.
Yesterday (last day of the course) was the first day we didn't see 40+ knots regularly on the WSI and have an 8 in the forescast, enjoying instead a beat back up Loch Linnhe in a modest F6-7 . . . the wind finally moderated just as we got back on the mooring.
We were on a mooring in Dallens Bay on Tuesday waiting for the next gale when the toilet blocked, necessitating an emergency night passage to Dunstaffnage. We berthed in a gale in the dark and when I got up to relash the helm at about three o'clock the wind was 45-50 knots NW with 2ft breaking waves rushing through the marina. The motion and snatching was so hideous no-one got much sleep that night.
(Silkie is fine BTW . . . )
Other highlights included trying to teach points of sail in Oban Bay with the wind gusting instantly from flat calm to 42 knots and veering then backing through 150 degrees, and the delightful texture of the stretch of sea between the Sound of Kerrera and Puilladobhrain on Thursday. We anchored in Pullers for lunch and were the only boat there. In fact, I think we only saw a total of five or six yachts on passage all week.
The fact that it was actually possible to go to sea get some mileage in at all is a testament to the superb sailing qualities of the Sigma 33C.