12th-15th August, Loch Aline to Mallaig

Tobermory for victualling and on to Loch Sunart

We woke up with plans to drop into Tobermory for victuals then stay the night in Loch Sunart (or the Loch Teacuis part of the loch – look it up on Google if you wonder what I’m talking about!) and go around the Ardnamurchan Peninsular up past Rhum & Eigg on the way to Skye.  Tobermory reminded me of Port Merrion and the TV series “the prisoner”.  Sally had blackmail photographs of her sent to her Dad and I had one of me sent to Jane. With the boat full of food and booze we then went on to Loch Sunart.

We crept through the rock strewn channels to find the pool that Geoff was seeking and dropped our anchor.  The lowering evening light threw up the colours of the hills, bracken and the unlikely high ochre  colour of bladderwrack seaweed around the waterline on the rocks. Arctic Terns cried to each other’s echoes coming off the hills and three times we caught sight of a sea otter.  Geoff produced a bottle of Laphroaig and a splendid lamb roast and we ate the mackerel as an hors d’oeuvre - pickled sushi!  I completed the passage plan for Loch Corbaig and we went to bed set to start at 0515.

 

Next morning as we left Loch Sunart we had a spell looking across at Sky again and discovered the dreish was one flavour of rain, but there is also smurry rain (which floats through Gortex and wets you out from the inside).  As the smurry weather drifted across our fine view of this wall of hillside – from sea to sky, left to right - we were uplifted by a little ray of sunshine which opened up like a spotlight.  It was like a finger of light feeling its way, keeping pace with the clouds flying east, following the folds of hills, perhaps making the waterfalls glitter or the old trees stand out briefly, but most impressive of all was the slow speed it travelled over the landscape, showing the enormity of it all. 

Langustine for lunch, all at sea

We turned right for Ardnamurchan – the western most point of Britain – and headed north for Skye.  On the way Geoff spotted a fishing boat and called out for some langustine.  After a brief bit of barter we had the boat hoved to in the sunshine floating between Rhum and Eigg (look them up on Google earth!) and with a glass of white wine we had the most delicious lunch – langustine with garlic butter.

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