Sailing Genevieve…

Genevieve is now back in action after a longer than expected respite in the yard in Largs, Scotland. We decided to bite the bullet and treat Genevieve to a new engine over the winter. This entailed hauling her out the water, getting the splendid lads at DDZ Engineering engaged, and writing some sizable checks! But come mid-September she was ready to take off into the Highlands. Read on…

We closed up our house right after Labor Day, bid Farewell to West Gilgo Beach and high-tailed it back to Scotland. Genevieve was ready to splash for new engine trials so, without delay, we got her back in the water and started up the shiny new Yanmar 4JH110, which purred and roared appropriately. Following some tweaking of the propeller pitch to get the most out of the new power train, Genevieve was soon ready for the infamous rounding of the Mull of Kintyre, the gateway to all the beautiful Hebridean cruising grounds. It was by now late September so we were a bit anxious about the weather, particularly as the locals told us the Scottish summer had been non-existent…appalling even.

As it turned out, the Mull was calm and we managed to stop at the often-too-rough Sanda Island anchorage, right at the southern tip of the Mull to be serenaded all night by snorting, barking seals. Then on to Gigha, just missing the season for the Michelin-starred “Boathouse” restaurant, but, nevertheless, scoring lovely lobsters on the beach after a glorious walk to the north end of the island in blue skies and sunshine! As it turned out, this was not an anomaly: we ended up having weeks of little rain, calm winds and glorious cloudless skies and sunshine. Still a bit chilly sometimes, but nothing SmartWool, gin and cashmere could not take care of.

As we write, we are midway through the short autumn cruising jaunt and feel like we are getting the hang of the islands, the large tides and currents, and even–to some degree–the Scottish brogue! See the pics of some truly amazing places we discovered, adventures had.

The plan is to return to Largs before November 1 and get Genevieve ready for another Scottish winter (windy, wet, but not that cold). Then we will go back to NY for the holidays before decamping somewhere warm for January, and then to the depths of County Cork, Ireland for February, Sussex, UK for March, and back to Genevieve in April for Spring cruising.

More soon. Enjoy the pics…