From Nedd, we sailed for three days to Oban, our starting point for the ascent of Ben Navis (1,345 m), the highest point in Great Britain. Since parts of the alternator came loose along the way, we were very glad to have our Sunware solar panels on deck and the two Superwind generators.

During the final hours, in darkness and drizzle with no wind, we had to drastically reduce our power consumption, so we used our emergency navigation lights—which we’d had to purchase in 2008 for the Sydney-Hobart Yacht Race—for the first time.

In Oban, we received a warm welcome from Kerrera Island Marina.

NOGVA in Ålesund was very helpful and sent us a new alternator. Unfortunately, DHL Express took nearly a week.

We used the time to climb Ben Navis. We found hardly any trash on the way back from the summit. Salina, Noé, and Alegra took just one hour and forty minutes to reach the summit from Fort William. Vital followed with Dario in two hours and 30 minutes, and then, at five-minute intervals, Mia and Andrina, Baltasar and Selma, and Sabine.

Before we set sail for Ireland on Saturday, July 11, 2026, the entire TOPtoTOP crew kicked off the cleanup at Kerrera Marina and found a lot of trash on the beach.