As I mentioned in the previous entry I have fond memories of a cadet camp at Loch Ewe and was keen to see what remained of the old Nissen huts at the boom defence camp at Mellon Charles. It was clear as we passed that although an old pier remained the main part of the camp had been cleared. We decided to anchor off the village of Aultbea, just a mile or two further along the coast and the location of the Arctic Convoy museum.
Aultbea is a small village that extends along the loch shoreline and we headed ashore in Terry the Tender to a small rocky beach next to a closed hotel. The Arctic Convoy museum was a short walk up the hill and well worth the effort. A really interesting collection of items largely gathered together from the local community and convoy veterans and managed by volunteers, very impressive and well worth a visit – www.racmp.co.uk
Just beyond Aultbea there is a naval fuelling jetty that both Nigel and I had visited in the past and also a large yellow mooring buoy that is a ‘Z’ berth, for use by nuclear submarines, so the naval ties to the area remain significant. Further down the loch, at InverEwe there is a tropical garden that benefits from the warm waters of the Gulf Stream but we were particularly keen to find a laundry and some decent showers so we weighed anchor late in the afternoon and motor sailed north. We were soon past Gruinard Island, famous for being a testing site of the poison anthrax bacteria, and then into Ullapool harbour, secured to a mooring buoy and ashore just too late to get fish and chips! However we were recommended the Argyll Hotel that served pizzas. These were very possibly purchased from Tescos up the road but they tasted good and were a perfect accompaniment to a beer or two and an excellent live music session – there are some great musicians in Ullapool.
The following morning we deposited two large bags of laundry with a very nice lady at Ullapool Laundry Services, visited the local leisure centre to have a swim, sauna and shower and we then discovered the Ceilidh Place, a friendly cafe, bar, cultural centre where we were served a good breakfast by a mandolin player from the previous night’s session.
We liked Ullapool very much. It is quite touristy with a steady flow of folk who are probably exploring the North Coast 500 route or pausing before or after taking the ferry to Stornoway but we felt it had an interesting arty feel to it and the grid layout of the streets was reminiscent of the USA or Canada. But above all the view from it’s harbour, looking down Loch Broom is stunning.
We left Ullapool, intending to make our way up towards Cape Wrath with a night at anchor in one of the lochs on the far NW corner of the coast before heading around the Cape and making the long passage to the Orkneys. Unfortunately our plans needed to change as there was a rather disturbing rattling sound coming from the under the cockpit as we motored away from Ullapool. As soon as possible we had the engine off and were under sail considering our options. Yacht boatyard facilities looked a little limited in Ullapool but with a favourable south westerly breeze we decided to keep heading north and maybe just keep going overnight to the Orkneys where we knew we good find good yacht facilities. As the weather turned increasingly wet and cold and internet searches convincing me that we had bearing or gearbox problems we decided to head into Kinlochbervie, a fishing port that I had never heard of but it provided an opportunity for us to gave a look at the gearbox and shaft while alongside and perhaps a decent sleep before rounding Cape Wrath.
After passing the Old Man of Stoer we arrived in Kinlochbervie in heavy rain and carried out some basic engine trials, no rattling! This was all very odd but with a south westerly forecast for the following day we reckoned we could get to the Orkneys with minimal use of the engine so we decided to stay overnight.
Kinlochberbvie was very wet and the fishing port empty apart from lots of nets and a rather incongruous large articulated lorry with ‘Screen Machine’ emblazoned down each side. In turned out that our visit to Kinlochberbvie coincided with the visit of the travelling cinema so after a meal on board we spent a rather surreal evening joining a few locals for a viewing of ‘The Road Dance’. This was, rather appropriately, a drama set in the Hebrides during the First World War.
The following morning we were up early for a wet departure and set our course through the murk towards for Cape Wrath.