Mull-Canna then to Mallaig

One of the problems with Sailing is you are dependent on the weather. In general we tend to avoid going out in anything over 28Knots of wind unless we have to. When it is just 2 of you and you are battering into 30mph of wind for 8 hours it is fairly exhausting and becomes more of a chore. Over the last 2 weeks we have had low after low hitting the west coast bringing high winds, so we have been doing a bit of weather dodging . Its often not a bad thing as you spend more time exploring where you are rather than constantly moving on.

Big low coming ( i have some friends mid Atlantic at the moment in a smaller boat than ours!)

Mull for a Few Days

So with some strong winds forecast we set about exploring Mull. First the mandated walk to the lighthouse , we have done this before, but not at this time of year. The plant life is beautiful with all the bluebells and wild garlic

A walk in the Park

There is a country park just outside Tobermory called Aros Park, which in all the times we have been there, we have never walked around. So we spent a wet morning having a look – it is in the grounds of an old house which was demolished by the British Army for being unsafe (the stone was used to make the car park). It is a nice walk if you are ever in the area.

Attempt at an arty shot but too much shake

Looking back at Tobermory – Still Raining

In the afternoon we did some essential maintenance, replacing the remote control for the anchor

A trip to Iona

Again, another place we have sailed past on many occasions is Iona. There is no real safe anchorage there as there is a very strong tide running through the Sound . So we decided to hire a car ( yes you can in Tobermory, and we are talking one with an MOT and everything for under £60, unlike other remote places I have hired cars in Scotland) and go visit. I am sure most of you know the history of Iona . If not, the abbreviated summery is …. St Columbus moved in, lots of Viking raids, always been a place of pilgrimage, built large church , church ruined, bloke from Glasgow pitches up and rebuilds church, we pitch up for day trip.

Awaiting the Ferry. Does not look it in the picture but the waves were about 8 ft on the crossing so they had to take a long route to prevent too many people calling to god on the big white telephone!

This is where the Nuns lived for about 300 years from the 1200s.

Incredible to think that this was largely rebuilt with the determination of one guy

One of the things I love are the ferns growing inside the building. Not sure you can see them in this shot

Overall the Island is well worth a visit – a few nice craft shops and eating places . Definitely one of the thin places on this earth so you can understand how it has become a centre for pilgrimage.

A Bit of a Bike Ride to Calgary Bay

Another place on the list for a visit. Again not a fantastic anchorage so never been in . According to the signs we figured it was about 12.5 miles on the bikes ( the signs have different mileages so we took the average )

It was a fair old trek into the wind. Glad I had converted the Bromptons to a bit of electric support for the hills!

Loved the ice-cream shop – alas it was closed

But fear not – I managed to forage some Lemon Drizzle cake growing in the wild

A trip to Ardnamurchan

Again , somewhere we sailed round numerous times , but never visited (a good thing – that is why they put a lighthouse on it, definitely not a ” come in and have yer tea” light, more a “come in and I will bash you to death on these rocks” kind of light ). So for our last excursion we hopped on a ferry and then did a short (6 mile) ride to the light house . This is the most westerly point on the British mainland.

The Fog horn (not sure what the red thing is!)

Canna then to Mallaig

We had a weather window at the end of the week for a couple of days so we decided to sail out to Canna. I am very fond of Canna as it is a very picturesque and has very good moorings. Also has a great wee cafe that does really good food.

We are always hopeful for a play with some Dolphins when around Canna as there is a pod based round the island. Unusually, we had a couple of visits far closer to the mainland on this trip. The first had about 12 in the pod ( photos below ) and the second was a small family group with a very young calf). All Common Dolphins (which are actually not that common!)