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.

Some stink over the sobriquet of a stunning shell sand strand in Iona.

We paddled north across the expanse of Camas Cuil an t-Saimh on the west coast of Iona. This is commonly translated as "bay (or beach) at the back of the ocean" which sounds delightfully romantic and tourist guides love it. However, Roddy (who was the last native Gaelic speaker in our family) said it was much more likely to be "bay with a stink at its back". He said the Gaels were not known for using much romance or imagination in naming places. The word "saimh" is much more often used to mean "stink" than "sea" which is an unusual use of the word. Roddy also said if it was used to mean sea it would be used to describe a fishy smelling sea. Given the huge piles of rotting seaweed at the back of the bays I have a feeling Roddy is right.

We all spotted the splash of white sand at Port Pollarain (Port of the Dunlin) and it looked a great place to stop for luncheon, indeed I had stopped here for such in 2007. However, based on past experience, I had other ideas. I thought I could do better.

 So I led the way through a maze of skerries to the...

 ...simply stunning Port Ban (white port). Despite the beauty of the surroundings, I was initially somewhat disappointed. On my last visit...

...this is what we found. Our caddies had travelled ahead, by a variety of means, and assembled our social and refreshment tents prior to our arrival on this pristine cockleshell sand beach. Why, they had even scoured far and wide for some small pieces of driftwood just so that we might enjoy a little late night incendiary activity.

 On this day our support team had badly let us down and as we paddled one by...

 ...one over crystal clear turquoise water we had to content ourselves not with tents of...

 ...pleasure but with a totally...

 ...empty beach!!! Oh the hardship!

 At first we wandered about somewhat lost but we soon settled down to enjoy a view of...

...unparalleled beauty. As the others tucked into their sandwiches (rather than the hoped for canapes) I even went for a short swim. No wonder St Columba chose Iona, this really is Heaven on Earth.

PS Note the crescent of stinky seaweed at the back of the bay!