Sitting Out a Gale

I am taking advantage of a peaceful day holed up in a snug harbor to write a new post. We are sitting out a gale. We have learned that the key to a successful cruise is to let the weather dictate the itinerary rather than the other way around. After a great time in Oban (more on that later), we were eager to start our next leg to Skye. However, during our twice daily check of wind and weather conditions, we learned that a gale with Force 8 winds, 39-46 mph, was coming. We fueled up and headed out, putting in a long day to reach a good, protected anchorage around dinner time.

 At this point the strong winds and rain haven’t hit yet. Our only concern is that after we got all settled, a 44 ft sailboat with three guys on board squeezed themselves in this tiny spot after four anchoring tries. Nico told them that he felt there wasn’t enough room with a gale coming but they insisted. There is also a sailing ethic that if someone is in a really cool, tight spot you don’t inflict yourself on them. We could move if we felt it was unsafe but with the direction of the winds, they are the ones who would get in trouble next to the rocks.

It was calm in Oban

But our wind app, Windy.com, showed something was headed our way.

So we headed out The Sound of Mull, around the headland and east to a protected loch.

The wind picked up and we had a nice sail but under cloudy skies. We had to zig zag around rocks to enter Loch Moidart. To do so we used three guides - our chart plotter, The Clyde Cruising Club Guide: Ardnamurchan to Cape Wrath, and Antares which is a website created by an amateur oceanographer (a self proclaimed unqualified enthusiast) who has done sonar scans of various harbours - and two sets of eyes.

And here we are! And here is the view…

Even better - the other boat just moved. Now we are as ready as we can be for the storm. This hopefully gives a 24 hour snapshot of life at sea for us.

Mull, Coll and Iona

 After our visit to Ben Nevis Nico and I headed to the island of Mull, the second largest island in the Inner Hebrides. It is very sparsely populated (about 2,800) considering its size and has dramatic mountains and cliffs. Lots of sheep! We enjoyed the lovely town of Tobermory with its colorful houses and lovely gardens. We were able to have our evening whiskey on deck for the first time - no rain and the temperature was about 60 degrees.

Letting the wind determine our direction, we sailed over to the windswept island of Coll. It had a dramatically different atmosphere. The island was low and had no trees to speak of. We picked up a visitor mooring in the narrow inlet and went ashore. Although pretty isolated, Coll had a nice vibe. There was a modern community center, the requisite distillery (vodka), a lovely hotel and a well stocked little store. We borrowed bikes from the post office (!) and headed out the one road to a gorgeous white beach. We saw some great birds - a Lapwing and a Gooseander.

On the way back to Mull we passed another cool island called Staffa. It is a puffin colony and home of Fingal’s Cave, an amazing grotto made up of hexagonal basaltic columns that echo the waves. We couldn’t get too close with our boat, nor could we anchor off  because of kelpy bottom but it was still impressive. My pictures do not do it justice. Mendelssohn visited in the 1800’s and was so moved that he wrote a piece called The Hebrides Overture (Fingal’s Cave).

We anchored near the little town of Fionnphort to wait for good conditions to go over to Iona. The strait can have a chop and strong currents and there isn’t good holding ground. Fionnphort was delightful! It had a cozy pub with the largest Irish Wolfhound I have ever seen and a 10km walk that passed by highland cattle, standing stones, wildflowers and lots and lots of sheep. We passed an area where they are still making peat blocks to burn.

It 

It finally became calm enough to bring Far and Away across the strait to Iona. We headed off early, before the ferry arrived so we had the place to ourselves for a little while. Iona is very popular because it has been a center of Christianity ever since St Columba arrived there in the year 563. The monastery flourished and Iona became a center of Celtic Christianity. The Book of Kells was written here! It was then taken to Ireland for safekeeping because the Vikings kept raiding this place. Ancient kings and warriors wanted to be buried here. Macbeth was. As a result there all these wonderful gravestones. Pilgrims traveled here and there are many Celtic crosses to mark their trek. Although Iona’s religious importance waned, a benefactor restored the abbey and now there is a religious community who are seeking ways to be Christian’s in today’s world. We joined their morning service which seemed like a mix of Episcopalian with the prayer book and Unitarian with the emphasis on peace, inclusivity and justice. We wanted to come because my friend, Alex Garfield, spent time here in the 1980’s and she said it was the best week of her life. I had to see it.