next to his art gallery, and he invited us in to see his workshop, pointing out also a Collard dove nesting in the roof! We spoke to a number of local people at Kinlochbervie who seemed very friendly and welcoming; it is clearly a small community where most people know each other, and most people seemed interested in our sailing project. The harbour master, Davie, was also very helpful. Davie identified a spot, rafted up alongside Aeron Lass, where he wanted us to leave our boat so we duly moved her there and re attached mooring lines etc. No sooner had we done so than the owner of Aeron Lass drove up, a lady who explained that she needed to be able to go to sea easily should she wish to, and also she may want to paint her decks and we woudn't want any paint on our boat would we? She went off to speak to the harbour master. We later spoke to the harbour master again and in due course moved Blue Star back to her original place on the visitor's pontoon! It is interesting to note the difference in practice here compared with the Solent where boats are expected to raft up regularly and crews just have to manage boats slipping out of a raft, or back in. I think people take care when painting their boats too!
We had a meal out at the nearby restaurant and then packed for our return home. I hope our boat is still there when we return, undamaged and without extra paint applied!
Joke:
'I've just been on a once-in-a-lifetime sailing holiday. I'll tell you what, never again!''
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| Barry Pearson with his yacht |
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| The dove nesting at Barry's Container Gallery |
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