Day 72
Checked the weather forecast and for the next month it looks pretty bad.  Not sure what we should do.  Bertie and I went to Penzanze on the bus.  Not really that exciting.  Train tickets arrived for the return to Stranraer.  Back on train tomorrow.  At least I got three nights in a bed that didn't move!

Days 66 to 73
Passage 29
What a lot to say for so little progress.   On day 67 we left Troon for passage to Stranraer.  As usual it was awful.  For a passage that should have taken 8 hours it took 11.  Wind on the nose, and slamming through the seas.  At the top of Loch Ryan engine suddenly stopped.  It may have been because we had been running it had, with little progress.  Perry did what he could, and it started again.  When in Stranraer he did a good overhaul, but found nothing amiss.  Next day was not good for a departure and it was all beginning to get to me.  I really could not face the next haul which was into the Irish Sea.  So I said put the boat on a lorry or get a crew.  Well Perry managed to arrange a crew and I booked up a train and accommodation, to go down to pick up the boat in Falmouth or thereabouts. Following night was absolute hell on the boat, with I don't know how many ropes lashing us to the pontoon.  We had arranged for the crew to come down yesterday.  Bertie and I set off for quite a traumatic journey to Hayle in Cornwall (don't ask why not Falmouth - just couldn't get a booking), got here at midnight - one and a half hours later than planned.
Meanwhile, back in Stranraer Perry met the crew - all is not what it seems!  All mouth etc. didn't like the boat, questioned safety gear etc. etc. they just didn't hit it off. So he went home.  That was that. An expensive day for us.  Wo what next?
Well Bertie and I are booked on a train to go back to Stranraer on Saturday. We will not move from there until weather is right, but will make many more shorter hops than origianlly planned, i.e. Stranraer-Bangor-Ardglass-Holyhead-Pythwelli-Aber-Fishguard-Milford Haven (Dale).
On a much lighter note Stranraer is quite nice.  However, I had planned that if we got to Falmouth I would take time out to visit our grand-daughter - which is long overdue and becoming an embarassment to Daniel.  I will still do this, but it may be a little while longer than I originally thought.  

Day 65
Last night and this morning we had very strong winds - so that settled that! We didn't leave here.  However, tomorrow's forecast looks good, so hopefully we will finally make some progress.  I think we've just about exhausted Troon.  As our bus passes don't work in Scotland, everywhere we go must be on foot - and Perry's feet ache all the time!

Day 64
Well today has been wet, sunny and very windy.  Doesn't seem to get any better for us.  However, it looks just about OK for tomorrow so we will be setting off about 0530 for Stranraer.  My notes say, no wifi, but sometimes we've been able to pick up BT Fon, so fingers crossed for the sail and for BT. 
We have now got just over half way and we still have some very long passages to do.  At the moment we are deciding to go via Northern Ireland rather than direct to the Isle of Man, and we are looking at charts and data as I type this (so musn't spend too long).
Prestwick airport doesn't appear to be so active today as it was yesterday - perhaps the pilots don't like wind and rain either!
Raided Morrisons for our supplies, so all being well, we should be off again tomorrow.

Day 63
Well we didn't move.  Weather was still a bit too unsettled, and I think it may be same tomorrow.  Perry fiddled about with the engine and changed the oil filter.  We had ice creams - very nice.  Generally just loafed around.  However, the sun did make an appearance this afternoon.

Day 62 Passage 28
Today we left Tarbert at about 5.00 in the morning and headed off to Troon.  Rained at first, and the stayed misty for quite a while.  For a long time it was very grey and murky and the wind picked up a bit.  In the last couple of hours the sun made a bit of an appearance, but the wind picked up as well.  Generally a F4 but it ended up quite a fast sail into Troon. Took 7 hours, and of course Bertie was fed up. We will be checking the weather, yet again, and it looks as though it may be possible to set off very early (i.e. 4.00) to Stranraer.  Again fingers crossed.

Days 60 to 61
Well we have had absolutely awful weather.  Incredibly strong winds - I think last night we had gusts of F7 or F8 and so much rain, you wouldn't believe it.  However, it looks as though it will drop for tomorrow so we will be moving on first thing to Troon.
We haven't done a lot, just eating, reading and walking when possible. This afternoon our friends from Yinzi sailed in - looking a bit wet, but they had at least been doing some sailing in the last few days. 
 Hopefully weather will be acceptable tomorrow as we really need to move on.

Day 59
Well the day started off very wet, with only small gusts.  However in the afternoon we had lots of sun and a  lot of wind, gusts of perhaps F6 or F7.   Definitely not a sailing day.  We loafed around town a bit and stocked up on supplies again.  Apparently the wind is goind to be even stronger tomorrow - i look forward to that, |I don't think! Of the books I bought yesterday, one is a detective story based around this area - really good checking out places etc.

view of Tarbert town

In the town, many of the shops have pictures painted by local artists, and it's really interesting seeing all the different views and styles.

