The area North of Ardnamurchan around the Small Isles is riddled with lochs, bays, and islands to explore. We had a few days planned with friends joining us, so sailed from Arisaig back to Loch Moidart, the tricky entrance to which is always repaid by sensational views in this intricate and varied sea-loch. Sun and warm breezes made our further explorations all the more pleasant, albeit the sailing rather slow; the profusion of hills, mountains to climb and open wilderness had whet our collective appetites to cover some miles ashore.
The yoga deck, Loch Moidart
The first expedition started at the improbably beautiful ruins of Castle Tioram before heading up into the hills above Moidart, a tremendously varied landscape bursting with history, and the remains of several old settlements. After saying a sad farewell to Ella, we were keen to further explore Rum, in particular the impressive-looking Cuillin Ridge, to make the most of the incredible weather we were having (not to be confused with the considerably more arduous Cuillin Ridge on Skye). We enjoyed a gentle sail back over to Rum - an excellent way to persuade our somewhat reluctant new crew member Claire that sailing doesn't necessarily need to equate with vomiting!
Further exploration of Loch Moidart hills with Ella and Claire
Loch Blain above Moidart
With Marcus rather laid low by hideous lurgy, Claire and Hazel headed off to tackle the ridge in glorious sunshine. Although certainly a much less daunting proposition than its Skye neighbour, the route still makes for a long day, but with interesting scrambling and incredible views along the way. The hot shower at the Rum Bunk House and dinner waiting on board Contour was extremely welcome after some 10 hours on the hill!
Kinloch Castle on Rum - slowly falling into a state of disrepair
One of the many ups on the Rum Cuillen Ridge
Claire finding the hardest possible route to ascend by
The Bothy at Dibidil on Rum
Further explorations of Rum included a run/walk out to the other side of the island to check out the bothy at Guirdel Bay. Having rather optimistically assumed there would be a linking path between the two footpaths actually marked on the map, it is perhaps not surprising that the middle section of the route turned out to be an 'interesting' foray through heather, bracken and loose rock! However, Guirdel Bay was a wonderful place to explore and hopefully somewhere we'll get back to in the future with provisions for an overnight stay.
Bothy at Guirdel Bay
Looking down over Guirdel Bay
On a still evening we left Rum to motor South to the Bay of Laig on Eigg, to revisit this spectacular end of the island. About half-way across we noticed a great line of trails in the water which turned out to be a 'super-pod' of common dolphins making their way North a few hundred yards away. Before we knew it they were playing around the boat, leaping free of the flat sea, and generally showing off. Having seen dolphins reasonably frequently, this was no normal sighting - they swam with, around, and under Contour for the best part of an hour, providing a spectacle surpassing anything we had seen before! We eventually turned back towards Eigg to anchor just in time to enjoy a spectacular sunset behind Rum.
Enjoying the sunset behind Rum from the Bay of Laig, Eigg.
As we were minding our own business at anchor a voice was heard astern; this turned out to be a chap in a Kayak. Whilst on holiday in the nearby bothy, he had painted a scene of Contour at anchor in the Bay and had very kindly decided to paddle out and give us the picture! Happily there was a frame in the guest cabin that we had yet to personalise and this very unexpected gift has therefore made a perfect addition to the boat.
The next stop was Gallanach bay on the island of Muck; we enjoyed a smooth and quite fast reach South from Eigg and sailed to anchor in this shallow, confined but well sheltered bay. By this point we were doing a reasonably good job of persuading Claire that sailing might not be so terrible after all! Exploration ashore enabled a late hill walk, a sunset swim and the discovery that there is an awful lot to like about this, the smallest of the Small Isles.
Gallanach Bay
Gallanach Bay - who needs the Bahamas?!
Aird nan Uan, the promontory West of Gallanach Bay
Beers in the evening sun (Marcus's beard is getting particularly out of control!)
Exploring Muck
Looking over Eigg from Muck
Evening at anchor in Gallanach Bay, Muck
Our (now really quite urgent) need for Diesel meant the next stop had to be Mallaig, a busy fishing town with a small marina to the North West of the Small Isles. We enjoyed the fast down-sea reach past Eigg and got to Mallaig in no-time flat. However, in the back of our mind was the need to re-unite Claire with her car in Arisaig and the resultant requirement to bash our way back in to the wind to get there! With fuel and an excellent Mallaig lunch obtained, we set out for a further fast and exhilarating sail South. Marcus was unfortunately stuck to a keyboard for much of the afternoon having to deal with 'stuff' and grateful for his extremely tough stomach. As the wind started to regularly gust to 24 kts Marcus had to be disturbed to assist with the inconvenient task of reefing - Claire not particularly loving this part of the trip! 30kt wind against tide off the entrance to Arisaig was the final cherry on top of this rather less than idyllic sail, unfortunately undoing much of our hard work in persuading Claire that sailing is more than just a relatively inconvenient means of moving between mountains to climb! There followed what has become somewhat of a practised routine of hiding in Arisaig whilst the weather cleared.
