Friday, June 24, 2016

Just when we thought it could not get any better, we came to Eilean Chalabha

It was with some reluctance that we left Port Ban on Iona's west coast.

Our course now lay up the NW coast of Iona and it was not long before we spotted...

...the Treshnish Isles on the horizon.

I really could not believe how benign the conditions were. This is my fourth visit and it is not always like this. On my first visit it was so windy we had to stay in the Sound of Iona and though the second visit was in light winds there was a huge swell and we had to stay well out the whole way round and could not land.

As we paddled north we began to catch glimpses of distant Ben More on Mull then we caught sight of...

...Donald waiting for us on Eilean Chalbha (calf? island). The tide was running strongly over the...

...shallow sandy bar and it was a surreal experience paddling hard against the flow in just a couple of inches of luminous green water.

Then we were through to the deeper water of the north coast beyond.