Oban to Port Patrick

We're finally on our way back after a fantastic three and a half months in Scotland.
We left Oban in the early hours of Tuesday morning, heading south to Gigha. A lovely sail in mostly light winds but with a bit of a sting in the tail. The clouds gathered about an hour before arriving and it blew up to thirty knots, making end of the journey fast but the anchorage a little bumpy.
We decided against going ashore as sorting out the dinghy is hard work in a blow but were entertained by the crew of a neighbouring boat playing the bagpipes in the cockpit.

Mull of Kintyre

Left early on Wednesday and had a cracking sail down to Portpatrick, a lovely old fishing village. We went past the Mull of Kintyre under sail and with three to four knots of tide behind us. We acheived a speed over the ground of over ten knots for about two hours and seven to eight knots for the rest of the trip. Instead of coming in at five in the evening as predicted, on an average speed of five knots we were tied up and buying fish and chips off the quay by two o'clock.

Port Patrick is our very last Scottish port and has proved a bit of a treat. Bright sunshine, lovely walks and beaches and a friendly atmosphere, we wish we could stay longer but have decided to continue as planned and set out for Whitehaven tomorrow.

Harbour

Lighthouse

From the Mull of Kintyre it is only twenty miles across to Ireland, another big temptation. It seemed sad to be so close and not to go and visit, but we've promised ourselves a return trip in the not to distant future to circumnavigate Ireland.

Marching band

A lovely colourful marching band spotted in Portree.

David's visit

Last week we had another visitor. David flew into Stornaway and joined us for a circuit of the Minch.

This is one of the habour seals in Stornoway. They are very tame as the fishing boats feed them, and come right up to the boats looking for titbits. 

We had a cracking sail across to Ullapool in a reasonable amount of wind but after that it was more motor sailing as the wind went light. We went south to Gairloch and Rona.

This is our anchorage in Rona, one of our favourite islands so far.

It has a population of one, Billy the island manager but has a few holiday cottages. We saw onl one other couple as we walked across the island to a cave that due to its vaulted roof was used as a church when the island had a population. It is now used for one service a year, on Good Friday though other services can be arranged.

David has a better camera than us so managed to get these pictures of eagles as we left Portree, Skye. For most of his week we had beautiful weather but on the Thursday it threatened to break so we decided on 

returning to Stornaway via Loch Torridon and then hiring a car to explore the Isle of Lewis.

 

Isle of Lewis

Waiting for David to arrive in Stornoway, we went to Highland games and show.

Tarbert to Stornoway

Some pictures of the approach to Tarbert and Tehari II on last nights mooring, a little close to the Ferry as it turned out.

Today we sailed Northwards up the Minch to Stornoway, one of the best sails of recent weeks, with the cruising chute up and the tide and wind behind us. Stornoway looks a more interesting town than the other places we've seen in this island chain. It's even got a few trees. 

We met up with a boat that we last saw in Rum. They were intending to go all round but unfortunately have developed engine problems so may have to turn back.

Tomorrow we intend to go sightseeing.

  

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.

  

Rum to Skye.

Rum is as different from the Muck and Eigg as they are from each other. After a long history of settlement by a variety of different peoples it was 'cleared' of its population in the early 18 hundreds by the landowner who wanted to use the land sheep.

The crofters were forcibly removed from their stone houses and shipped to Nova Scotia. The landscape is still dotted with the 'black houses' so called because of the effect of the peat fires.

The sheep herds proved commercially unsuccessful and only lasted a few years before the Island was up for sale.     

Rum was purchased by a wealthy Lancashire mill owner who used it as a country retreat. It was at the time fashionable to own a Scottish Estate, and his son then built the above Kinloch Castle as a hunting lodge. Deer herds and small game were introduced. The family only visited the Island for a few weeks each year but tales of their opulent life style and outrageous parties are still rife.
The Island was at that time inhabited by staff and their families to look after the castle. When the last owner died his wife sold the Island to Scottish Nature and for the next fifty it was a nature reserve. Only people with special permission and a scientific reason for going there were allowed to land.
So Rum is a beautifully unspoilt home to rare wildlife and plants that are still being studied to this day.    
The Castle was not cleared before being sold and is furnished exactly as it was when last used. It has a Marie Celeste feel to it as the personal belongings of the last owner lay about as if waiting for him to return.

We left Rum in good weather but a worsening forecast and sailed first to Malliag, a fishing port where we decided not to linger, had a quick look at the lovely Loch Nevis and then a sail with the tide (a stream of 7 knots) up to Skye.
We are safely moored in Kyleakin waiting for a series of 7/8s to go through and have hired a car to explore the Island, which currently looks a little cloudy. The picture below was taken at mid-day!