Moon Landing

Mrs Jan Brown

1969

It was July 20th 1969 and we were part way through a long weekend away on our 21' 'Spurn' class sloop, 'Mallard' which we kept on a mooring at Helensburgh on the River Clyde.

The previous day we had had a hard sail down the river, on the wind the whole way, to Rothesay Bay on the Isle of Bute. Completely exhausted, we slept well in the comfortable anchorage awaking refreshed and raring to go once more. After breakfast we set off towards the eastern arm of the Kyles of Bute in a light south west wind. Once in the Kyle itself the wind became variable, dropping off completely at times, but we resisted starting the engine and sailed on slowly enjoying the peace and the scenery. On our port side, we could see the lush green of the Bute fields and along the shoreline, families of Eider duck swam, the handsome black and white males calling to their drabber mates with a distinctive 'ah-hoo'. The scenery on the starboard (mainland) side was very different; large houses, originally built by the Glasgow tea merchants were strung out along the shore, their impressive gardens leading down to private moorings, where boats sat motionless in the calm water. ... (continues)