Our next voyage through the Small Isles took us to the Island of Rum. This is a wild and mountainous place with just one anchorage on the east side. View of Rum Island from the Sea Rum has two interesting claims to fame. One is the exotic and rather curious Kinloch Castle, a hunting lodge for a previous owner, Sir George Bullough. Sir George used to have his staff fire at unwanted boats who dared to enter his waters, earning it the title of the "Forbidden Isle". The other is that they boast the largest and most prolific population of midges - maybe not something you would normally want to advertise to potential visitors! Kinloch Castle The island was sold by the Bulloughs in 1957 and is now owned by Scottish National Heritage (SNH), a government funded organisation that promotes the natural environment for the public to enjoy. The population is currently about 30 people and they have a primary school (described as "very remote, rural") with 1 pupil...
A Family of Great Crested Grebes With Their Unusual Nest Site We enjoyed our short stay at South Dock Marina with its friendly live-aboard locals and watching the birds also making their homes there. But we needed to press on and the tide would carry us out with a fair wind when we set off again at midday. It was much faster unravelling ourselves through the twists and turns of the Thames and we felt much more at home this time. The out-going tide is stronger than the in-going due to the added alluvial (river) flow in this direction. So we positively speeded along as we sailed our way out, reaching 11 knots over the ground at times. So it was that we were able to return directly to Queenborough on the Isle of Sheppy, this time choosing to tie up alongside their floating pontoon albeit for just 8 hours overnight. We never got to see Queenborough in the daylight - or even to walk ashore there! The following morning we started out from Queenborough at 03:50 in...
From Loch Ranza we sailed on a broad reach in frisky conditions, under all plain sail. We touched nine knots in one gust, which is somewhat faster than hull speed, so we were becoming semi-displacement! We arrived quite quickly in East Loch Tarbert. There are a lot of Tarberts around here, so they can get confusing. The name "tarbert" is derived from Gaelic and is a term for an inlet or loch separated from the one opposite by a small ridge of land, or isthmus. The Vikings sometimes used to shift their boats over the ridges, to save sailing the long way around. With a substantial keel, we'll have to keep sailing. East Loch Tarbert Entrance - View From Castle With lots to see and interesting local walks, we would have liked to stay longer in Tarbert, but while the rest of the country was expecting a heat wave, heavy rain was forecast here. We therefore decided to press on to the Crinan Canal and sit it out there. We have ...
Comments
Post a Comment