Portree
Portree is one of the prettiest harbours in Scotland, and Angus Anderson one of the most friendly harbour masters.
HM for three years, he had previously worked on the fish farms - a huge industry along the west coast. A new grid of fish cages is being built outside Portree harbour, each holding 60,000 salmon and held in place with 30 ton anchors. The associated support boats give the harbour a lot of business. He runs a happy harbour although once had to ask a yachtie to leave his harbour for being rude to him - shame on that yachtie! It is amazing to think the harbour might be developed into a futuristic "super marina" - photo 5.
While in Portree we filled up with diesel, always a stressful operation when you berth against a very rough quay side which can damage the boat in seconds. We use a plank (photo 6) to put on the outside of the fenders to protect the boat. We also had another electrician on board to try and fix our VHF aerial - delightlful Andy Mitchell and his brother Ross. Anything nautical requires a lot of chatting to do a job, and being Scotland a wee dram is a necessity. Two hours later we had still not quite fixed the aerial but we had had some wonderful craic!
Portree is very special to my wife Fiona, her mother, grandmother and her famous great aunt B were brought up nearby and she managed to visit the cemetery and check on various family graves. We were then invited by family friends to share a drink at their beautiful house which overlooks the harbour (photo 8). The male crew members were treated to an 85 year old malt by the very generous Martin Leslie - something we will never forget. Thank you to Catriona ( @Skyeye ) and her family not least for doing my washing! Finally we anchored underneath dramatic Ben Tianavaig in 20 metres of water, using all 60 metres of chain - photo 10 shows literally the "bitter end" of the chain attached to the boat!
HM for three years, he had previously worked on the fish farms - a huge industry along the west coast. A new grid of fish cages is being built outside Portree harbour, each holding 60,000 salmon and held in place with 30 ton anchors. The associated support boats give the harbour a lot of business. He runs a happy harbour although once had to ask a yachtie to leave his harbour for being rude to him - shame on that yachtie! It is amazing to think the harbour might be developed into a futuristic "super marina" - photo 5.
While in Portree we filled up with diesel, always a stressful operation when you berth against a very rough quay side which can damage the boat in seconds. We use a plank (photo 6) to put on the outside of the fenders to protect the boat. We also had another electrician on board to try and fix our VHF aerial - delightlful Andy Mitchell and his brother Ross. Anything nautical requires a lot of chatting to do a job, and being Scotland a wee dram is a necessity. Two hours later we had still not quite fixed the aerial but we had had some wonderful craic!
Portree is very special to my wife Fiona, her mother, grandmother and her famous great aunt B were brought up nearby and she managed to visit the cemetery and check on various family graves. We were then invited by family friends to share a drink at their beautiful house which overlooks the harbour (photo 8). The male crew members were treated to an 85 year old malt by the very generous Martin Leslie - something we will never forget. Thank you to Catriona ( @Skyeye ) and her family not least for doing my washing! Finally we anchored underneath dramatic Ben Tianavaig in 20 metres of water, using all 60 metres of chain - photo 10 shows literally the "bitter end" of the chain attached to the boat!