The full photo album here.
6th May: Rathlin – Islay (28 NM)
Today is the day, we’re sailing back to Scotland! Scotland… mythical destination, so attractive that we sailed a long way offcourse last summer with Saltimbanque, between Oslo and Brittany. We left a little frustrated by the cold and wet weather we encountered there. We promised to ourselves to come back, with a bigger, more comfortable boat, a better anchor and at a better season.
Big comfortable boat, tick. Good anchor, tick. There’s just to hope that we get lucky with the weather. For now, nothing to complain about: it’s calm, very calm… but sunny (although still a bit chilly, 10 degrees in the morning). We have a good engine and can rely on it for longer passages without wind, like to go from Rathlin to Islay.
It’s a diesel-powered cruise today, floating on a glassy sea, perfect to admire dolphins! A marked change from the 30 knots of wind and driving rain we met last year at the same place…. We see Port Ellen in the distance and spot the distilleries we visited: Laphroaig and Lagavullin… nice memories…
Watching dolphins through the glassy water…
Islay and its distilleries
This year we are keen on exploring the wilder Scotland, the hundreds of remote anchorages for which this coast is renowned. First on the list will be Ar Dilistry bay (hard not to read Ar Distillery though, isn’t it). The anchor drops in 2 meters of water on white sand, right in-between rocks. Here we are, in the Scotland of our fantasies… alright, nothing is perfect, an unexpected thermal breeze is blowing onshore for the whole afternoon… But close enough to perfect! Walking on the shore, we harvest the proteins for tonight’s dinner. Our usual sea-snails..? No! Yummy cockles! There are so many of them, coming up to the surface and just standing on the sand, ready to be picked up!
The Scotland we have been dreaming of
Islay and Jura in the background
Back onboard, enjoying our shells with a view on Islay and the Paps peaks across on Jura… welcome to Scotland!
7th May : Islay – Mull (54 NM)
It still feels like summer today, better make the most of it while it lasts! We leave our amazing anchorage, looking for elsewhere. After rounding the south-east of Islay, we hang a left and enter the Islay Sound between Islay and Jura. We see our first Stevenson lighthouse of the year! (ref our article from 2024)
The Islay Sound is very narrow, funneling the stream so much so that it reaches over 4.5 knots. Motoring at 6 knots on the surface, but 10.5 knots on the ground! We are quickly in open waters again on the other side where a nice northeasterly wind let us hoist the sails.
UtPåTur on the treadmill to the Islay Sound
The windvane steers for the first time and Laure enjoys just having to watch
Today we will try our windvane for the first time, not having had the opportunity since Pwllheli. We set a course, trim the sails, we set up the vane and remove the holding pin… and tah-dah! The boat is steered by the wind! We can finally sail efficiently close-hauled, now that the boat is keeping a constant angle to the wind and following its changes (and not following a set course like with the pilot). We still need to finetune a couple of settings, in particular to avoid disturbances from the second rudder when it is not in service… but when the windvane is on, everything is good!
A few tacks later we approach the southern shore of Mull, stern and rocky. The northerly comes in gusts in the lee of this tall island… what shall we find at the anchorage? It’s Laure’s birthday, which we hope to celebrate in a suitable setting… we find a little round bay close to Ardalanish and come closer through the gusts. “Little” is a generous term, “minuscule” is more appropriate… the wind is pushing us inside the bay (although we know it will veer). “Laure, be ready to drop the anchor immediately when we get in! No exploration round this time!” Laure is of course ready, yet a little surprised by this decisiveness… and hop, no sooner said than done, we drop anchor right in the middle of the pink granite bay, 50 meters from every side. Another incredible place, a totally new landscape again! Perfect birthday present!
UtPåTur on its own little private pool…
… where we enjoy a delicious birthday meal: haggis and grand cru from Bordeaux, on gorgeous placemats “made in l’Escale”.
8th May : Mull – Lunga (23 NM)
The wind died overnight and we can get to shore and fly the drone. The rocky maze of this part of Mull reminds us so much of our Norwegian skjærgårds! And this sun, still beaming upon us! We take the opportunity to collect some periwinkles for tonight’s apéro before coming back onboard..
Ardalanish, South coast of the isle of Mull
The basaltic rocks of Staffa
Flat calm day, motoring day! We pass by Iona, known for its abbey, then head towards the amazing Staffa, made of basalt columns. Awesome!
A little breeze appears, just enough for UtPåTur to progress on the flat sea. Surprised but happy, we sail towards Lunga.
Lunga belongs to the Treshnish islands, which are yet again completely different from Islay and Mull. They look like tables, or piles of dishes, completely flat on top. Black rocks covered by green grass, they are known to harbour seabirds’ colonies. And we do like seabirds!
