When Iain and Andrew arrived we immediately left Arisaig for Rum,
dropping anchor in Loch Scresort off the old stone pier in company with
four other boats. After dinner, we walked west some way along the track
and on return found out that once again we had missed David and Stroma,
who were over at Inverie for the night. An 0630 start next morning saw
us heading for Barra, passing south of Canna and out past Hyskeir. We
raised the cruising chute and had a grand sail over to Castlebay,
changing down to reefed genoa as the wind got up to Force 5. As it was
still early afternoon we made a leisurely ascent of Ben Tangaval, a
‘Marilyn’ (hill over 150m with a re-ascent of at least 150m on all
sides, of which there are some 1500 throughout the UK) which Andrew was
keen to climb. Next morning we anchored off Muldoanich 151m (another M,
and the lowest one to qualify), which the crew climbed while the skipper
kept watch aboard as the anchor was set on rock. After the short hop
across to Sandray, we all climbed to its summit, Cairn Galtar 205m (yes,
another M) from the lovely sandy beach at Meanish Bay. Our chosen
anchorage tonight is the ‘Blue Lagoon’ between two outlying islands, a
seldom visited spot requiring careful pilotage through the rock-strewn
entry channel, where we are watched over by nesting golden eagles.