Fairwinds 2005

Day 22 - Lochinver

Up soon after nine to let Spirit of the Isles away to the fuel berth and Stornoway. We decided to stay another night, as the Highland Harbours charge of £15.28 covers two consecutive nights, either here or with the second night at Kinlochbervie, Gairloch or Kyle.

Paid our harbour dues at the harbour office then went to the Seaman's Mission for all day breakfast. It took ages to get served as they were incredibly busy, but it was worth it. Walked down to the village and spent some time in the Assynt Visitor Centre, possibly the best one I have ever been in. We checked out the shops then went for a short stroll up the feisty River Inver before coming back to the road and going to have a look at the Highland Stoneware workshops and showroom. We got lost in a surprisingly extensive council estate heading back to the village to shop at the Spar, which according to the frazzled young lady working the till was having its busiest day of the year so far - although no-one seemed to know where all these people had come from.

A long walk back to the boat with the shopping, then off to the excellent chandlers for a replacement mackerel bucket - we had a bucket overboard incident somewhere half way to Cape Wrath and had lost sight of it - then back to the Mission for showers, which include a towel and soap if required. However, on the way back to the boat we investigated the new Sports and Community centre, which is just about the nearest large building to the pontoon, and discovered toilets, showers (only £1.10, cheaper than the Mission) and internet access for £1.50 an hour (although this was not available that evening as they were resealing the floor). The real mystery was why the harbour master hadn't told us about this when we asked him about facilities. (The harbour themselves do not provide anything other than the pontoon itself, which is mostly full of local boats).

Chinese for tea - king prawn kung po using a Sharwoods jar plus Spar king prawns and a tin of Chinese vegetables. The bright lights of Lochinver did not tempt us, and so we spent a quiet night on board.. Tomorrow we need to tape and sew the genoa before setting off to the Summer Isles hoping for some Summer - cold and grey in Lochinver this evening.