Leaving St. Finan's Isle we entered the outer, lowland section of Loch Shiel.
At Dalelia
we spotted a tall stone cross, almost hidden by the trees. It is a war memorial erected by Dalelia's then owner, Lord Howard of Glossop, to his son. Lt. Philip Howard. Philip was only 23 years old when he died in action in France in 1918, near the end of WW1. His family's wealth could not protect him from the ultimate sacrifice and waste of war.
At first the loch was still narrow and we paddled close to shore but...
...then the loch opened out again as we left the mountains behind.
A brisk tailwind meant we made excellent progress...
...and the combination of sun and a following wind...
...brought great smiles to our faces.
Ahead we saw the
pier at Acharacle. It was time for a stop. Acharacle is a corruption of Àth Tharracail which is Gaelic for "Torquil's ford". At the end of the Viking occupation of Scotland Torquil was the leader of a band of Vikings who fled here pursued by Somerled the Lord of the Isles. Unfortunately the water was too deep to cross and they made a final stand but all were slain.
We pulled the boats up onto the grass beside the slipway and left them in the shade of a...
...magnificent rowan tree. Then we proceeded...
...along the pier to...
...the pie shop where we enjoyed hot soup and pies before...
...slowly returning to the loch side where boats were nodding gently at their moorings, where once a Viking band was slain..