With Hektor joining us for the Half Term period, and other friends joining us for bits of the forthcoming month, we made the most of the time to explore more of a very varied area. Having been struck by the beauty and wildness of Loch Moidart, our first sail was a gentle, sun-lit reach South to tackle again this tricky entrance and find a secluded anchorage as a base from which to explore.
Hektor enjoying the sunshine and a Terry Pratchett audiobook
After a comfortable sail, the entrance was made less than comfortable by residual swell left over from a week of howling South Westerlies. Once tucked in, however, calm reasserted and we motored sedately up towards an anchorage off Tioram castle.
Anchorage in Loch Moidart
Tioram Castle Loch Moidart
Anchoring in the early evening, we took the dinghy ashore to explore the castle and surrounding area. The castle sits imposing on a large rocky outcrop, and must have presented a formidable obstacle to any siege. Unfortunately not open to explore, Tioram was a stronghold of Clanranald until it was burned by Allan, the 14th chief of Clanranald in the run up to the Jacobite rising in 1715. As evening fell, our return to Contour was made more entertaining by a strong onshore breeze making re-launching the dingy a somewhat damp affair heading straight into a sharp chop. Cue slightly frantic paddling by Hazel with Marcus standing precariously in the dinghy to keep clear of the flailing paddles - entertaining to watch no doubt!
Hektor took it upon himself to 'improve' the colour settings prior to this being taken (the Bath House at Tioram)
The following day we set off early to walk inland along the loch following the picturesque 'Silver Path'. An amazingly varied route cut from the face of the cliff in places, elsewhere traversing low bays and green dales dotted with cleared crofts and ancient field systems. It was whilst we walked along the upper shallow reaches of the loch that Hazel spotted a large otter leave the water to casually trot across the mud to its holt, hidden amongst the rocks and woodland. Whilst too far away (and too brief) to enable any sort of photo, this was cause for some celebration as Contour's cruises so far have been lamentably short of otter-spotting, despite much looking!
The Silver Path, Loch Moidart
Magical walk towards Ardmolich along the edge of the upper reaches of Loch Moidart
With several kilometers under our belt, and having slightly underestimated the distance and snack requirement, we were happy to return to Contour, with mutiny only narrowly avoided when Hazel proposed another 'short diversion'....
Tioram Castle in the early morning sun
The Diary then pulled us back into Arisaig, to collect Ella from the station for the start of her week sailing with us. Hektor was very noble and surrendered his large double cabin (and nest of duvets, pillows and blankets) in favour of the pilot berth with no fuss. We set off for the anchorage of Galmisdale on Eigg, where plans included an ascent of An Sgurr, an impressive lump of volcanic rock. Vertical on three sides, but with a sensible climb on the fourth, An Sgurr was formed when a volcanic eruption filled a valley with lava. In the subsequent millennia the valley sides eroded away to leave the 'plug' behind. This unlikely explanation becomes clearly evident when one sails through the Sound of Eigg to see this dramatic mountain in profile. The views from the top were terrific, and we ambled happily back down to check the quality of the cakes at the new (and very smart) cafe in Galmisdale.
Preparing for an ascent of An Sgurr
Volcanic rock formations on the path up with the island of Muck in the background
Enjoying the views from the summit of An Sgurr
Relaxing in the evening sun after a long walk
The weather continued to behave, and so the following day saw us hire bikes to cross the island and explore the picturesque North West shore around Cleasdale, known for yet more spectacular geological phenomena and the 'singing sands', a stunning beach made up from quartz which, when dry, squeaks when moved.
Interesting geology at Singing Sands Beach
The ride out was quite tough - long steep hills on a hot day, however it was all worthwhile when we arrived at the beach, with sunshine, turquoise water, and views over to Rum. Hektor and Hazel had an exciting time exploring the coastline and geology. Whilst now extremely confident and very capable climbing up anything rocky, Hektor was decidedly less keen on wading knee deep through seaweed - Hazel may not be allowed to choose the route in future.....
Exploring the caves
Enjoying rock-based adventures
Mountains of Rum in the background
Turns out Hektor really, really doesn't like wading through seaweed...
Sadly half-term was running short; Hektor and Marcus had another appointment with a sleeper train to head South. With regret we left Eigg and headed towards the mainland to explore Doire na Drise, an isolated bay on the Southern side of the Arisaig peninsular.
'Refreshing'
Exploring was enjoyed, and Hazel braved the waters for her first swim of the trip (Hektor got his own back for the seaweed incident by pushing her in). In still, sunlit conditions it was also ideal drone-photography weather, and we enjoyed spectacular views until, for reasons which remain obscure, the machine descended rapidly from 8 metres to - well - 0 meters and confirmed it's lack of ability to float! (Amazingly, when DJI, the manufacturer, downloaded the flight data from the controller they agreed to replace it free of charge as they were able to confirm it was a technical failure and not Marcus' erratic flying).
