Woken early by movement of the boat and the keel clonking (in spite of the "hold right up" device). The wind was getting up from NE, to which the bay is quite open. Being unable to sleep and thinking the wind might continue to rise, I got up about 5:00 and tried to start the day early as I was keen to avoid a repeat of our NE wind experience at Lamlash. There was not enough wind to impede breakfast, but we decided that the Ardmore Islands were not sheltered enough and so headed off to Port Ellen on Islay. We had a good reach but could not see Islay until about 5m away, arriving about lunchtime, which is a bit unusual for us. The visitors’ pontoons were nearly empty and in quite a sheltered place – a big improvement on the facilities when we came here years ago. The only problem is noisy building work on the pier, which receives grain for the maltings and is being massively improved. Apparently the builders are expected tomorrow morning as well.
Walking ashore was like stepping onto a Mediterranean island. The heat seemed to reflect back from the houses and we tried to stay in the breeze. We did some shopping, so I hung about by the chiller cabinet.
Too hot to explore the interior of the island. I had a snooze and Pam did some washing which dried almost immediately in the warm wind. Maybe tomorrow we will explore a bit of the island and possibly visit the open day at Lagavulin distillery
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| Pontoons at Port Ellen |
