It seemed straightforward – crewing for a yacht being taken down the coast for winter from Oban to Rhu, near Helensburgh requiring traversing the Crinan Canal. It was all going to be new and exciting – especially as it was November outwith any sailing season. What could go wrong? It was going to be Three Men in a Boat and it was going to be jolly. A Skipper/Owner, Myself and the Third Man, an experienced yachtsman from Inverness.
The drive up was through a Scotland wearing an Autumnal kilt and unfortunately a police speed trap camera on the M9 bridge. Tyndrum Good Food Fish and I was powered up following traffic where I turned off for the Falls of Lora stopping to photograph the bridge and a heron sweeping over the water. Resuming the trip south to Oban I found the three cars I had been following surrounded by police and an ambulance after a collision on a bend.
Parked near Tesco and used one of their trollies to transport my kit across the car park and humped it along the sea front to the North Pier waiting for the ferry to the Kerrera Marina across Oban Bay. I joined the boat with a rugby playing schoolboy and a couple joining their yacht and we skipped across the dark water to the marina pontoons. The boat waited – a 39 foot Swedish Malo yacht which looked huge in the moonlight. It was even larger onboard – wide with plenty of space, even for me. The skipper/owner was fresh from a Nick Nairn cooking course so I was treated to some pasta in a tasty sauce washed down with a wine before we opening my malt whisky to while away the night with an Islay malt and stories but absolutely no sea shanties.
Morning porridge and coffee and then a blur of getting ready as an experienced yachtsman arrived fresh from a chilled Inverness and we were off, just as I was in the middle of getting my left leg out of my waterproofs with my Dubarry boots stuck somewhere on the velcro legging. I got sorted out and we were on our way up the Sound of Kerrera, on automatic helm heading past the green buoys. There was a a problem with the GPS/Plotter cable to its transponder – but who is going to need GPS on a fine day like this – we are just getting out to sea and focusing on a lovely trip down the coast to the canal.
The sun was shining, the wind was light, the weather forecast was frightening in the afternoon but we were on our way expecting to be sitting in a lock in Crinan before it hit us, hence the rush on departure. Tide was on the flood and we were heading straight towards a lighthouse, I knocked autohelm off and headed off its collision course we were all chatting and life was good. The sun was even shining.
A fisherman’s buoy was ahead and skipper advised keeping it to port as we didn’t want any rope around our prop – very sensible. And ‘oh look there is fish in the water ahead look at all the rippling’. Skipper and yachtsman went to see what type of fish. Then the cry ROCK ROCK ROCK, and I knew instinctively this did not mean change the music to something less Scottish Traditional.
I spun the wheel around watching the water swirl around what was obviously a large brown ragged object sticking out of the water. This was Cutter Rock. We hadn’t even time to congratulate ourselves as to our near miss when we struck a submerged reef, part of Cutter Rock. CRASH, BANG, WALLOP – I really felt it on the helm and can’t even remember whether the bow lifted into the air or sunk into the water. It all happened so quickly and there was a horrendous sound.
I wheeled us round and started heading back to Oban as skipper and yachtsman automatically checked for leaks below. All OK no need for liferaft yet so just a call to the marina to organise a crane rather than a lifeboat – fingers crossed. It seemed to take ages to get back and there a crane was welcoming us. Cruised into the crane bands in low water, as the crane guys start driving us in to shore and elevating us with us all on board. This was all a new experience.
