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Sun 15 June 2008
Lewis
The wild weather over, we ventured out again and made for Lemervay, at the mouth of Loch Shell, inside Eilean Iubhard where a large Norwegian 'mother ship' was hoovering up salmon from the fish farm. (Photo - Shiants and Skye from Orasay, Loch Shell). Cromore, at the entrance of Loch Erisort was our next port of call - a sheltered spot overlooked by a few cottages and croft houses.From there it was a short hop to Stornoway and the luxury of a pontoon berth in the inner harbour. The excellent bus services were used for trips north to Tolsta to climb Muirneag 248m, and west to Shawbost for Beinn Bhragair 261m. We have decided to return home for ten days, leaving Arctica in Stornoway; our sailing adventures will resume thereafter.
Posted by skipper at 10:37 PM | Comments (0)
Tue 10 June 2008
A Bit Wild
Just a nice photo - no connection with the gale! Overnight, the wind got up as forecast and we let out extra anchor chain as a precaution. By morning a gale was being funnelled through the gap in the hills east of Clisham and came roaring over Loch Maaruig, driving white horses through the anchorage. It set up quite a racket - waves breaking, water slapping the hull, a howl from the rigging and loud snubbing of the anchor chain as Arctica sheered about, heeling dramatically in the strongest gusts. Despite all this, we recorded nothing more than a Force 8 gale. The mind boggles at the thought of being out at sea in a Force 10 - hats off to all deep sea fishermen! The weather did not seem to affect the otter out fishing for his dinner quite close to the boat. Today is another of gusting wind, but there are signs of the weather moderating. We will be content to spend another day here catching up on our reading.
Posted by skipper at 02:24 PM | Comments (0)
Sun 8 June 2008
Back to Harris
According to the local press, this continues to be the driest spell in the Outer Hebrides for 40 years - we can scarcely believe our good fortune in being here at the right time. Since Miavaig we have visited Loch Carloway with its broch, Kirkibost in East Loch Roag, Loch Tamanavay where we saw another golden eagle, and then returned through the Sound of Harris to Loch Finsbay. Today we sailed up the east coast of Harris, spotting two minke whales, and in to Loch Maaruig, an offshoot of Loch Seaforth. On a bright and breezy afternoon the Skipper climbed Todum 528m, a shapely hill overlooking the anchorage, and met people for the first time in the last 21 hills. With the possibility of winds gusting up to Force 8 in the next 24 hours we will review our options in the morning; fortunately the east coast of Lewis offers a good choice of sheltered anchorages.
Posted by skipper at 07:52 PM | Comments (0)
Wed 4 June 2008
Miavaig, Lewis
With no sign of impending precipitation and the fine weather continuing, we went in to Miavaig, in the SW corner of West Loch Roag, which looks full of interest on both the Admiralty Chart and the OS Map. We were glad of our chart plotter, which enabled us to easily avoid the many skerries, reefs and shallow patches. We were struck by the beauty of the place, and the temporary availability of a pontoon berth induced us to stay for three nights. We were fortunate to befriend Alastair and Margo who live locally, and will soon be setting sail for Greenland in their lovely wooden yacht 'Iona of Rhu'. A few more Marilyns have been climbed, and the Mate enjoyed a short visit to Stornoway on the Post Bus. With no rain for seven weeks now, the moors are exceptionally dry, but would normally be exhausting bogland. As it is, the going is rough, compensating for the relatively low height of the hills.
Posted by skipper at 08:58 PM | Comments (0)
Mon 2 June 2008
More Islands
We were fortunate in choosing the best day of the week for our visit to Taransay, now uninhabited with no obvious traces of 'Castaway' from a few years ago. The scenery, weather and turquoise water gave nothing to the Caribbean save the water temperature - not enticing for swimming!The island is very attractive with sandy beaches and dunes, rocky foreshore, hill lochans (one with remains of a dun), and fine views of the Harris hills from its summit, Ben Raah 297m. Next morning we set off early for the beautiful anchorage at the north end of Scarp (photo), the Mate sunbathing while the Skipper climbed Sron Romul 308m. Later we moved on to Camas Uig, Lewis, a few miles short of Loch Roag, where we dropped the hook in a nice pool with a sandy beach, sheltered from seaward by islets.The day ended with another spectacular, fiery sunset but we can expect some showers within the next 24 hours.
Posted by skipper at 09:25 AM | Comments (0)