Tobermory to Corpach

This is how the rear cockpit camera saw Tobermory at 6am, it reverts to black and white in low light conditions:

It was way better at focussing then we were. Funny how you always sleep badly when you know that the alarm is set, even if it is for a relatively benign 5:30 am. At least it wasn't raining when we headed off. That was to come. Our timing was dictated by the Corran narrows - more about them later.  

We headed down a grey and deserted Sound of Mull (bar the ferry from Loch Aline), gave the windscreen wipers a raison d'etre from time to time and then hung a left heading up Loch Linnhe. On the mainland side you get to see the sea terminal area that is part of the largest granite quarry in Europe. No roads to it, so all the many millions of tons of material leave by sea each year. Staff arrive the same way. For more info, see this weblink Glensanda super quarry .

Sure enough there was a cargo ship on the dock:

and a pilot boat was heading over to it. Something went very wrong though - the AIS position of the boat was shown as on the island of Lismore and doing 20 knots:

Quite impressive really. Normally AIS targets on land are aircraft of some type, this was a first. After a couple of minutes, the AIS position moved, correctly, to the north of Lismore Island and all was well. Perhaps an issue with their AIS or GPS kit? Maybe we should blame the Russians for interfering with the satellites? It was a first and a reminder that you cannot totally rely on all the electronic aids being spot on. 

The pilot boat was the second boat / ship that we saw. We ended up seeing 5 in total, including one that was anchored. We almost saw as many dolphins. Rather nice really.

Here is the track, and you can see the Corran narrows pretty clearly:

- the pinch point 2/3 of the way up Loch Linnhe where our route has a little kink in it. The tide runs strongly through there. It is around 180 metres wide and has to drain / fill the large expanse of water above it as the tides change. That induces a flow of 4 to 5 knots  at peak. We didn't want to be pushing into that so we'd headed off earlyish to arrive an hour or so after high water. Approaching the narrows, it was pretty threatening. Nice and grey, hints of rain but dramatic in a strange way:

A bit black and white, like the 6am image.

The narrows have the regulation lighthouse guarding them:

and of course the ferry had to head off just as we approached, it was 5 minutes late too:

Because of the layout of the old slipways, the ferry has this odd looking ramp at one end that sits at a whacky angle to the rest of the ship:

They are improving the ferry slipways with some serious work at the moment to make things better and give the ferry more shelter too. The local folks say that they should really be replacing the ferry which has a habit of breaking down regularly. Not run by Calmac this one, but by the Highland Council. The backup ferry is another elderly craft still in service - now 51 years old!

As we approached Fort William, we recognised that our liner curse had followed us - or to be more precise beaten us to it. Artenia was anchored off the town:

with tenders ferrying passengers ashore in the mixed weather.  Fort William is, in our opinion a sad place at the best of times but in drizzle / rain and heavily overcast skies it just looks drab and depressed. We hope the passengers all went off on the Harry Potter steam train or coach trips. 

The new marina place in Corpach (opened in 2023) was a nice surprise. Good facilities, great views from it and ultra friendly and helpful staff. We tied up, walked to the office and found Brian and Duncan on duty. A long chat with them ensued (Brian is a Nordhavn dreamer we discovered) including some time with another berth holder who was celebrating the sale of his boat. Then we tested out the on-site cafe place, a very good light lunch there, very good indeed. The only downside was when the Loch Linnhe trip boat returned and dropped off the rather elderly passengers. The cast of Ben Hur tried to get inside and order a drink. The place is pretty small, many of them were not. 

The views from our spot are good and you have the railway line running right past. We get to see the Harry Potter steam train to Mallaig and the less lovely Scotrail diesel railcar pottering by:

It is officially called the Jacobite train, but most folks know it from the Harry Potter films as the Hogwarts Express.  The locos sound good!

We also get to see the cargo ships heading to the timber wharf nearby - there is a big sawmill on site:

All in all, a good place to be so far.

Maintenance News:

Not a lot really. The wing engine had some exercise, both it and the main ran happily. To save buying lots of extra electrical power here (you get £5 worth a night), we ran the little Webasto boiler to make hot water for showers, the first time in ages. It fired up and did what it is supposed to. 