New island, new landscape…
We lose no time getting in the tender and then onshore. Far from being alone: many tourists come for a day out from Iona and there is even a very small (almost cute) passenger ship anchored. But the dozens of puffins we saw on the water already are worth putting up with such a crowd (of thirty people at least!). 50 meters from the beach, we spot three puffins on the ground close to us! So close! We can’t stop taking pictures, when a tourist coming down from the top hails us: “You have just come from the shore! You’re in for a surprise when you go further up!”… what kind of surprise…? ..wahoo, when we reach the ledge twenty meters further, hundreds of puffins are there, strolling in the grass and going about their business without minding us… we are struck dumb by so much beauty
It’s a trendy walk for the puffins…
Photo taken without special zoom, just with a simple phone!
It’s not our first seabird colony. Shetland, Westray, Rathlin… never had we experienced being so close to the birds… we are simply there, amongst them, so close that we could reach out and touch them. They are hobbling around, reluctantly stepping out of the path to let us by. We are on their land, and they accept us there. Deeply moving… it’s getting late in the afternoon and most day-trippers have left the island already. We are happy to find ourselves back to a system based on trust where people are respectful: there is no fence nor cameras nor guards, yet nobody steps out of the path, everything is going well. The path leads to a more traditional “bird city”, a couple of rocky towers rising from the sea and inhabited by thousands of guillemots and razorbills – and a couple of confused shags. We walk back slowly like in a dream, simply existing amongst the puffins and looking out to our boat…
We are simply speechless…
The sun sets on another unforgettable day…
We had planned to sail to another more sheltered anchorage but it is getting late, we are a little tired and the wind is really not that strong. So, we play it lazy and stay here for the night, in seabird territory. It is a quiet evening, surrounded by shrieking guillemots and cute puffins, listening to the seals roaring in the distance…
Our dreams that night are full of puffins…
9th – 10th May: Lunga – Rum (34 NM)
Today is another sunny day, incredible but true! And with a southerly wind, it will be a nice downwind sail northwards, first goose-winged then trying out the spinnaker. That part is disappointing: we don’t manage to keep it up and filled. Not enough wind, too much swell? Anyways, the engine will take us the last miles over to the isle of Rum.
Approaching the isle of Rum
Rum is one of the Small Isles, together with Eigg and Canna – a proper cocktail :o) each of them is quite distinct and characteristic. Rum is tall and ragged, with sharp peaks over 700 to 800 m – perfect for hiking. The wind is forecast to increase and we take a mooring buoy to be on the safe side.
Camille finds some time to have a look at our friend the outboard engine, aka the Castafiore, and tries and reasons with her. She finds that the carburettor needle is stuck and out of its bracket, this doesn’t help… once the piece is back together, the engine starts immediately and runs like a charm! Good news because there are strong gusts now and it’s easier going to shore with an engine!
Rum, main street
We take a few steps on the island, looking for a shower. Despite its relatively large size, the island doesn’t have more than 40 inhabitants. It is a favourite with hikers though, who stay at the camping or the hostel or cabins. There is a little shop / community canteen / bar, a nice “backpackers” vibe. The whole of the island seems to be one giant hiking camp! There are showers indeed, as basic as they come, in a wooden shed along the path – but the water is warm! No wind this evening, swarms of aggressive little black flies appear. The infamous midges. This pest can be such a nuisance that there is a dedicated website to forecast their prevalence over Scotland (https://www.smidgeup.com/midge-forecast/). Lucky for us, it is still very early in the season and a low level threat just yet. We just close the ventilation
On the next day it is our turn to go for a hike. We would like to climb up Askival, the tallest top of the island, but an old ankle injury and extremely strong gusts on the ridges have us stop at the first top, Hallival. It is still a nice hike with stunning views (including out to the boat which looks tiny down there in the bay). Less nice over the islands around, as visibility is rather poor (as it always is when we hike…)
From the Rum mountains, view over the anchorage and the isle of Skye on the horizon.
On top of the mountains there is great 4G coverage and we check the weather forecast. For days, weeks, months, years even, we have dreamt of beaching the boat on the next door island of Eigg, that we know to be particularly suited for this kind of operations. This is the first time we beach a boat of this type (flat-bottomed centreboarder) and we are looking for the perfect conditions: good weather and low tide during the day. Tomorrow seems to have it all … provided we get up at 4am :o)
11th-12th May : Rum – Eigg (12 NM)
Waking up early often guarantees extraordinary lights…
Sailing from anchorage to anchorage may not look like long passages, but after a few days of this routine we are 57° North already. The nights are getting shorter at an incredible pace, all the more noticeable with this clear sky… when we leave at 4am, it’s almost daylight already! Light enough in any case to spot possible fishing pots on the way. The sun rising behind Skye is worth getting up so early…
We have an appointment to keep with the tide in Eigg harbour… sneaking in between the two marks at high tide, the centerboard already lifted, in just under 2 meters of water. We anchor on a beautifully flat and smooth sand bottom, and then we wait. We wait for the water to ebb away. And it does, slowly but surely. Only one meter water left now and we are still afloat! Very interesting to experience floating in so little water… for future reference: we can anchor in even shallower places even closer to shores!
