A great weekend filld with history, connections and power of positivity

As days of relaxation, pleasure and good music go, last Sunday shone brightly. We arrived on Iona just after midnight on Saturday and were immediately welcomed by Davy Kirkpatrick, who jumped aboard like an agile teenager from his own boat,

The Iolaire of Iona, as we lay off waiting to get into the slip. A brief overview of the following 24 hours in the format of the young would be as follows. #Glenfinnan Ceilidh Band, #Andrew Stevenson, #minibeasts #Fingal’s Cave, #Staffa, #Lunga, #Puffins, #Steptoe, #Gordon Grant, #Martyr’s Bay, #tunes on deck, #Robert Robertson, #Kyle Orr, #Ross Wilson, # where was Anda?

The highlight was spending time with Davy and Carol Kirkpatrick. Iona holds an aura of spirituality and thousands of people travel weekly from across the world to experience it. I don’t doubt that the island itself does have a certain magic about it but, for me, the positive association of Iona is centred on these two very special people. As I sat in the wheelhouse listening to Davy talk of history, connections and the power of positivity, as the boys played tunes, sang and talked out on deck it was a great reminder that sometimes life is incredibly enjoyable.

The following is a poem I wrote in 2007 for Davy’s 60th birthday. Boats are more than just planks of wood and beams. They are strong symbols of the people who own them. Davy’s boat and others built by John Gaff, who served his time with Nobles of Girvan, are some of the most beautiful craft ever created – The Dawn Treader and

The Jacobite in Tobermory are two other examples both of this hull type and of the calibre of the men who own them.