Lochboisdale to Tobermory

Sunday had a nice forecast for crossing the "Sea of the Hebrides" back to the mainland. There had been a couple of blowy days and this looked like a nice break. A bit overcast but nice enough. The sea in this area can kick up quite quickly, we'd enjoyed two very calm trips through the Minch (another well known rough bit!) and hoped for one more gentle excursion.  The downside? Well, another early departure. Of course. 

There were some short sharp waves, only a metre or so high on the beam and the stabilisers sorted them out. We quickly settled into "gentle cruise" mode enjoying the views of the other islands closer to the mainland as we headed over. Sadly, the camera flattens everything and in reality it was way nicer:

There was very little other traffic so the plotter and PC screen were pretty empty, just like the much needed tea mug:

You can see the route and how it passes other islands from our MarineTraffic track:

although their "no subscription" service which relies on AIS data relayed from ground stations, didn't pick up the start of the trip. The differing ranges that we can pick up other vessels' AIS transmissions is always a surprise. Sometimes the commercial guys, who you would assume have good kit, good aerials and wiring to them, appear when they are much closer than a little yacht who fitted the cheapo device he bought off eBay himself one weekend. 

If we have an internet link we get AIS data fed onto our Time Zero PC software package "live" as well as closer targets we pick up on our own AIS equipment. That can be helpful for example when planning to avoid ferries in pinch points or narrow channels by adjusting speed early.

Approaching Ardnamurchan Point the conditions changed, with a swell from more or less astern, a couple of meters high. Nothing to disturb the trip, just to keep the stabilisers amused. It got a bit murky too so the Ardnamurchan lighthouse picture is suitably gloomy (and a long way off too):

Ardnamurchan is one of those "significant passage places" - used to be viewed as a special spot and you were supposed to put a sprig of heather on the pulpit of the boat as you rounded it. Nowadays folks might recognise it most as a name from the BBC shipping forecast. Times change indeed. Things improved as we headed into the Sound of Mull, following and then overtaking (yes, overtaking!)  a rather yellow French yacht:

Nice rock formations, less appealing yacht. This time we got a better image of the lighthouse just before the entrance to Tobermory harbour:

which opens up to reveal the colourful waterfront to tired crew:

We raided our favourite "stocks everything you might need" hardware store the following day, to discover they had been rewarded:

Yes, of course they had the odd little battery that we needed for the thruster remote controller. In the village one of the "tourist tat" shops (of which there are plenty) had a very inventive window display for the Tunnocks world cup. If you've never had one of their wafer biscuits, then you must live outside the UK or hate chocolate. they are as Scottish as Irn Bru (which is pretty disgusting stuff really). To be honest, we like the wafer biscuits a lot but the mallow teacakes are too sickly and a bit boring. No matter they were both in the final:

and the match statistics suggested a close game:

The display of the pitch, players and spectators was brilliant and must have taken ages, it was worth a video:

We were privileged to be berthed close to this lovely old craft, Kingfisher. A 1935 craft built by the famous Silver yard and in wonderful condition:

The owner came for a chat, told us that she was not a Dunkirk little ship as she was patrolling the Bristol Channel armed with one Lewis gun at the time. A serious deterrent indeed! For more information see National Historic Ships entry  We dread to think how much the annual maintenance bill is for her. Makes buying a temporary microwave oven replacement seem insignificant.

After a showery day, the evening was glorious, just as it had been for the past 4 or 5 days. Not a bad way to end our stay in Tobermory:

Island time (all 5 of them)

Lochboisdale is served by one of the (sadly many) antique Calmac ferries that should have been pensioned off already.  Lord of the Isles was built in 1989 so she is a proper geriatric, with bow thruster issues that prevent her from berthing in Mallaig in high winds. Perfect for a lifeline service to South Uist at any time of the year.  Calmac kindly describe her as the vessel in her fleet that has covered the most sea miles. The locals are less kindly. We get a ringside seat of her passing our spot and a little wash from her as she trundles off to the mainland:

Her timing varies a lot across the week so we don't get a regular early wake up call, luckily.

We thought that it would be good to see more of the island than our bikes permitted in the "variable" weather that was promised. So, we walked up to Laing motors, the local garage that has some hire cars. Phoning and leaving messages hadn't worked - an on-site presence was called for. Yes, they had a little Hyundai I10, automatic that was available. How long did we want it - well, just bring it back when you've finished. No wonder booking in advance is tricky! Fill in a photocopied A4 form with your licence information and address, get the keys and go. No need to show a driving licence or ID proof, put up with the extra insurance selling attempts etc. So much simpler. 

