Wednesday 13th July 2016 –
Gairloch to Portree – Day 21
An early
start, as we let go of the Dutch yacht ‘Polyander’ at 08.00 and happy to be
leaving Gairloch.
We were
motoring down the Sound of Raasay which separates the islands of Rona and
Raasay and the east coast of the Isle of Skye.
We could see heavy showers ahead of us but never materialised.
We listened on
the radio to David Cameron’s last Prime Minister’s question time to keep us
entertained.
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| Portree entrance |
At 13.45 we
were making our approach into Portree harbour which is bounded by high cliffs
and at 14.30, we were safety attached to the mooring buoy ‘M’.
 |
| Moored |
 |
| Nice Spot |
The rib was
removed from the aft locker and inflated on deck before being launched.
The outboard motortaken from the rail and placed
on the back of the rib, fuelled up and tested, taken out for a test run, while
at the same time used for a photo-shoot.
At 17.30 we
ventured ashore in the rib and left her tied up next to the lifeboat
station. For mooring fees you place your
£10 in the honesty box at the lifeboat door letter box.
 |
| Portree |
A walk up the hill found the town very busy
with visitors. Into the ‘Tongadale
Hotel’ for a couple of pints, back down the hill to the fish restaurant which
was fully booked, so back up the hill to the same pub where we enjoyed a meal
for myself, mussels, then haggis tatties and neaps, while Syd enjoyed cullen
shink (fish shop) then fish and chips.
Onward to
the town square, here the street signs have English names at the top with
Gaelic translation on the bottom. Into
the ‘Portree Hotel’, here we enjoyed the live music. We took advantage of the Co-op still being
open and stocked up with essentials. The
girl serving us was from Poland, and told of her life on the Isle of Skye but
she did not like the Scottish winters, I knew exactly how she felt.
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| Portree at night |
A trip back
in the rib to the boat was no problem, though at night, there was still enough
light to find our way home.
A wonderful
day, a nice run across to the island and into an enchanting port; which proved
to be on the tourist map, we were happy to be there with them.
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