Sunday 19th July. Left the anchorage at Kallin an hour before HW to make my way back out through the narrow channel. As I came into the main buoyed channel there was an enormous ocean going maintenance vessel which had lifted out one of the nav marks, he was maintaining exact position with multiple bow and stern thrusters, a tricky job with the fast flowing currents and wind to contend with. Sailed a further 20nm south to the sizeable (for this part of the world) harbour of Loch Boisdale. Wind offshore F4 broad reach and the sun came out to play so had a great passage. Anchored in the bay in the NW corner, opposite the small marina and clear of the Calmac pier. The village has an air of decline, but there is a small bakery cum cafe and a hotel. There is a working public shower of sorts, and a bus runs regularly up to the Co Op a couple of miles away. There is a pontoon behind the pier which saves walking the extra mile from the marina.
Monday, in a light and variable wind I sailed a few miles further south to Eriskay. Acarsaid Mhor is famous in cruising circles as one of the best hurricane holes on this coast as its narrow entrance is deep enough at all states of tide and gives all round protection. It took two attempts to anchor though in what is a small area of useable space between moorings, two other anchored boats, and underwater obstructions. There is a fishermans pontoon making access ashore easy and its a 2 mile walk to the Politician pub. The name derives from the ship SS Politician which foundered off Eriskay in 1941 laden with over 250,000 bottles of whisky which were recovered by the islanders and rapidly stashed before customs and excise caught up with them . The story is immortalised in the film Whisky Galore.
Tuesday, with a F4 NW it was a fast crossing of the Minch, 25nm east to the island of Canna in the Small Isles. There are 10 visitor moorings here now, in the past boats often spent much time trying to get their anchor to hold in the kelp. Dinghy landing at the slip by the Calmac quay and nearby new shower block. The island is owned by the National Trust with lots to see historically and wildlife. It has a Community Shop and bar/cafe so all in all its the ideal stopover enroute to or from Outer Hebrides.
Wednesday, the weather has closed in again such that visibility is less than half a mile. Nevertheless I set off into the gloom to round the north side of Rum and then SW to Arisaig on the mainland. With a F3 NW and flat water SO creamed along at a surprising 5kts so that we arrived at the entrance in good time. Its recommended to traverse the shallow channel in the top half of the tide, as there are minimum depths less than 1m. Will spend the next 2 days here awaiting arrival of Chris and Brian, and then we will have a go at reaching St Kilda.
The Adventures of Sea Orchid 