Thursday, February 08, 2018

Bottlenose dolphins in the Sound of Arisaig.

25/03/2017
At first Mike was oblivious to the pod of...

 ...bottlenose dolphins which had been playing in Donald's wake.

 What a spectacle they made against the backdrop of the Eigg and Rum mountains.

They were much more interested in Donald's boat than the kayaks but he obliged us by motoring back...

...and forward across...

...our bows, with the pod in tow, so that we could get a better view of their antics.

 It is difficult to resist being anthropomorphic but these guys...

 ...were having a whale of a time (if that is not an oxymoron) as they alternately lolled in the water beside us before...

 ...exploding into action again.


 They only let us be when we paddled into shallow water to take a break...

 ..on the shell sand beach of Port Eilean a' Ghaill for a delayed first luncheon.

After the excitement Donald and I reviewed our photos and could hardly believe that we had managed to capture the action. I even went for a quick swim which rather quickly pulled me back to reality!

Wednesday, February 07, 2018

Looks like trouble at the Isle of Tears, Sound of Arisaig.

25/03/2017
Last March Mike, Donald (AKA The Gurnard) and I arrived at the Glenuig Inn on the south coast of the Sound of Arisaig. Our friends were not due to arrive until the evening but as we had arrived at midday, we wasted no time on getting on the water. I was keen to try out the new P&H Scorpio HV mk2 in CoreLite X.

Donald soon had the little F-RIB 275 on the plane and he disappeared towards the north side of the Sound...

 Leaving Mike and I to make the crossing at a more relaxed pace. As we left Glenuig Bay the mountains of Rum lay ahead while we left...

 ...the bulk of mighty Roshven 882m in our wakes.

 Soon we were alone in the silence of the middle of the Sound but as we...

..approached the lonely isles and reefs of Eilean an t-Snidhe (Isle of tears) we heard the sound of Donald's...


 ...outboard approaching at speed. He zoomed past us...

...and circled right round us gesticulating madly at the water.

 Mike and I really did not know what was going on but suspected there must be trouble ahead.