Where to go? Well, there is plenty of choice.  Using the causeways you can visit Eriskay, South and North Uist, Benbecula and Berneray.:

just over 60 miles top to bottom of the chain. That tested the little Hyundai. The hills on the road are not too bad which helps. The Hyundai is a good city car but the automated manual gearbox which they call an "automatic" is painfully slow to change gear (you feel the car slow down), dimwitted in gear selection and jerky too. It reminded the captain of the early SMG gearboxes on BMW M3's. To get a quick shift in one of those by adjusting the settings you felt that you were going to rip the differential apart with the power on jerks. The M3 had rather more BHP than the Hyundai which felt way less likely to rip itself apart. If you fancy an I10, please don't get the pretend automatic version.....

We toddled off to Benbecula and one of the west coast beaches. Little fishing boats on their moorings were bobbing gently: 

alongside a nice beach area but the whole place was exposed to the Atlantic and must be horrific in storms. It was hard enough for the crewmember that has hair  to see anything in the wind when it was behind her. In front was OK though:

We made another excursion to the far north - Berneray.  Despite the dramatic clouds:

we much enjoyed the pretty, remote, almost empty island. There is one cafe / bistro place that we had to frequent for lunch (excellent smoked haddock risotto) and then we went to look at the tiny harbour area. This pretty little yacht was snugly anchored off the entrance:

in amongst the multitude of seals basking on the rocks. Not a bad spot really. Driving back you get to enjoy views like these:

around almost every bend in the road. By the way, the locals don't follow the "drive at a speed where you can stop in the distance you can see ahead" approach.

We also discovered the North Uist distillery. By chance (really!) and it is in Benbecula not North Uist now. They, like most start-ups, produce and sell gin to keep the cashflow working whilst their whisky matures. We bought three miniatures from the lovely lady running the shop, they name their gins "Downpour" which is pretty accurate for the prevailing local weather.  Look at  website link for more details on a rather special place run by rather special people. We decided to test their grapefruit offering, the coast and croft and the straight Downpour gin. All were excellent but we opted to return and get the latter two which were distinctive and most enjoyable. They sit in a locker winking at us now. Seductively. 

On a particularly blustery day, we had to do the tourist thing and re-visit the Politician pub on Eriskay. For folks who haven't seen the original or remake film of the Whisky galore story, or read the book, you can read a summary in this weblink. The food was still good and the original bottles etc from the SS Politician were still on display on the bar:

To try and walk off some of our lunch, we hit the nearby beach and made a little video for you:

whilst avoiding the scary looking jellyfish scattered around:

Heading back to South Uist you get to drive across the impressive causeway linking the two islands and the crew gets to practice her video camera skills with the mobile phone:

In the Kildonan museum we learned some fascinating history about life on the islands, the challenges of crofting, having no right of tenancy and the many folks that emigrated to Canada. Very good little museum. We were amused by the comment on how the water mill didn't stop working that often:

It kind of fitted with the Downpour name for the gin. The folks running the museum reported a 50% drop in the cafe takings over last year, quoting the unreliability of the ferry service as one reason that visitors were not coming in the same numbers. Sure enough during our time on the island chain, the ferry north to Harris went sick a couple of times. The local residents were unamused that a truck delivering food was not given priority over motorhomes when it came to rebooking! Calmac gets more and more stick from residents, no matter which island they are on it seems. 

Lochmaddy was a last visit, it hosts the Ferry terminal in the north and a small settlement. They have a new pontoon area with some space at the end for visitors - as you can see, visitors were thin on the ground:

Lochboisdale was pretty quiet too, not that many visiting yachts, one motorboat. A local seal was very noisy though. Seemed to be a small one but boy, did he / she have a bark. If you've not heard a seal in fine voice, look a this You Tube video with the volume cranked up a bit.

After 4 happy hire car days, we returned the ball of fire Hyundai (naturally no check of the car for damage or fuel level) and raided the community cafe for one last time to see what cake was on offer. Then we walked back to the lonely looking boat:

That evening was fresh mackerel. Donald the harbourmaster had taken a party out fishing and brought several fish back. The crew played the "I am not good at filleting them" card which worked too. Free dinner, all prepared. Not a bad place to be.

