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Halcyon Days - The Lady Magazine
Tuesday 25th August 2009
Beverly Byrne cruises around the Isle of Mull on a luxurious classic yacht
Though I love sailing I am no Ellen MacArthur. My idea of a perfect day's cruise is nursing a cool drink on deck while watching hearty matelots splice the mainbrace and shin up the rigging. So a weekend's sail in Scotland on board Halcyon, a 95 ft Bermudan ketch manned by a crew that includes a gourmet chef, appeals. As I board the elegant vessel on Oban harbour, a welcoming committee of dolphins somersaults playfully around her copper clad hull.
Change of Fortune
It's easy to see why Halcyon has been described as the "Orient Express of the Seas". Built for a Lancashire industrialist and designed with comfort in mind, when launched in 1929 she was considered a thoroughbred. She has since sailed to the four corners of the world in various incarnations. During the Second World War she was thought to have been the flagship of a flotilla of minesweepers in Greece before becoming , it is said, the private yacht of Madame Renault (of the car dynasty). Between 1957 and 1988, she became a training ship for Merchant Navy cadets. When discovered four years ago by her current owner Andrew Armour, she was in dire need of love and attention, and these have been lavished on her. Now restored, she represents a perfect combination of the golden age of sail and 21st century living. Outlining our itinerary, Rob suggests we cruise up the Sound of Mull to Tobermory. As Halcyon's deck layout and fittings are almost as the original design with virtually no winches, all five sails must be hoisted and trimmed manually. Before weighing anchor, Olly takes us through through the safety feratures and invites guests to lend a hand on deck or simply enjoy the ravishing views. With only a whisper of wind to fill her sails, we motor gently through watercolour landscapes and an ethereal Scotch mist descends as we pass the forbidding outline of Duart Castle.
Fine Dining
Tobermory, the main village on the Isle of Mull, is a painter's paradise, the brightly coloured houses clustering around a busy harbour. After a tour of the Ledaig Whisky Distillery, we set sail for Loch Aline where we anchor for the night and enjoy a fine dinner. Kerri, the talented chef, manages to produce consistently exquisite cuisine, from Cullen Skink (traditional haddock soup) to red onion Tarte Tatin in the most compact of galleys. Next Day we wake to blue skies and a fair wind. With all five sails hoisted we tack down the Sound of Mull attracting admiring glances from passing yachtsmen and hillside ramblers. Even a seal, surfacing from the placid water, follows our stately passage with interest. It is perfect sailing weather and I join in, heaving on lines and marvelling as the sails balloon satisfyingly above us. Mooring up for lunch un a secluded cove, the crew break out Halcyon's water toys. Although the weather is glorious, this is still Scotland and the water is bone-chillingly cold. Although some brave guests swim, snorkel and cling to an inflated rind drawn behind a speeding dinghy, I play Swallows and Amazons in Halcyon's original clinker gaff-rigged row boat and row to a deserted shore to see a bustling mother duck with her ducklings and seals lounging on the rocks. Later we head for the evening's anchorage. Rob invites me to take the helm. Standing at Halcyon's wheel, I reflect on her name. "Halcyon" is an ancient Greek word for the iridescent kingfisher and "halcyoon days" means periods of peace and calm.
As I guide this perfectly named legendary yacht towards a fuschia-pink sunset, I realise I've fallen completely under her spell. I may be a fair-weather sailor but days don't come much more halcyon than this.