Author: Mate

Sunday 6 August

Once the rain eased, l’arrêt was brought into commission to putter the crew ashore to explore the delights of Portree. In spite of the hype Mate read in the tourist brochure, they didn’t find it especially inspiring, but a little too ‘tacky touristy’, with one notable exception:

MATE RATES
Skye Batiks on The Green – beautiful hand-woven fabrics made into practical, functional tops and accessories, as well as pretty batik prints for skirts, pants and more. Ethical, honest, genuine interesting people and great coffee!

Sometimes Mate’s motivation for wanting to visit a particular place verges on the completely barmy. We know ‘Rona’ as a training vessel based on the South Coast of England, that was crewed by a schoolfriend of Second Mate while the latter was enjoying trips aboard ‘John Laing’. Here it is an island between Skye and the mainland, with an anchorage renowned as one of the most beautiful on the West Coast of Scotland. Not surprisingly, it was very busy with moored boats, but the wet and windy weather discouraged my crew from venturing ashore to explore.

Saturday 5 August

The seals were basking in the sunshine as we raised the anchor to depart for Loch Alsh and the Skye Bridge. Yesterday we enjoyed a high level fly past by a couple of military jets; this morning they were obviously suspicious as they came straight at us up the loch, very low, very large and very noisy: balls of steel and phenomenally quick reactions in this land of high peaks and low cloud.

Today was a day of glassy calm sea and no wind, an opportunity for reflection and realisation for Mate, that she’s becoming accustomed to the weather, wind and sea state, worrying less about water and food stocks, and enjoying moving frequently to new places.

Skye was high on her list of destinations for this season, and has exceeded all expectations: the scenery is magnificent, and the people friendly. It only falls short of perfection through a lack of sighting of the elusive sea eagle, and less than spectacular weather. It’s already beginning to feel like Autumn’s in the air, and the nights are noticeably drawing in at this Northern latitude.

It was good to simply pick up a mooring buoy, without drama, in Portree Harbour, toss together a quick stir fry for supper, and retire early in anticipation of a good night’s sleep.

Friday 4 August

The laundry was up to date, the provisions stowed and the passage plan said it was time to leave – shame about the weather: another typically dreich day with thick mist quickly saturating the sad helm. After a warming lunch of Skye Beans (see Recipe page), the rain eased and the mist lifted, revealing the mouths of Lochs Nevis (Heaven) and Hourn (Hell), and the Sound of Sleat leading to the beautiful Kyle of Lochalsh. Accompanied by several small groups of harbour porpoise, seals and a deer were also spotted en route. We anchored in a beautiful little cove opposite probably the most photographed castle in Scotland: Eilean Donan, and were checked out by the local otter. The resident colony of around 14 seals seemed bored by our presence.

After sunset it was completely still, and Mate returned to the cockpit to try to photograph the castle, beautifully floodlit. She was enchanted by the sound of a lone bagpiper standing in a gateway of the castle, apparently serenading her alone, as the haunting strains drifted across the water. Definitely one of the season’s highlights.

Tuesday 1 – Thursday 3 August

Deciding against taking the dinghy ashore for possible laundry and provisions, my crew opted instead for a lovely reach across to Mallaig, cutting a swathe through a huge flock of sheerwaters taking a break on the sea. Unfortunately the glorious conditions didn’t last, as the squall they’d been monitoring on its approach from the South caught up with us just before we made the entrance of the harbour, and we all got thoroughly wet. We also had to wait for the ferry to exit the channel, but soon found a comfortable finger pontoon bows-to the wind.

We found Mallaig to be a pleasant town with friendly boat neighbours in the harbour, and all amenities the wandering yachtsman could wish for. There were even opportunities for a little light retail therapy, so Mate was happy too.

MATE RATES:

Fresh fish and seafood from Andy Race Fish Merchants in Station Road

Fabulous baked goods from Bakehouse alongside Marina facilities building:
gluten free chocolate cake to die for, and delicious chunky sausage rolls

Monday 31 July

A nod to another landmark today, familiar from listening to the coastal weather forecast: Ardnamurchan Point. We didn’t so much round the headland as view it a distance astern, as we reached Northwest through the Sound of Rhum past the Small Isles of Muck and Eigg. Headed by Kinloch Castle, Loch Scresort on Rhum was already busy and we had to forego our ideal position in the anchorage.

