Kate and Harry's boat trip

Harry had been very keen to come sailing again so after the race and his GCSEs were over we travelled up to Oban to fetch Beeline. Like most teenagers he sleeps many hours but is excellent company and loves being on the boat. We stocked up on essentials (Frosted Shreddies for Harry, coffee filters for Kate) and left on Saturday afternoon for a tour of Mull.
This set the pace. Long motor sail to cover the miles, late arrival in new place and sleep. Early morning Kate gets up and explores while Harry sleeps then we leave...Long motor sail etc.
So Harry this was what you missed in Tobermory
on Sunday. But we did see puffins on our venture through the Treshnish Islands, and we saw Fingal's Cave and Staffa and passed the cathedral on Iona before enjoying a hearty ration pack supper on the way to Colonsay.
Here we anchored at sunset and Kate left at dawn while Harry slept all the way to the Mull of Kintyre.
The tide was against us so we sneaked close in to the rocks and found an eddy 80m off the cliffs. This allowed us to watch the seals basking and chasing fishing boats. But it was a long and tiring sail to Stranraer across the Firth of Clyde and we were glad to get to sleep. The next day Kate went to explore while Harry slept. You didn't miss much there Harry, just some rather lewd cakes and unusual biscuits in the bakery.
On to Galloway and we enjoyed a visit from a pod of dolphins off Portpatrick and even flew the spinnaker for a while before the relentless motoring began again to reach the Isle of Man
Peel harbour was extremely rolly and not much sleep was had, so early next day Kate set off again.
Holyhead marina was very welcome and we enjoyed our hot showers and a welcome from Holyhead Sailing Club. Why did they call us hard core sailors and nutters I wonder?
We left in the morning and were thrilled to see lots more puffins. Suddenly we are seeing them everywhere we go. South Stack off Anglesey was busy, so was Ramsay Island and Skomer and Skokholm. This leg was a tough overnight one so Kate dozed in the cockpit in Kelly's old sleeping bag and we managed to reach Milford Haven before the bad weather set in. The boat and equipment has been reliable and Beeline is better shape than when we left Topsham. We have a day or two to regroup before we head south again. The Belgian team from 3PYR are here too and we look forward to chatting with them.