A taste of the Sound of Islay.

An Cladach in SE Islay is an exceptional bothy,

 ...and we soon made ourselves at home. Some other bothies do not have libraries as they are too easy to get to and some visitors think that books are fire lighters.

 The food preparation area had been left very clean.

 The notice board had information about the history of the bothy.

 There was even a bag of dry fire wood by the fire.

We soon had our evening meal on and consumed it with relish before...

...taking some air outside the bothy.

 We were joined by not one but three otters!

This one suddenly surfaced close inshore and climbed on a rock  to look at us. He took me by surprise so this shot is blurred.

Unfortunately the noise of the shutter sent it back under the water.

 We took a stroll in the sunset to gather some firewood.

 We sat for ages on a rock just watching the tide running in the Sound of Islay.

At 20:50 the MV Hebridean Isles motored down the Sound.

She was on the Saturday service which left Oban at 16:30, stopped at Colonsay, Port Askaig on Islay and was now on her way to Kennacraig on Kintyre, where she would arrive at 22:50. We left the Sound of Islay  to the gathering darkness and the fading rumble of the Hebridean Isles engines.

It was time to get the fire on, get the baked potatoes cooking and pour a dram of Caol Ila. What does Caol Ila mean? It means the Sound of Islay  ...what else?!

A haven by the shore of the southern Sound of Islay.

Bt the time we passed the Carraig Mhor lighthouse on the Islay shore to the south of ort Askaig, we could...

 ...see right through the southern Sound of Islay to the distant Kintyre peninsula beyond.

Looking back the Paps of Jura were receding...

 ...at a rate of knots (literally) as the...

 ...swirls and boils in mid channel pushed us south.

 Amazingly quickly it was time to break out of the flow...

 ...we did not want to be pushed beyond McArthur's Head lighthouse!

 We turned west looking for the tiny haven...

...of An Cladach (the stony shore), another MBA bothy.

This was to be our home for the night. We had arrived on the wonderful isle of Islay from the mainland by a most circuitous route!

 It was six pm and the sun was sinking fast. Tony went for a shower in the local waterfall. I went for a quick swim in the sea. It was only 9C. I suspect the waterfall might have been a little warmer.

Breaking out of Cruib Lodge before dawn.

 Tony and I rose before dawn on the shores of \West Loch Tarbert on Jura.

We had spent a comfortable night in the middle room of Cruib Lodge a recently restored bothy.

It was locely and dry and the whitewashed plastered walls gave it a sense of luxury lacking in many bothies. After breakfast we tidied everything and left the place spick and span for the next visitor.

 Then it was time to load the boats and...

 ...we were on the water by 0830am. There was only one way to go....

...and that was back upstream to the Cumnann Beag narrows that connect the inner loch to the outer loch. The ebb started at 0600 and we arrived at 0900 when the ebb was in full flow on one of the biggest spring tides of the year. The previous evening we had drifted through at 5 knots but it was now running at 8 knots!

On the SE of the channel the tide was running at 8 knots so we snuck up the north side of the channel managing just 0.5 knots over the ground before...

 ...ferrying across and...

 ...breaking out into a small eddy on the other side where we worked our way up before...

 ...breaking in to the main flow again and...

 ...ferrying back to the other side once more. Repeat until exhausted.

A little more hard work eddy hopping got us into another tidal channel to the south of Eilan Dubh. Here the tide carried us more gently...

...back into outer West Loch Tarbert on the opposite side from Cruib Lodge. What a great start to a day!

Lightly peated first night on Jura.

After we left the boathouse at the head of West Loch Tarbert on Jura we...

 ...entered one of the remotest and least inhabited areas of Europe. As darkness fell we negotiated a series of dog legs that connect the inner loch to the outer loch.

Our speed picked up to 10km an hour as dark cliffs and the twilight gathered round us we entered...

 ...the final narrows before we...

...were ejected into the outer loch in a series of swirls and boils that reflected gold from the sky.

In the gathering darkness we scanned the shoreline for Cruib Lodge, part of which is maintained as an open bothy by the Mountain Bothy Association with the permission of Ruantallain Estate. Eventually we spotted the little cottage. There was no light visible but there was a curl of smoke coming from a chimney so someone else was there. Tony knocked on the door but there were just a couple of grunts from two occupants who had decided on an early night. Fortunately this bothy has two rooms accessed by separate doors...

...so we made ourselves at home next door. There is no supply of wood at this bothy but you can cut peat from the hillside above and leave it to dry in front of the bothy for the next person. The peat was pretty damp but I had brought a bag of barbecue charcoal and that got it going. Soon the bothy was filled with the distinctive aromatic reek of burning peat. Indeed we enjoyed lightly peated baked potatoes followed by some lightly peated Jura Superstition malt whisky. We certainly had arrived on Jura.

Paddle sailing wind over tide in Loch Ailort.

After our eclipse luncheon it was time to set off on the last leg of our journey round the lands of Moidart. Ian did a much better job of launching than I did, I filled mine up with water. Unfortunately for Ian he got his sail tangled and I managed to get my boat pumped out while he made a brief stop in the next bay to sort it out.

 It was really worth having the sails because it was one of the biggest spring tides of the year (eclipse might have had something to do with that!) and the ebb was pouring out of Loch Ailort like a river.

 Fortunately we got some respite from the tide in the bays and...

 ...made good time past Peanmeanach bothy but

...as the mountains closed in and the loch narrowed, the tide increased again.

 We noticed some nice active water so decided to pass on the outside of...

Photo by Ian Johnston

...Eilean a Bhuic to make the most of it. Once we were past...

the island, the view back across the wind over tide waves was really rather fine!