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.

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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.