Day 13
9th September

Awoke to a howling gale still blowing as strongly as ever and were amazed to find the tent still up. Outside it looked as if a frame tent had blown down in the night and a caravan had been damaged by flying stones. It was freezing packing everything up and we had tea in a tea room next to the site before setting off. Once we had turned towards Armadale on the Sleat Peninsula the wind was virtually behind us and quite soon the skies cleared and the sun shone making it quite a pleasant and easy run to Armadale. We Stopped at Armadale Castle to see the Clan Donald Centre and have tea and then went on, well early, for the four o'clock ferry. At the pier a notice said 'Service Suspended until Weather Moderates' so we spent the rest of the afternoon in the waiting room waiting for a ferry that never turned up. We learned that this was the first day since last winter that the ferry had not run!
It seemed incredible for, although the wind was strong and the waves choppy, we could see Mallaig clearly and the sky and sea were bright blue. After all hope of a ferry was gone we cycled through Ardvasar to find a pitch close to Tormore. The only spot we could find was a bit of a cramped pitch but, thankfully, sheltered from the wind. We can now only go to sleep and hope that the 10 o'clock ferry will be running in the morning.