Still floating, but not for long…
90cm water, UtPåTur touches ground. Another hour to wait before all the water is gone and we can step out of the bottom with dry shoes. Tah-dah! For the first time since the 12th February, we are not in danger of sinking!
And we are dry! Much easier to collect cockles…
Once on the beach, we take a good look at the hull: everything seems in order, the anodes are all there even if the propeller anode is already well worn out after 3 months only… Reassured, we can turn our attention to 2nd level priorities: pictures taking and food gathering! We pick up about fifty cockles for lunch, and another bowl full of periwinkles for dinner!
We have a couple of odd jobs to do while on the dry, including checking the screws and bolts of the windvane (easier to access from outside), and greasing our friend the black water valve (which had become very hard to open and close these last weeks).
Most of all, we are never tired of looking at our boat on the sand, motionless, stable, all round like an egg. Amazing how different she looks with the hull exposed. We have time for a short walk around the bay before the water comes back to fill it again. We climb back onboard to keep our feet dry… and get back outside quickly to change the anchor’s position at the last minute: the wind just veered and we were at risk of floating over the anchor and scraping the hull. Well, well, the water is still on the cold side! Between 10 and 11 degrees, same temperature since we left Brittany.
The water is inexorably rising…
The view from the top was great at least!
Once afloat, we move to the anchorage just north of the bay, to have a quieter day of rest and play. At least, that was the intention: Camille resting onboard and Laure resting by running up the island’s top (the iconic Sgurr). But when Laure is driving ashore with the tender, the Castafiore decides to act out again, choking and refusing to start. Complete refusal!!! Why, oh why??? Camille’s program is therefore changed into another mechanic session. This time the needle is in place and nothing looks amiss in the carburettor… we decide to exchange the whole part, get a new carburettor delivered at our next port of call, as the last chance to salvage this really stubborn engine…
While Rum was a backpackers’ island, it seems that Eigg is rather a hippie colony! Eigg’s land ownership history is complex and typical of the evolution across the Scottish islands. They were originally owned by clans (either the MacLeods or the MacDonalds), then after their defeat by the English in the 18th century by rich land individuals, land owners and industry leaders. These owners’ goal was to increase the rentability of these poor, barely arable lands and they often drove out the small scale farmers to replace them with large scale sheep grazing (during the “Clearances” of the 19th century). In the 20th century many of these owners bankrupted or lost interest in the face of growing pressure by local communities, and Eigg made history as the first island to be bought back by its inhabitants in 1997. Community spirit is still strong, with many local initiatives proudly displayed, such as local energy management (the island is self sufficient thanks to a micro-grid powered by a mix of solar, wind and hydro… it even has its own EV charging station!) and a small shop full of local produces.
13th May : Eigg – Gesto Bay, isle of Skye (38NM)
Here we go again, another sailing day under the bright sun, a mix of sailing and motoring in flimsy winds in the leeward side of the tall isle of Skye. The local fauna is incredibly abundant and diverse: all kinds of birds, dolphins, seals, and even a kind of small whale which we don’t manage to identify. Our destination for the day is a large loch on the south west of Skye, Loch Harport, where the Tallisker distillery is located. But alas, we are bound for Norway, where the duty free quota is very limited (and duties very high!): better stay clear of any temptation and choose an isolated anchorage instead.
Countryside feeling tonight
This year in Scotland, summer was on the 13th of May!
The setting is idyllic… this bay is covered with trees, which is a rare and precious feature preventing catabatic gusts. In the absence of wind we soak up the sun, enjoying a truly warm afternoon. For the first time this year we lounge on cushions in the cockpit, with t-shirts and sunglasses, what a feeling!
A few more days of this would be welcome, but the stores are running low and the laundry basket high, we will need to get back to civilisation after avoiding it as much as possible since Holyhead. We plan a course to the Outer Hebrides and the city of Stornoway (no less than 8000 inhabitants!)
