Short cut to a long cut

Andrew Morton describes how saving time led to trouble on Gigha

- Andrew Morton

My Tiptoe is a small boat. It is technically possible to fit davits on the stern of a 25ft Finnmaster to carry a permanently inflated dinghy, but I don’t fancy that for a variety of reasons: I hardly ever use my dinghy, as my boat is small enough to get into most harbours, and I also have a kayak on the roof which is quick and easy to launch and gets me ashore faster than a dinghy. I launch the kayak from the small swim platform, and if there were davits and a rubber dinghy, that would be impossible. So, no davits.

But I’ve got a problem in the shape of a lovely folding Brompton bike, bought on a whim, as I walked past a bike shop in London 10 years ago, and thought: “That’s the bike for my boat.” I haven’t regretted that decision for a moment, and my Brompton bike comes everywhere with me on my boat, ready to explore the islands of Scotland. You have to take a bike with you on a boat – it’s an absolute essential for so many reasons, not least of which is keeping fit.

But I’m a softy, so I often stay overnight in marinas. That makes it easy to assemble the bike in less than a minute, and set off to explore from the pontoon. So, I’ve had mini adventures from many marinas, with my trusty Brompton: exploring the Isle of Man from Peel and Douglas; the length and breadth of Rathlin Island, Ballycastle to Carrick-a-Rede in Northern Ireland, round Islay from Port Ellen, and Kirkwall to the Italian chapel on the Orkney Islands. The bike is also hugely useful for cycling to shops and picking up groceries.