All too soon, the tidal assistance came to an end when we rounded the point below the Rhuvaal lighthouse.
Sadly, the original lantern and rotating lens of this beautiful lighthouse has been replaced by what looks like a 100 Watt bulb on the end of a pole! However, the stonework of the tower has recently been painted and it was looking very well maintained.
From Rhuvaal we turned westwards along the wild north coast of Islay.
Great basalt dykes emerge from the sea and march straight up the hillside...
...s
ome 65km from their origin in the Tertiary volcano that once erupted on Mull.
Huge caverns, many now dry, hark back to a time when sea levels were higher and the coast was being battered by sea ice.
We founds a dramatic break in the rocky fore shore at
Port an t-Sruthain.
A narrow channel, just wide enough for a small boat...
...cuts straight through fangs of rock and emerges below a steep storm beach of cobbles. Was it man made or the result of natural erosion of a dyke?
