Nautical Chelsea Tractors?

Well, yesterday was indeed very relaxing. We had a late start and enjoyed relaxing on our beach on Loch Alsh, watching the passing boats heading east and waiting for the afternoon westborn tide "window" when we would be able to go through the narrows at Kyle of Lockalsh and out into the open sea. However by the afternoon, the wind had got up.. We didn't fancy a slog into a good force 4/5 westerly, so decided on an early morning start the next day.

When the alarm went off at 05:10, surprisingly it still seemed like a good idea. It was a georgeous day: sunny and calm, with just enough breeze to deter the midges. We cruised North, through silken waters with gambling dolphins, arriving at lunchtime at the wonderful Applecross Inn for a huge plate of Applecross bay prawns.

During our trip, we've seen quite a few nice yachts, but I'm getting increasingly suspicious that they are the nautical equivalent of a Chelsea Tractor. Almost all of them seem to be chugging around using their diesel engines, even if there's a nice following wind. The only boats we've seen that were REALLY sailing, was a small (engineless) dingy tacking up into the wind a few miles south of Applecross , and a gorgeous yacht from the Youth Sailing Trust Scotland on Mull with a crew of 17.

Are the sails just for show: the nautical equivalent of having 4x4, when you seldom use it for anything more challenging than the speed bumps at Waitrose? Maybe a yachtie can enlighten me!?

BTW. mobile phone coverage may get a bit sparce from here on, so we'll have to see where we can next post the blog from ...