Saturday 25 July, we finally set sail, destination the Fairy Isles, 21 miles south of Ardfern on the mainland. Though only about five miles as the crow flies, as the Fairy Isles are a wonderfully sheltered spot about 6 miles up Loch Sween. A collection of very small islands all set around ancient oak woodland, with no access from land, so it felt very remote. After anchoring we explored the shallow water around the islands, some amazing oak trees growing (seemingly) out of the rocks and an Osprey's nest, with one (maybe 2) young ospreys and the parents near by. Apparently they pair up for life at 2years and start building a nest, but dont actually rear young until they are 5 years old, always returning to the same nest, just adding more sticks and moss to it. Hence the nests can get very big. See pictures in the gallery.
Fairy Isles anchorage