Maintenance news:

There had been an unforecasted day of heavy duty winds. We'd not removed the bimini cover as the forecast suggested it wasn't needed. They were so wrong. Luckily the cover itself survived but a machine screw holding one of the spreader bars came unscrewed. So, it was replaced with a bolt, washer and nut and a dab of Loctite thread locker too, just in case. We also launched the RIB and gave the waterline a scrub - some grassy stuff from the sunny days. The hull was also treated to a wash off, the captain's arm too as doing it from the RIB does get you a bit wet. 

Stornoway to Lochboisdale

Leaving Lewis is hard, such a special place. However, all good things and all that.....  Where to go? Tarbert (Harris) was tempting but there are only a couple of places we could hide out there if we wanted a berth rather than anchoring and as we were forecast to get some wet and very windy weather, walking ashore not using the dinghy was tempting. Eventually we opted to head further South, back to Lochboisdale for many reasons. The optimum timing would have been around 1am on Sunday for our departure. We opted for the less optimal 4am in the interests of sleep and at the cost of a few litres of diesel.

It was darkish, drizzling and misty as we headed off. There is a tradition in the islands of not going to sea on Sunday.  Local fishing boats and commercial crews stay in port on Sundays to respect the community tradition and day-of-rest practices. We didn't feel bad about heading out as a leisure craft but were amazed to be followed by a fishing vessel:

"Our Pride" clearly wasn't observing the tradition - maybe because it was registered in Castlebay, part of Barra. The more southerly islands always seem way less god-fearing (or simply more commercial?) 

Our FLIR (infra-red camera) was pretty much useless as the relative humidity in the air was nearly 100%. So, we needed to keep a sharp lookout with it and the old technology eyeballs for pot markers as we left the harbour. As daylight came, it was still grey and there were heavy misty patches so the radar was needed for several hours. We were gently pushing the tide passing the lovely Shiants, a bunch of islands that are inhabited by massive numbers of birds. Sad to say that in the grey they didn't look too impressive through the pilothouse windows:

Way nicer on a sunny day. However, we had the bird population to enjoy on the water and flying around us, including plenty of puffin antics. There was the odd dolphin for amusement too.

On our trip up to Stornoway we had to divert for a guard vessel and we commented that we had no idea what it was guarding. So, we looked at the very useful Kingfisher bulletin website and discovered that some serious surveying was underway:

Sure enough, there was a survey vessel that had launched an unmanned craft smack bang on the track we wanted to follow. A little diversion followed, you can see the small kink in our track as we passed Skye:

It looks like a small kink but in reality means a diversion that adds half an hour to the trip. Not a huge issue in a run that was going to take 11 hours or so. The weather continued to improve as forecast so the radar was retired and we settled into cruising in gentle seas and calm winds. Just lovely. There were a few pot markers to avoid though, this one:

was in a depth of 148 metres. You are never safe it seems - at least they use good visible markers here unlike the old milk cartons we see on the south coast. 

The sun came out as we approached Lochboisdale which was nice. Less nice was that the one bigger berth in the harbour was taken up by a Swiss flagged yacht that wasn't really large enough to need it. So, we had to back onto a finger berth that is way too short for us, and then have fun trussing the boat to it ready for some blowy weather. The evening sun on the hill that we faced showed the rock and textures well:

and yes, the sea really is that colour.

Maintenance news:

Nothing really - the stern gland on the main engine shaft was starting to drip a little too often so that got tightened up. The wing engine had a good run as we approached the harbour too and behaved itself. 

Lewis and Harris

Hebcelt had finally finished and we no longer were serenaded / disturbed by the music from the marquees in the grounds of Lewes castle, clearly visible from the boat:

As things had quietened down, we picked up a nearly new rental car (so unlike the things we'd had before) and headed to Aird Uig and the Edge cafe. A truly wonderfully quirky place, run single-handedly by Fiona who prepares everything freshly as it is ordered. See Facebook link for more information on this most individual place. When we arrived two German ladies were there, one who had lived on Harris for 30 years. A great conversation, which the owner of the place joined after feeding us all. Great food too - the captain much enjoyed his fish chowder, the crew her beetroot quiche. Everything felt and was just like our last visit which was 4 years ago. Not a bad thing really.

