Our private charter enjoyed a wonderful September week of excellent weather with no wind or rain. Departing Oban, our destination for our first anchorage was Loch a Choire in Ardnamurchan. Our journey took us up Loch Linnhe, past the Isle of Lismore to this lovely sheltered sea loch. On the way we spotted two separate flocks of red-breasted mergansers on the water.
Cruising over to Mull on the Sunday, our first stopover was a visit to Duart Castle, then on to Tobermory for walks in Aros Park and an exploration of the town. We crossed the Sound of Mull to the massive sea loch, Loch Sunart and the village of Strontian for our anchorage for the night.
As our vessel headed down Loch Sunart on the Monday, guests were delighted to see a pod of porpoises and lots of close sightings of seals. Ship Engineer Alastair took guests ashore at Salen for a guided walk in the ancient oakwoods there with a stunning variety of fungi on show at this time of the year. More seals and porpoises were spotted en route to our evening anchorage at Dervaig, on the top coast of Mull, and where the Islands of Coll and Tiree could be clearly seen on the horizon as the sun set.
On Tuesday we cruised the west side of Mull with the Treshnish Isles, one of the most scenically evocative features of the Hebridean landscape, clearly in view. Our guests opted for a shore trip to Staffa, of Fingal’s Cave fame, with great enjoyment of the amazing geological features. We then headed for Iona and, as we approached the Island had the good fortune to be followed by a large pod of dophins to the great delight of the guests. Following a trip onshore to explore Iona Abbey, we cruised to Loch Scridain and Loch na Lathaig off the village of Bunessan on the Ross of Mull for our sheltered evening anchorage.
We were well placed the
following morning to cross Loch Scridain to the Ardmeanach Peninsula and visit
the McCullochs fossilised tree, a geological wonder. It and the others in the area
probably represent the last remains of a forest that was covered by a lava flow
approximately 60 million years ago. The tree is normally accessed by an
arduous 11 mile walk, but we are fortunate to be able to reach it very easily
from the sea. We then continued to Loch na Keal and a favourite anchorage
between Gometra and Ulva where, as we often do, we saw feral goats, red deer,
ravens and great sightings of golden and white-tailed eagles
On Thursday we retraced our steps around Mull to reach Loch Drumbuie (Loch na Droma Buidhe), located across the Sound of Mull from Tobermory where we were treated to a most unusual site of two white beaked dolphins. We continued on a leisurely cruise down the Sound of Mull to Innan Mor Bay, just below Ardtomish Point where more feral goats, red deer and white-tailed eagles were seen. Our anchorage for the night was Loch Spelve, on the south coast of Mull where guests opted for a walk ashore under the canopy of the ancient oak forest fringing the loch before dinner, with yet more white-tailed eagles seen.
On Friday, after a final breakfast in Loch Spelve and a perfect week of weather, our vessel crossed the Firth of Lorn to Oban and disembarkation
1 comment:
I am jealous of the guests during this wonderful trip! Sounds terrific!
Tina Somberg-Buiks
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