Final days in the Outer Hebrides

With a somewhat epic round of trains and ferries complete, and having collected Hektor from Bristol, we arrived back to Lochboisdale to find Contour in good shape, plenty of wind (as always!) and the weather looking good to continue our Southerly exploration towards Eriskay, Barra, and Vatersay. The first short passage took us to Acairsaid Mhor on Eriskay; a very sheltered harbour which Hazel and I had visited in May. With fair weather, we walked the short distance to the village, stocked up on some essentials, and went to explore the white sandy beaches which we had previously seen only in the rain. After a momentary wave of enthusiasm on seeing the crystal clear water, Hektor could not be persuaded to join Hazel for a swim after his feet had made contact with the 12 degree water - a good lesson that appearances can be deceptive! Whilst the population of Eriskay is now increasing (especially since the causeway was constructed), in the recent past the opposite has been true. The island is dotted with abandoned and ruined houses, some of which are rather sombre when you think of their remote and isolated locations. Hektor was extremely keen to explore one near our anchorage, but his initial enthusiasm was quickly overcome by the spookiness of all as his active imagination started to run riot!

Wildflowers and sunshine on Eriskay

Abandoned house

White sand beaches

Eriskay ponies

Eriskay cemetery overlooking the sea

Hektor ready to repel borders!

From Eriskay we made a further short hop South to anchor for a tide in the pool between Gighay and Helisay; yet another narrow tidal entrance rewarded a tranquil anchorage with ample exploring to be done on the neighboring islands. Having overcome a somewhat tricky seaweed landing (even more fun when we returned to the dinghy at low tide!), we made for the summit of Gighay to enjoy an amazing view and test out the replacement drone a safe distance from the water! We departed on the next tide to head yet further South towards Vatersay.

The pool between Gighay and Hellisay from the summit of Gighay ('interesting' entrance visible on the left)

Dinghies, Tides, Seaweed!

Vatersay, and specifically it's beaches, lived up to their reputation as being some if the best in Scotland (if not the world!). The timing of our visit was perfect as the wind dropped and the sun came out properly for the first time in a good few days/weeks - June and July have not been kind to the residents of the outer islands this year! Hektor's approach to dams, walls, pools, castles and beach constructions in general is to decide on a broad (usually highly ambitious) plan, sketch out an impressive perimeter, dig a bit, then quickly delegate the heavy lifting to a nearby adult whilst providing lots of helpful encouragement and instruction... still we all enjoy digging on the beach! The water here was even beautiful enough to tempt everyone in for a swim, albeit very briefly in some cases.

Enjoying a very sunny day on Vatersay

Contour anchored off the beach at Vatersay

The forecast was unusually offering no prospect of wind for a few days, so we slightly altered our plans; initially the idea had been for our friend Dan and his son Henry to take a ferry to the Hebrides and we would then sail back in with them. Given the prospect of a long, tedious motor-sail we agreed to meet them in Tobermory on Mull. As we set off Hektor attempted to connect to the internet for the first time only to discover this was not possible "what, you mean there's no internet at all????!!! I could NEVER live here!".

Keeping the crew happy on the slightly slow passage to Mull

The passage to Mull was slow and tedious, although we had a little wind occasionally which gave respite from our somewhat noisy diesel engine. However, this was the most we've used the engine this trip as too much wind has been a far more common problem than too little so we can't complain. We were sailing overnight and Hektor was keen to stay up to keep Hazel company on her watch until midnight. The main reason for this being the last time he stayed up for a night watch we were bringing the boat from Southampton to Portishead and he got to see bioluminescent dolphins leaping around the boat somewhere near Lands End. This was possibly one of the most incredible sights any of us had ever seen, but we tried to manage expectations by explaining that glowing dolphins are probably a one in a lifetime occurrence and not to be expected on every night sail. However, Hektor does appear to have some dolphin whispering skills and, about 5 minutes after Hazel told him to summon some dolphins to keep us company, we heard the familiar squeaking and splashing which announced the arrival of a large pod of common dolphins jumping around the boat (sadly no bioluminescence though).

With the rendezvous successful, we made the most of the good food supplies available in Tobermorey, as well as (rather to our relief as it is a bit scarce) getting some more cooking gas. Hektor has unfortunately developed a strong affinity for the Tobermory chocolate shop - priced for the many visiting American tourists that frequent Mull!

Marcus had to go aloft to change (again!) our anemometer - somewhat of a saga. Hektor never misses an opportunity to get hoisted up the mast but he's remarkably useful these days (and very light!) so this is something we positively encourage. This time he was able to help with calibration of the anemometer, somewhat to the bemusement of neighbouring boats who may not have entirely approved of our approach to child labour and were certainly surprised that both the children on board had such a good head for heights! Henry was still settling in to life onboard but he's quite accustomed to climbing and also made it up far enough to inspect Tobermorey from the vantage point of the foremast crosstrees and pose for photos.

Getting a good view of Tobermory

Follow our progress here.