We left Rum with the fog swirling round the foothills of the Cuillin.
Ahead in the murk the Island of Eigg lay 9km ahead of us and for a long time we paddled using GPS, and compass. We were bound for
Camas Sgiotaig at the north west end of the island.
Eventually the mist lifted and we could make out the outline of Eigg...
...to the south west lay Rubha an Fhasaidh while...
...to the north east Sgorr Sgaileach...
... caught the sun.
The silence of the open crossing was replaced by the crash and roar of the surf as we approached Eigg...
Fortunately there was a pattern of bigger sets followed by a quieter period. So we waited for the right moment then...
...made a run into the beach. The spume was hanging heavily in the air and it was a relief...
...to be able to walk up the beach without having been trashed in the surf.
It was while we were having second luncheon on the rock slabs below the towering ramparts of Dunan Thalasgair that we hatched our plan. Our original intention had been to paddle down to the next sandy bay... Bay of Laig and leave the kayaks there and walk up to the
B&B at Lageorna situated in the township of Cleadale.
Howeve,r the size of the surf breaking on the reefs made us concerned in case we were trapped by a rise in the swell overnight. So we decided to take advantage of the light wind and paddle all the way to the south of the island and leave the kayaks at the jetty in
Galmisdale then walk the 7km back to Cleadale. The big advantage of this plan would be a guaranteed easy launch the following day and it would leave us close enough to Muck that a near circumnavigation would be possible before nightfall.
