We’ve been hanging out in Tobermory, Scotland for the past week. If you have to sit in a town, this is a nice spot in which to do it. The anchorage is substantial, there is a marina, a mooring field, interesting shops ashore, and wifi at the dock. Tobermory is also an excellent base from which to explore the Isle of Mull.

We include this photo to prove that the sun does occasionally shine in Scotland, albeit infrequently this summer.

There are lots of visiting yachts coming and going, with cruising sailors to meet, and all sorts of interesting gear to think about.

There must be a Color Coordinating Commission in Tobermory. The buildings are all brightly painted, with no adjacent structures the same. Scots are famous for their independent and stubborn ways and it is hard to imagine how this lovely affect was orchestrated.

There is the requisite distillery, with tours and samples (perfect for rainy days).

And two markets. This one, part of the Spar chain, gets the award for the coolest retail architecture.

A Highland cow (or maybe a steer). If you are into bovine aesthetics a fascinating sight.

There are, of course, many castles to tour, some in better repair than others. We won’t bore you with the photos, other than this to demonstrate blue sky (in the last week we’ve had a single day of what most folks would consider nice weather).

As previously mentioned we are based on Tobermory while the family visits. The first thing Ian, aged six, wanted to do was get out for a dinghy driving lesson. Another season and he’ll be doing this on his own.

If you get to this part of the world it is worth driving two hours along a single track road flanked with waterfalls and lovely vistas to visit the island of Iona. The 13th century church is wonderful. There is a graveyard with dozens of old time kings, including Macbeth (he of Shakespearian fame). Saint Martin has a nice cross, the least the local religious leaders could do for this true believer who “volunteered” to be buried alive to properly consecrate a new church which Saint Columba having difficulty trying to finish.

With all the old stuff to look at, it was the tide pools which held the most interest. Emma, on the right, now eleven, has wanted to be a marine biologist for some years.

We’ll close with a series of shots of a pair of local fishing vessels, now in their final resting place.

These are traditional sail powered double ended designs which evolved to a more powerful hull shape with the advent of power. They have a fine (narrow) stern relative to the bow.

The stern being narrower than the bow will tend to be better behaved in a following sea. But you have to be careful with reserve buoyancy forward or the hull will hobby horse going uphill do to lack of dampening in the aft sections.