Don’t encourage them!

This is turning out to be a rather nice summer! We were up and off in good time for the 9.45 sailing. The crossing was millpond-calm and it was warm up on deck. From Brodick, we headed up the steep hill towards Lamlash, taking a breather at the summit to admire the view over towards Goat Fell. We need at least one trip to Arran each year and the rest of the day was a mix of re-discovery and nostalgia. We headed on to Whiting Bay and a bit beyond before returning for lunch in ‘Coast’ and back to Brodick in time for the 1640 boat. But it was still warm and light and too early to return home. So, we headed up the coast a bit more, stopping briefly for a coffee and on to Corrie where we decided to have fish and chips eating out at the hotel’s garden picnic tables. The scene was so quiet and peaceful – quite beautiful. We watched our boat progress from Ardrossan for a while and, in time, headed back to Brodick. We had clocked up 33 miles by the time we boarded the 1920 sailing.

We sat out on deck all the way back and watched the gulls glide effortlessly above the boat. The calm was only disturbed by a group of young tourists who challenged the birds to take their sandwich morsels. The gulls duly responded with brilliant agility and daring, tempted by the free meal on offer. It was a bit scary as it reminded us of our last visit to Cornwall. We were walking along a quiet street in St Ives, eating a bag of chips when a gull took us completely unawares and ‘stole’ a chip out of our mouth, cutting the lip in the process. It was frightening and painful for several days, and required a tetanus boost into the bargain. Perhaps we should have warned the youngsters who were having so much fun on the Arran ferry about the dangers, but we didn’t. So, we only have ourselves to blame for the menace these birds cause in our seaside towns!