While I've been typing this, the boat has been rocking about, almost like we are sea!

Day 58
Due to the weather forecast we are now staying in Tarbert.  This morning weather looked OK and we were starting to reconsider our decision to stay, but this afternoon the gusts are getting somewhat stronger and we've certainly had a lot of rain.  Had to buy some books.  Although I managed to swap books in different ports of call, and bought in charity shops, I had finally run out.  Fortunately there is a small bookshop here, so have purchased a few to keep me going.  Have nearly caught up with the washing, but will keep the remaining excitement for another couple of days. 

Bertie is bored, but now cured of his nasty tummy bug - probably because we've been much stricter about letting him eat or try and eat any crustations on the pontoons - such an opportunist dog! 

If it ever stops raining here we will try and explore some of the are including the old ruined castle (or whatever it is) on the hillside.  Hopefully this nasty bit of weather will blow itself through or out in the next couple of days.  Fingers crossed.

Day 57 Passage 27
Well today we moved out of the Crinan Canal onto Tarbert.  It rained virtually all the way.  Had the mainsail up, but as usual wind changed direction half way during the trip.  We are now in Tarbert, quite an interesting and cute type of town, but having checked the weather forecast it doesn't look as though we will be able to move on to Troon until sometime next week.  I don't fancy gusts of F7! If the bad weather moves through quickly we will move on, but in the meantime looks as though we will have to discover this town a bit better.  Saw loads of dolphins on our route and for the first time since we set out, I had warm feet on a passage.  Finally got the sock combination right!  Bertie is feeling a lot better, so fingers crossed that will continue.

Days 54 to 56 Passages 24 to 26
Finally left Oban.  Said goodbye to some new friends on their boat Yinzi and wish them all the best for their onward passage.
Left Oban at 5.00 and of course it was raining, however we had a good wind and tide with us.  Tide was quite fast so we actually made good passage to Crinan.  Wanted to fill up at Crinan and the fuel station was some dodgy rubber platform on which to moor the boat - not for the feint hearted. Got into Crinan canal and tied up.  Arranged to have "assisted passage" i.e. someone to help us with the locks, for the next two days. No wifi or mobile phone signal at this point!
Following day because it was not easy at all!  Unfortunately, Bertie was ill during this passage and had a very badly upset stomach.  There was nothing I could do while we were wrestling with the locks, but as soon as we had a slight pause, I had to clear up a rather nasty mess and look after him.  We finally tied up about half way along the Crinan - and yes, it was still raining.  Difficult to get things dry. Still no wifi, but at least we had mobile signal.
Fortunately today it has been dry all day, so we managed to get our oilies dry and set off to continue with the locks on the canal, and our helper.  Outside of the canal some very strong winds were blowing, so for once we were in the best place.  We are now tied up in the basin at the east exit of the canal and should be leaving tomorrow for our onward sail to Tarbet.  Bertie is still not quite right, and I have been giving him his medicine (which I had packed in advance). It did get very tiring getting up every two hours during the night to take him out. Forecast for tomorrow looks ok, but just for one day.  So that's almost the end of our canal work on this trip, only one more lock to go, so that we can get out.
Just thought I would mention that we had a heron about two feet from the boat this morning, but as soon as we got a camera ready, off he flew.  Yesterday we saw a deer swimming across the canal.

Day 53
After a rainy day in Oban we thought we were going to move on today, but no, the wind picked up and because of the nature of the route (i.e. strong tides) what we didn't want again was wind over tide.  It caused enough problems last time.  So it looks as though we will try again tomorrow.

However, we went out for a meal here in the marina last night and it was really good.  New owners of Oban marina and they are working really hard to make it a lovely place - and I think they are succeeding.  We have been chatting to a nice couple that we met on the Caledonian Canal and they were hoping to move on as well.  But same problem as us (nice boat though). 

Had a good walk in the hills with Bertie today, although at the moment he's passed out again!

Viewof Oban.  Free ferry from the marina (opposite on Kerrera island) to Oban.

Days 45 -52 Passages 18 - 23
We left Inverness and went into the Caledonian Canal.  Unfortunately WiFi was £3/hr which we considered too expensive, so no blog updates.   Passages 18 - 22 were all the Caledonian Canal.  Very interesting in places, but the locks were hardwork.
Passage 23 was leaving the Caledonian Canal and onward passage to Oban.  Very sunny but unfortunately wind against tide, so a lot of banging, which upset Bertie and the wind direction was on the nose, which upset Perry.  Also the trip was over 8 hours, which upset me!
Day 52 - day of rest in Oban Marina (Kerrera Island).  We will be taking the free fery to Oban town to do some exploring and tomorrow it's off to the Crinan Canal, through some pretty dodgy water!  Again it is likely no Wifi.