Wednesday 13 June (Troon to Inverkip)

Showers and breakfast in the marina - Full Scottish for me, scrambled egg for Cath - and then geared up to leave. The wind was now blowing 20+ knots from the NE, a perfect direction for a sail up the Ayshire coast, but a bit too hearty for us. It was even quite difficult to get off the pontoon without collision. However, after an hour on the water it seemed to me feasible to sail with a reef in the main, and by noon Cath was happily helming at 7.1k in 21k of wind. We chose the passage round the W of the Cumbrae Islands, and sailed all the way, though the wind became quite challenging, bending round and over the islands from our starboard side. John called us and arranged to park below Knock Castle, just north of the Cumbraes, to get some photos of Vega under sail. We put up our large saltire on the backstay, shook out the reefs, and sailed quite close inshore under all sail, actually far too much for the wind, which was gusting to 24k, and the resulting pics when we saw them were most gratifying. We took in the sails and motored into Kip marina, where John was waiting for us on the pontoon. After a celebratory G&T we packed a bag and headed to Skelmorlie for a soft, stationary bed (my first for 6 weeks!).