14th-16th May: Gesto Bay – Stornoway (95NM)
The wind is still northeasterly, we are still sailing close to the wind steered by our windvane: our first leg takes us to Loch Finsbay on a direct tack, then we need to tack and tack on our second leg, to Loch Mariveg. We keep switching between genoa and staysail, always under the sun…
Sailing by the Shiant islands, offshore Lewis
The Outer Hebrides are a big archipelago, from which we will see only the main island: Harris and Lewis. Yes, it is only one island, whose southern part is called Harris and northern part Lewis, hence the various versions of the name “Harris and Lewis”, “Lewis with Harris”,… many combinations seem to work! We are not yet in Norway, but the coast looks a lot like our dear skjærgård and the landscapes remind us of the island of Sotra outside of Bergen.
Loch Finsbay, with a friendly seal
Our first anchorage in Loch Finsbay is rather open, surrounded by hills sprinkled with iconic Scottish ruins (like everywhere else in the Highlands where remains of abandoned farms abound), and populated by seals! No beach to make an easy landing on the rocky shore though, exploration is limited to a short dinghy ride.
Our second anchorage, Loch Mariveg, reminds us of our kayaking trips on the West Coast. The entrance is so narrow that it is difficult to spot from the sea. A shallow winding passage leads to a small bay between big rocks… pfew, that wasn’t easy. No chance to disembark here either, this time the drone will explore for us :o) The afternoon is still warm and sunny in the dying breeze, let’s enjoy the holidays feeling, this will not last forever…
Loch Mariveg
Still enjoying summer-like conditions
16th-19th May : stop in Stornoway
Stornoway, the capital city of the Outer Hebrides, is a small town organized along three streets: exactly the right level of civilization for us :o) UtPåTur is moored to a stable pontoon, with unlimited power and fresh water, what a luxury! We don’t really suffer from it in our daily life, but we do have to carefully manage our limited resources onboard (food, water and electricity)… any resemblance to our planet is pure coincidence… or not!
Stornoway
As always, our time onshore is split between chores, repairs and visits.
First stop the harbour office, where the friendly team kindly kept the parcels delivered for us over the last few days. In particular a new carburettor for the outboard engine – which thus equipped restarts without any complaint… (but for how long?). We find a small leak on top of the freshwater tank and add a generous amount of Sikaflex to stop it. We take apart the toilet pump and break the limescale which was blocking the pipes. Finally our essential Musclor gets a little pampering: all fluids are checked, all surfaces cleaned.
The magnificent Lewis chessmen, finely carved in walrus tusks
For a break we walk around the town. The whole south bank of the river is taken by the castle and its grounds. This large castle was built in the 19th century by the then ownerof the island. It has now been converted into a fancy hotel, and part of it houses the museum. There we can see some pieces of the fascinating “Lewis chess set” which was carved in walrus ivory in Norway over 800 years ago and discovered in a cave on the island. 75 others pieces are in the British Museum in London, but Stornoway was allowed to keep these 6.
The next day we head out of town. Harry and Lewis is the third biggest island in the United Kingdom, right after… Great Britain and Ireland! Not a size to be explored by foot. We start with a bus, our foldable bikes under our arms, then continue on the saddle.
First stop: Callanish standing stones, 5000 years old (just about older than the Egyptians pyramids). The rings are well preserved and very impressive. The stones are flat plates of gneiss, tall and sharp, quite different from the round menhirs in Brittany.
The stones are organized around a central monolith
Back to broch territory!
Ten kilometres further we stop at the broch called Dun Carloway. Brochs are round towers, used both as dwelling and for defense, dating back to the Stone Age around 200 BC. They are found in the northernmost part of Scotland and up to the Shetland. This broch is still standing tall, with the double wall structure still visible and a stair in-between which we can climb!
Back on our bikes, riding against an increasingly strong and cold wind… it is nice to stop at the blackhouse village in Gearrannan. These thatched-roofed stone houses built in the late 1800s have been restored to show life on the crofts, these small land plots barely supporting a family through a mix of fishing and sheep grazing (hence the famous Harris tweed). Cutting peat was essential on this bare island and is still an active industry on Lewis. The whole landscape is marked by these cuts across the land, scars running across the low brownish grass.
Looks like paradise today, but would need to be seen under a winter storm…
Back onboard after this long day out we are getting ready to set sails again. The weather is still sunny but this blessed high pressure, to which we owe this magical time in Scotland, is forecast to leave us at the end of the week. Tomorrow, we head northwards again…
What an incredible leg in Scotland, we have our revenge over last year!
What a spectacular ‘leg’! Thrilled to see you making the absolute most of your beautiful centreboarder and being brave enough to take her into such exquisite locations. And I’m so glad Scotland rewarded your persistence and showed herself off at her stunning best. Thank you for your dedication and technical expertise in compiling these blogs: I almost feel I’m there with you 🫶🏼