Dinghy taxi service
At anchor in Doire na Drise
Doire na Drise
Drone flying - just prior to an unrecoverable drone/water interface situation (mechanical not pilot error!)
Lunch best eaten in the dinghy
Marcus and Hektor disappeared South leaving Hazel and Ella to continue the exploration of the cruising around Arisaig, as the spell of warm, gentle weather continued to lull us into a false sense of security!
(Hazel's bit) Having never taken the boat out without Marcus on board before, it was with a certain degree of trepidation that Ella and I headed out through the Arisaig channel. It is undoubtedly a sign of how far things have come over the past couple of months that this was possible. The first time I stood behind the wheel of Contour around 18 months ago, with the huge deck (relative to our 30ft Sea Dog 'Black Dog') stretching out in front of me, it seemed impossible to imagine that I would ever have the confidence to manoeuvre her anywhere! We motored out and headed towards the Borrodale Islands where we had identified a remote anchorage in Garbh-eilean Bay near a bothy. The wind picked up enough for a short sail and, other than a lot of anchor alarm related faffing (it's always the electronics!), we were tucked up in the bay in time to enjoy an incredible sunset. The sun continued to shine and dinghy explorations of the surrounding area led us to some stunning places - Borrodale beach below Arisaig House was particularly lovely, though we failed miserably to find Prince Charlie's Cave.
With the wind briefly and unexpectedly changing direction, threatening to blow us onto the rocks if the anchor dragged, we considered moving to a different anchorage (a concern not helped by my inability to set an accurate anchor alarm!). Luckily we held our nerve and even enjoyed a swim in the improbably clear water, followed by a peaceful evening onboard watching people from the bothy catch fish in the late sun. The next day we returned to Arisaig - across mirror like water with not a breath of wind. I successfully drove Contour alongside the rather short jetty to fill up with water and Ella drove us onto a mooring buoy (a slightly different experience to the fast and manoeuvrable RNLI boats she is used to driving). We were back with no bumps, scrapes or ropes around the propeller and a working engine so overall a very successful excursion. It was then time to tidy and head ashore to buy provisions and eat cake while waiting for the arrival of Claire from Skye and Marcus from Bristol.
Sunset after the rain
Arisaig House Beach
This photo makes the anchorage look so much bigger than it was!
Almost as soon as
Marcus left from Arisaig for a planned trip to Bristol, the boat electronics went into
mourning. I woke up to a carbon monoxide alarm going off (never happened
before), the boat computer freezing completely and the chart plotter displaying
a never seen before error code. Possibly all set up to ensure I mourned his
absence too....
Helpfully I had been left with a reasonably long
list of jobs to complete to keep me occupied while confined to the boat as some
dubious weather came through. Sitting on one of the most distant mooring bouys,
with 40kt winds and rain lashing down, trips ashore were not especially
appealing. There is little to say about time spent on a boat in the wind and
rain, but I am now reasonably confident in my ability to pull apart a winch,
cover it in grease and oil and put it together again with no parts left over. I
also had the opportunity to practice some sail sewing (batten pockets with
several layers of canvas to fight the needle through!) and do some extensive
rope whipping - exciting times!
When the wind relented I did manage to explore the
surrounding area on some lovely runs so there are a few photos below in case
anyone wishes to visit the area - something I would highly recommend.
Considering the tiny size of the place, Arisaig has an interesting history. In
the Second World War Arisaig House was used as the headquarters for the
Scottish section of the Special Operations Executive; agents undertook pretty
extreme training in the local area prior to deployment (learning how to jump
off moving trains and planes for example). There is also the amazing Wild
Woodland Garden of Larachmhor on the outskirts of the village - home to an
array of exotic planting and a hint of magic!
Calm after the storm - views out to Eigg and Rum
Rhu Point Beach - popular with sea kayakers
Gardens of Arisaig House
Riverside run to Prince Charlie's Cave (cave not found)
Silver sands of Morar
Coastal path near Traigh Beach
Traigh Beach
Another of the many stunning beaches north of Arisaig
Through some incredibly stroke of genius and fortuitous timing, Marcus and Hektor arrived in Fort William just in time to catch the Hogwarts Express steam train to Arisaig. It seems you can either book tickets months in advance or just turn up on the day and talk nicely to the guard to get a ride.
The 'Jacobite' waiting for Marcus and Hektor to arrive in Fort William!
Hektor repaid the guard with a Bertie Botts jelly bean (vomit flavour) which didn't seem like an entirely fair transaction. The route between Fort William and Mallaig is pretty incredible anyway but with the addition of a steam train into the mix it was a good start to Hektor's half term holiday. Marcus will likely be booking a cabin on the sleeper train on all future trips south, having discovered the seats weren't a great option (Hektor apparently slept really well though.....). Normal activity will resume and Marcus will be back to writing future posts now he's back on board
Hektor enjoying explorations of Larachmhor Gardens
