The Scottish weather changed plans a bit, with bad weather now forecast! Alan & Ann (and dog Willow) from New Dawn came on board for a drink at gin o’clock on Sunday evening. We set off early on Monday morning with the changed weather forecast meaning we headed for nearer Muck rather than Canna. The sky was overcast and the sea quite lumpy as we headed north west past Ardnamurchan Point out to Muck, one of the Small Isles. The pilot book says it has a population of approximately 38. The highlight of the voyage was a golden eagle flying slowly over the top of us. Very exciting. It was quite windy but calmed a bit when we dropped anchor in the little bay of Port Mor. It is a really nice place with seals on the nearby rocks, black guillemots playing and pretty views all around except for the small fish dock and bins.
M&N paddled Annie to the new plastic small boat dock and went for a lovely walk across the island to Gallanach Bay which is the other anchorage for Muck if the wind is from the east. The bay has a colony of seals and has Caribbean-like white sand beaches and turquoise water. Not a Caribbean-like temperature though with a chilly wind from the west. M&N stopped at the tiny shop/café on the way back. It was sheltered from the wind and they had delicious home-made honey ice cream made from local Muck honey. They paddled Annie back having surprisingly failed to find any brass (well, Yorkshire folk say where there’s muck there’s brass, ha ha). We had been joined in the bay by a couple of other yachts and we had shamed one of them into flying an anchor ball which we do but a lot of boats up here don’t. We would rather have one flying to show we are at anchor, with fishing boats, work boats and ferries using the bay.
Next morning was clear and stunning with blue sky and fantastic visibility. We had a “champagne sail” back to Ardnamuchan Point with great views of the Cuillin mountains of Skye and Rum. We could also see Canna in the distance as well as Eigg and Coll. The wind picked up as forecast and we headed back to Tobermory to shelter from the upcoming wind and rain. A lot of people had the same idea and it was very busy, but we were luckily able to find a slot on the pontoons.
Thursday was really windy, blowing near gale force from the south east. Nearly all the boats stayed, glad of the shelter of Tobermory. M&N hired a car and drove the very scenic 50 miles down Mull to Fionnphort where they took the CalMac ferry for the short trip across the water to Iona. They enjoyed walking around despite the very strong winds, and the scenery on the island and on Mull are spectacular. M&N visited Iona Abbey (of St Columba fame) and looked at the nearby small anchorages at Bull Hole and Tinker’s Hole on Mull, and the completely untenable anchorage off Iona in that wind. Despite the wind being from the south east, so no sea to cross, it had whipped up the narrow Sound of Iona into big whitecaps which were challenging for the Staffa tour boat and the Calmac ferry. The few local boats on moorings were bouncing around like toys. The drive back to Tobermory was very scenic, using a small road along a loch and through the mountains. The forecast rain arrived in the early evening and it rained solidly until the morning, so M&N stayed tucked up on board.
The weather changed on Thursday and a lot of boats headed out. M&N had decided to stay as it was the day of the Mull Highland Games taking place at Tobermory golf club. We heard the sound of bagpipes and M&N joined the throng walking with the pipe band from the harbour up the hill to the golf club. The day was fantastic for M&N who spent it sitting on a small hill enjoying the Scottish dancing, piping, light events (racing & jumping) and heavy events (throwing various objects and tossing the caber – see photo). The atmosphere there was very friendly and a nice community spirit, all helped by sunshine and light wind, not to mention the beer tent.
Friday has been a day of provisioning, cleaning me, sorting out Annie and doing laundry ready for leaving early on Saturday morning (weather permitting) for the next stage of our journey. This time we hope to spend a few days at anchor so I expect to be quiet for a while. Till next time, slainte mhath (good health and cheers).
Katrina
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