OBJECTIVE – Sail to a Scottish distillery and buy some whisky
August/September 2021
Once upon a time Mandy’s dad went on a sailing holiday around the west coast of Scotland and visited a few whisky distilleries. Since then I have wanted to sail my boat up to a scottish distillery and buy some whisky. Specifically, Lagavulin, my favourite whisky in the world. So for our summer holiday we decided to sail to Port Ellen on the isle of Islay on which there are many famous distilleries, Lagavulin being one of them.
The locals in Pwllheli marina told me, “you sail down to the end of the Llyn peninsula turn right and before you know it you are in Scotland.” How true.
Unfortunately there was no wind so we had to motor 200 miles to Port Ellen. It was our first overnighter with just the 2 of us. The Irish sea was like a sheet of glass. Lots of ferries, birds, seals and one dolphin.
The whole day was sunny and a flat calm, we saw the sun set over the Mountains of Mourne then the tide turned and the wind got up and the going got shitty. Around 2am, just passing Belfast, the fog came in. Mandy was asleep and I got a bit spooked having not been in fog at night before. It was especially scary as there were many car ferries passing us.
In the morning after a refreshing shower we passed the Mull of Kintyre. You can see the mist rolling in from the sea if you look carefully in the background. It’s spontaneous, 1 take and very embarrasing but we had to do it.
We arrived in Port Ellen within 10 minutes of our estimated time of arrival. Easy to do when you are motoring. Port Ellen is a gem of a place. Not only is it less than an hours walk to 3 distilleries, Lagavulin, Laphroaig and Ardbeg, it has a quiet, small and run by locals marina.
The following day we walked to the Lagavulin distillery and bought, a bottle to drink immediately, a bottle for when we get to the Caribbean and a bottle for when we get through the Panama canal into the Pacific. So with our 3 bottles, a bottle for my son and a few Lagavulin whisky glasses we clinked and clanked our way back to the boat. So that is one dream ticked off.
The next morning we left Port Ellen at sunrise to pick up our son in Stranraer but that’s another story.
Mir, Mandy & Me 
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