Fairwinds 2005

Day 25 - Badentarbat Bay - Horse Island - Ullapool - 11 miles

We sailed off the anchor in light winds and sunshine at 9.15. The intention was to head to Ullapool for lunchtime or thereabouts with a view to possibly meeting up with my parents for lunch and a wander about. (They live the Ullapool side of Inverness, only about 75 minutes drive). We weren't really expecting them to turn up, however, as they had someone coming to look at their house, which is currently on the market.

By cowboy time (ten to ten) the wind had died away to nothing and we put the motor on and headed for Horse Island, a baggable Haswell-Smith on our direct route to Ullapool. We anchored in the bight between the two bits of the island at 10.30 and I found a missed call from my parents on my mobile. Phoned and they confirmed they would be in Ullapool soon after one.

Determined to bag Horse Island now we were anchored, the skipper went ashore to explore. Not much to report - heather, grass, lots of small orchids and some smashed sea urchin shells obviously dropped by hungry birds with no tin opener. Raised anchor slightly less than an hour later and headed for Ullapool. By midday we were able to dispense with the engine again and enjoyed a pleasant sail up Loch Broom, finally motor-sailing the last couple of miles and dropping the anchor East of the pier - between it and the moorings - at 2pm. We were still towing the dinghy, so were quickly ashore to meet my parents for a bar lunch.

After lunch the parents took us to the Somerfield supermarket where we reprovisioned - very hand y having motorised transport back to the dinghy when you are stocking up on heavy essentials like beer and wine. We then did the highlights of Ullapool - the hardware shop and Highland Stoneware - followed by coffee and cakes in the Ceilidh Place before my parents headed back to Inverness.

After stashing the shopping we got changed into our least smelly clothes and went ashore for some truly outstanding fish and chips. The plan after that was to go and see Colcannon, an Australian Celtic band playing in the Clubhouse. It was six quid to get in , and we havered a bit but decided to go for it. We listened outside and the band sounded good, so we paid our twelve quid and I opened the door - to see three rows of chairs and a pure concert format - no sitting at tables, no bar, not the evening we had envisaged at all. I explained this to the lassie taking the money and she refunded ours.

Slightly embarrassed, we legged it to the Arch Inn, where a guitarist, lady fiddler and lady harpist were playing for free. This was the first time I had seen a Celtic harp in a pub, and a most enjoyable couple of pints of An Teallach were consumed while we listened to them. Eventually it got a little soporific however, and so we decided on a change of venue.

Just down the road is the Seaforth, an extraordinary pub which seem sto have something on almost every night. Tonight it was Little Wolves, described as an R&B cover band. This itself was just a cover, as they played a lot of their own material in between. They were a traditional three piece - drummer, lead guitar and bass guitar - and they were rough as a badger's nether regions, but highly entertaining. The patrons were equally entertaining - fishermen in full working gear coming in straight off the boats, loads of partying holidaymakers, a couple of business types in suits who had somehow been hijacked by a couple of good time girls, a couple of Viz fat slags look-alikes, an unlikely elderly superhero (probably German) in cut off jeans, an emblazoned top and sandals - you name it, they were all there.

The band drank Special Brew and got better and better - I detected a heavy Zappa influence among others. We even got up to dance for the last two numbers, then I stole the poster off the wall on the way to the gents and got the band to sign it. Luckily the tide says we don't need to leave until lunchtime tomorrow!