We have enjoyed our stay in Tobermory despite the not so great weather. It is a nice little harbour and very pretty, and the facilities are quite good. No photo in this update as the wifi is not very good and not able to upload photos. We had a couple of navy boats filling up with diesel, one of which stayed for a couple of days to protect us from any invading hordes.
M&N wanted to do a land-based wildlife tour and went to the tourist information office at the harbour to see what was available. There was one leaving in 20 minutes so they dashed back to get their gear and set off in a minibus with Arthur the guide/driver and 5 other passengers. The trip covered lots of stops around north west Mull. The weather was chilly and windy and it rained later in the afternoon, but still a good trip. It included home-made cakes with morning coffee and afternoon tea, and lunch too. They saw 4 of Mull’s “big 5”. A hen harrier, sea eagles (aka white-tailed eagles) including chicks in a nest, an otter and red deer. They didn’t see a golden eagle. Also lots of seals on the rocks in the lochs.
It was breezy and partly rainy the next day. M&N did jobs & shopping and booked for dinner at Café Fish for that evening. It is one of the top fish restaurants in the country but small and they only had a choice of 17:30 or 21:00, choosing the earlier sitting. There were some other Malos in the harbour and a Southerly called New Dawn arrived and moored next to me. They were also in the anchorage in Kilchoan when we were there. M&N were chatting with Alan & Ann from New Dawn when rain arrived, so Ann invited them to go for a drink on board after their visit to Café Fish (easier on their boat as they have a dog, Willow, who is not very mobile). A delicious dinner in a great atmosphere, with Café Fish living up to expectations. Several glasses of red wine on board New Dawn and a nice evening exchanging sailing and other stories.
Saturday brought the forecast heavy rain all day. It was a day of catching up on jobs, laundry and passage planning for the next few days plus getting soaked walking to the CoOp for provisions. The rain stopped in the evening so a chance for M&N to stretch their legs.
Today, Sunday, is forecast to be dry (when the current showers stop!) but windy. M&N plan on going for a walk and making sure we are ready for the next part of our travels. Weather permitting we hope to head north west to the small island of Canna then potentially to Coll then Iona.
The next few days are going to be in remote places with no internet, so I will be quiet for a while and will do an update next time we find some internet coverage. Bye for now.
Katrina
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