Adventures on Xiphias

The Scottish Islands

I stopped at several islands in the last couple of weeks, many beautiful anchorages and plenty of rain. I took a mooring at Port Ellen, Islay, pronounced I-La by the locals or I-Lay by the folk from the mainland. Islay has the distinction of having 7 whisky distilleries. Having already been on a tour of the Bushmills distillery in Ireland I went straight to the shop at Laphroaig. There are only so much stainless steel, copper and pipe work a man needs to see. I bought a bottle of Quarter Cask, a whisky that “has enjoyed a second maturation in small quarter barrels.” A great marketing gimmick to raise the price through product differentiation. I’m a sucker for the out of the ordinary, when I was at Bushmills I bought their 1608 brew which was made to honour their 400^th anniversary.

A couple of days wind and rain bound and I was keen to get going and wafted up the Sound of Jura under the colourful sail. That’s the asymmetric spinnaker, which acts like a giant crisp bag blowing downwind. I made for Craobh Marina, pronounced creeve. This was my first marina stop since leaving Tralee in Kerry! I had some washing to do! Oban next, I had some shopping to do! Then the islands.

The Small Isles

The harbour at Muck, mountains of Run in background

I visited Muck, smallest of the Small Isles which include Rum, Canna and Eigg. Each island is different in character and appeal. Muck and Canna are agricultural Eigg has a big mountain and Rum, the forbidden isle, has mountains to rival Skye. When I visited Rum the guides and pilots were encouraging to say that the island, the third largest National Nature reserve in the country is not as unwelcoming as it has been in the recent past. When it was privately owned access as restricted to guests and servants. When it was donated to the nation by the last private owner there was surprise that the public access was still curtailed. When I visited the reserve management seemed to resent the attentions of visiting yachts by insisting that landing parties observer the daily restriction notices with the additional note that restrictions changed daily and the notice must be observed daily. The draconian rules about accommodation and camping make Rum if not forbidden any more than unwelcoming, strange for a public asset.

Skye and the hole in the mountains

The day before the storm.

I was joined for a few days by Mike who wanted to visit Skye and Loch Scavaeg, the hole in the mountains. When we

The pilot warned of sudden mountain down draugh blasts, I layed two anchors & 60m of chain!

arrived there were no yachts in the inner loch so we had a free choice of the anchorage. Reading the pilot I was fearful of sudden down blasts from the surrounding mountains and laid two anchors. The precaution obviously worked, it was a still night. The next day there were ominous warnings in the weather forecast about severe storm force 11 in 48 hours time. We decided to head straight up the coast to Dunvegan, the ancient capital of the Lordship of Isles. There are handy moorings to which a yacht might ride out the storm protected in the inner Loch from any sea. The storm broke about midday Friday just when another yacht arrived. After attempting to pick up a mooring buoy for an hour they decided to take their chances at anchor. I was relieved because every attempt meant their close approach to me. The wind rose to a shocking 50kts. It was like being at sea as the boat was tossed about. The next day Mike prepared to leave but over a meal I discussed the immediate future, the end of the trip.

A Choice

Always stunning, this cruising ground is worth exploring.

With the end of the month approaching and autumn on its way I took the storm as a warning. I have decided not to complete the circumnavigation for three reasons.

• The weather is deteriorating and the days shortening.
• The single-handed sailing is lonely, demanding and not always enjoyable.
• To complete the passage would mean pursuing miles, skipping much of the country.

Pictures?

I had chance to amend this post by adding some pictures.