27th July - Loch na Droma Buidhe - round Ardamurchan Point (The Hill Of The Great Sea) – which struck me as a big deal – to Arisaig: As we sailed up past the Point
I looked west and saw the Small Isles - well at least the Isles of Muck, Eigg and Rum. Muck - the smallest of them - called Eilean nam Muc in Gaelic, is low lying and quite arable and offers two safe anchorages:- Gallanach to the north 56° 50.5’ North 06° 15.5’ West To enter the bay line up the green Dutch barn adjacent to the white farm buildings with the dry stone wall leading up to the cliffs on the other side of the island. The holding is good with a sand bottom. There is also Port Mor to the south 56° 49.6’ North 06° 13.0’ West which is much easier to navigate with a clearly buoyed channel perches at the entrance and a Sectored Light. The holding in Port is also good with a sandy bottom. Here there is the Craft Shop and Tea Room for refreshments and evening meals are available at the Craft Shop (01687 462990/460057) or Port Mor House Hotel (01687 462365). Meals need to be booked well in advance. See below ...
The Isle of Eigg is nearly 6 miles long and 3 miles wide (second largest of The Small Isles) is quite a recognisable shape, thanks to An Sgurr - which is 1,289 feet in height. The main settlement is Cleadale on a fertile coastal plain in the north west. Eigg is known for its quartz beach, called the "singing sands" (Tràigh a' Bhìgeil) on account of the squeaking noise it makes if walked on when dry. After decades of problems with absentee landlords in the 20th century, Eigg was bought in 1997 by the Isle of Eigg Heritage Trust, a partnership between the residents of Eigg, the Highland Council, and the Scottish Wildlife Trust. The story of this community buy-out is told in Alastair McIntosh's book Soil and Soul: People Versus Corporate Power published in 2001. At the time, the population was around 60. In 2012, Eigg has 90 residents, many of them young people who have returned to the island or who have moved there to make it their home and set up in business. See Eigg below!
Rùm, the largest of The Small Isles, has a population of only about 20 or so people, all of whom live in the village of Kinloch on the east coast and work for Scottish Heritage or similar. Kinloch is at the head of Loch Scresort, the main anchorage. The Sound of Arisaig separates the Arisaig peninsula to the north from the Moidart peninsula to the south. There are a number of small islands in the sound, the largest of which is Eilean nan Gobhar and Samalaman Island. See Rùm photo of below ...
28th July – Arisaig to Loch Nevis: Past Loch Moidart – which Richard described as a hard entrance - we continued up past Loch Ailort and then past Mallaig, into Loch Nevis and moored at the visitor’s mooring at ‘The Old Forge’ at Inverie at Knoydart, which, with no roads in or out, either an 18 mile hike over Munros or a 7 mile sea crossing, this pub claims to be the remotest on mainland Britain. I couldn’t have mussels as a starter – Richard had Stalkers Salad and we both had Lobster for a main course – but thought it a bit tough.
John and Janet Trythall – Contessa 32 owners – came aboard and I found out she was a retired anesthetist and he was a retired physics and outdoor teacher at Gordonstoun. Their Contessa is called Jaywalker – CO 9910C and they are from Elgin.
29th July – Loch Nevis to Loch Hourn: A short cruise (about 18 nM) but to the wildest (and wettest) loch I had anchored in … thus far.
30th July – Loch Hourn to Plockton: Left the Loch but the excitement was to come – up through the Kyle Rhea, the strait splitting Skye from the mainland. A ferry service (now March to October only) has linked Kylerhea with Glenelg on the mainland for centuries. We shot up through with me at the helm and Richard telling me to concentrate as we did 7+ knots or so. We broke out into Loch Alsh in windy conditions and sailed up to see (from a distance) in Loch Duich the castle Eilean Donan. We then turned and had lunch tied up at Kyle of Lochalsh.
After lunch we past the sight - in the distance – of Raasay and Scalpay and near to, (once we had past under the Skye Bridge), Longay and Eilean Mor (and Eilean Meadhonach). We had Applecross on our port as we sailed up Loch Carron. We moored in Plockton (on John & Janet Trythall’s mooring). Had a shower at Heathers … very welcome though Richard wasn’t bothered! I waited for him – at the wrong pontoon apparently – I was pretty cold when he turned up!
31st July – Plockton to Doune Bay: Back under the Skye Bridge and down through Loch Alsh and through the Kylerhea at 2pm… we made a stop at Richard’s reckoning at Doune Bay (he thought Mallaig would be noisy).
This is when the electrics failed on us! I had a restless night too, having to get up when the mooring buoy wrapped around the mooring rope and clanged on the hull … twice! I finally sorted it at about 1:30 in the morning.
1st August – Doune Bay to Oronsay’s Loch na Droma Buidhe: Richard woke me at something before 6 am wanting us to get off and round Ardnamurchan Point having heard about the foul weather coming in. We got to Tobermory in pouring rain and bad wind only to be told that because of West Highland Week we couldn’t be accommodated … so we sailed/motored across a stormy sea to Loch na Droma Buidhe and anchored at the top of the bay in about 20 metres! Though she swung a lot, the boat always turned to face the anchoring point, even if it was just before it turned completely.
2nd August - Loch na Droma Buidhe to Tobermory: We had a very late start in spite of being up reasonably early as Richard thought it mad to go out in bad wind. I watched some windsurfing from a cutter anchored near us for a while whilst Richard read below. After lunch, at about 2.30 we set off. Once we were at the top of the Sound it seemed really rough and confused so we went into Tobermory and got a pontoon (much to Richard’s disgust probably!) - though the electrics came back once we had shore-power(?). We ate a fish & chip takeaway, after a coffee and replenishing our milk and bread at the Coop.
3rd August – Tobermory to Dunstaffnage: A windy, wet but brilliant sail down the Sound and across out of the Firth of Lorne - out across Ardmucknish Bay to Dunstaffnage. Got in at about 3:30 having set off at about 9:30 at Tobermory.