Four more yachts squeezed in after us, but none carried noisy crews. Our evening was punctuated instead by rain, jiggy motion and enough breeze to make the windgen whine.

Sunday 30 July

A dramatic improvement to the weather must be capitalized on in this part of the world, so out came sticks and rucksacks, and on went walking boots. Setting off on their hike, the crew passed local trip boats, loading with passengers eager to put their long-lensed cameras to capturing seals, puffins and Fingal’s Cave on nearby Staffa.  My people had the beautiful views up Loch Tuath towards the Treshnish Isles to themselves, enjoying along the way encounters with geese and grey wagtails, buzzards, harebells (Scottish bluebells) and ragged robin, the fragrance of wet bracken and meadowsweet, black goats and a majestic horned ram.

They followed the river a little way up and down its course, marveling at the mesmerizing power of the peaty water, forming pools that would make wonderful wild swimming on a hot day, between a chain of waterfalls that finally fall over the cliff to the sea below.

On their return, they immediately disappeared in the tender, over to the Boathouse for a late lunch of local seafood and Colonsay beer, and when they finally rolled home obviously felt a bit guilty at neglecting me, as all was washed and watered inside and out. Keen to avoid another night’s expense for very little at Ulva Ferry, we set off carefully through Ulva Sound, spotting two gorgeous Atlantic seal pups basking in the low evening sun. We found a comfortable anchorage off Ardalun House in Soriby Bay, under a spectacular sunset at the end of a beautiful day.

Saturday 29 July

A very wet day demanded the relief of cabin fever, and the crew of neighbouring Mälo yacht Whisper seemed glad to come aboard for a change of scene and a perusal of our scant offering of ‘new’ games. A delightful family enjoying (?) an extended Hebridean Adventure cruise, it was our pleasure to make new friends – an acquaintance that would prove to be more than transient…

Friday 28 July

The crew decided to brave/ignore the weather and motorsail with just the staysail the few miles to Ulva Ferry across Loch Scridain. It was murky (dreich) with good-sized Atlantic rollers coming in behind us on the wind, but Mate was able to admire two huge waterfalls dropping straight over the cliff edge to the sea at the foot of Ben More on Mull, while Skipper hooked three mackerel of varying sizes. I surfed off the last roller through the gap between Inch Kenneth and the rocky islets off Cragaig Bay on Ulva, and suddenly it was calmer and drier, and Mate handed over the helm to begin organizing lines and fenders for our arrival. They were soon enjoying fresh wine-poached mackerel for supper.

Wednesday 26 – Thursday 27 July

This proved to be as good a spot as the chart had promised for shelter while a series of strong winds blew through. The crew kept themselves amused with some of the jobs on the endless list, and some work on needlecraft projects.

During a brief lull they moved me a little closer to Bunessan, in order to land the tender at the fish quay for a pleasant stretch of the legs ashore. It was late in the afternoon, but neither the tiny Spar nor the Argyll Arms had much to recommend them.

Tuesday 25 July

Mate had read that the best time to visit Iona Abbey was early in the morning or late in the afternoon, outside trip boats’ visiting hours, and a good day’s (motor)sailing brought us into the turquoise calm waters of the Sound of Iona on a warm, sunny late afternoon. The anchor went down into water clear enough to see it lie snugly on the white sandy seabed, and the crew went ashore to stroll through the grounds of the ruined nunnery on the way to the iconic Abbey.                                

This is a very special place, and Mate was moved by the spiritual atmosphere of centuries of Christian worship and retreat centred on this unadorned, high- ceilinged building. Although the church was mostly empty of people, she could almost hear the monastic plainsong resonating from the thick stone walls.

After a brief pause to sample the local refreshment, we made our way up the Sound and around onto the North coast of the Ross of Mull, to anchor off Bunessan in Loch na Làthaich.