Just up the road from the cafe is the old Aird Uig radar station site. It has a fascinating history as a communications / early warning site. Worth reading this Wikipedia link for the background. The old buildings are asbestos contaminated and have that stark functional look, apparently with 3 metre thick concrete walls as some form of protection from conventional attacks:

Somebody has used their artistic skills on the smaller structures rather effectively:

and here:

There are several concrete bases left that used to support the radar or communications equipment and they jar with the beautiful surrounding landscape:

You turn 90 degrees and see this:

180 degrees and you see this:

We made another excursion to the south, getting into Harris not Lewis. Always a strange distinction to us as there is no causeway or obvious physical split between Lewis and Harris bar the hills / mountains/ For info on the odd distinction, look at this Wikipedia link  One of the must do things is to visit Luskentyre beach:

You can see why:

A long stretch of sand, beautiful hilly backdrop and big enough to make you feel alone there no matter how many cars are in the tiny car park area. Someone had been very artistic indeed, using some of the many shells :

The turtles were way more appealing than the various jellyfish that were stranded at low tide:

That was a Moon jellyfish, not a nasty stingy version. There were a few other less pleasant ones around but we've spared you their less than lovely images. The walk was, to use an old Skegness holiday resort advertising line, bracing. A bit windy but not cold, just invigorating.

Afterwards we headed to Tarbert, East Loch Tarbert that is. The ferry terminal was sporting the new Calmac ferry that passed us during our trip up to Stornoway:

Yes, for the nay-sayers it does exist and moves from time to time as well. The Harris distillery had to be visited - not for alcohol, just a coffee and to enjoy the lovely interior of the newish building that has been very nicely done. Here is a borrowed picture of the exterior:

and the sofas that we used too:

Travelling through the middle of Lewis you really notice the proliferation of overhead power transmission lines that are part of the wind generation plans for the island. They don't exactly add to the scenic beauty. When the turbines appear it really will change the lovely island for ever. We get why the local folks raised many complaints about the environment, disturbance and how the relatively poor facilities (one small hospital, few schools etc) will handle the influx of workers who will be installing and commissioning the new generation and transmission equipment. We hope the local folks get some benefit from it afterwards.

Travelling to the far north, you get to see the Butt of Lewis lighthouse:

 

which was a target for the Luftwaffe during WWII - we are told that you can still see some bullet holes in the structure. We couldn't - maybe too high up. The area is supposed to have some of the oldest rocks in Europe and it is listed as the windiest place in the UK too. Quite a dramatic area:

as you can see - the person on the cliff edge gives you an idea of scale:

Apparently, taking a picture of the captain taking a picture was important. No idea why:

Tiumpan Head has another lighthouse to admire, painted this time:

The surrounding area isn't as dramatic as the Butt of Ness but OK all the same:

and on the way back to Stornoway, you pass the Iolaire monument:

After the passengers had survived the horrors of serving in WWI, it seems so unfair:

One of those interesting but all too brief connections happened in the rather good Beckett and sons cafe place. Two neighbouring ladies chatted about life on the island and how one of them had moved to Glasgow for work. We mentioned before about the Tesco store now being open on a Sunday and how that caused issues. This cafe opens too. Well, one lady was brought up in Stornoway and her father was the manager at the local Woolworths store when she was younger. She was in the store and her father told her to run up to the office and turn on a tape recorder that was under his desk. She asked why - he wanted to tape a conversation with a visitor.  She told him that was not legal without consent. Proper old school place:

He had asked some store staff to come in on a Sunday to do a stock check as requested by head office. The store would stay closed but all the same, he was told to expect a visitor. Sure enough, a visit by a suited and booted member of the Lord's day observance group was arranged (and taped) who told him that if he asked people to work on the sabbath, the minister would tell his parishioners to boycott the store. Apparently the manager was not too stressed as there was nowhere else in the island to buy most of the things they stocked! He wanted the tape to play to the head office folks to show how different things were on the island of Lewis.

As Hebcelt was over, the castle area returned to a normal and way better looking parkland area:

We had a final good walk around there and the town which had begun to feel like home after two happy weeks. The town is an odd mix of more modern, rendered in a drab grey finish and pretty boring buildings and then some glorious stuff like the local government place:

We were pleased that our final day in town was not one with a liner visit. Even the fisherman's statue looked happy about that:

The spell of windy weather was due to calm down over the weekend so, we felt it was time to move on. We had a day and a half window before it was going to pick up again so wanted to hide away somewhere for three days or so. Of course, having had northerly winds as we headed north, it was turning SWly as we headed south....

Maintenance news:

We did a teeny bit more polishing. Still massive amounts left  to do of course.