Skye and Plockton and a whale

We spent a almost a week in Skye, waiting for weather and trying to find an annoying water leak. (Our domestic water was dripping slowly into the bilges).

There was off course still time for sight seeing. The above house is typical of the old crofters homes in sky, small windows and with thatch held on with rope anchored down with rocks.     

Skye is more touristy than the Small Isalnds, especially the main town Portree.

We also went over to the pretty village of Plocton for a couple of nights. The route was sheltered and sailable and we were starting to get cabin fever staying in one place. It was well worth the visit despite not getting us any nearer the Outer Hebrides.

We sailed up Loch Carron, also stunningly beautiful. It's strange that some of the unplanned trips, taken only because the wind is blowing right for them, are often more rewarding than what we were aiming for in the first place.

Yesterday the weather was finally right for the trip across the Minch. Dolphins and other sealife are supposed to abound so we kept our eyes fixed on the sea. Nothing showed itself except a few very pretty puffins. Then about a mile away we spotted what looked like white water breaking on a rock. Not having expected a rock to be there we checked the chart, nothing. We looked at the rock again, it seemed to be moving. We got the binoculars out  and saw that said rock was disappearing under the waves and resufacing, throwing up spray with a huge belly flop. It was a good forty foot long and moving very fast. 

It was our first whale sighting and we both felt glad it was not any closer!

We are due to set off up the Minch to Stornoway tomorrow and are not sure if we want to see anotherone or not. 

Below is a clip of arriving at Scalpay. An island that boasts a population of three hundred people most of whom are related.  

The town is losely spread and has a shop and a school.