cruising Logs
Matthew Diggle discovers the delights of the west coast of Scotland while searching for the elusive whales
Cruising Greenland with Sir Robin • Whale spotting in Scotland
The west coast of Scotland is one of the top-10 places to see a whale anywhere in the world. It was the opportunity to encounter these majestic creatures that led me to be standing on a pontoon in Ardfern in late May, looking at Ruby Too, a pleasant and spacious Jeanneau 44; our home for the next week. Having filled out the customary paperwork from Argyll Yacht Charters, I joined the rest of the crew – my wife, Clare and fellow sailors Jon, Sandi, Nick, Anna and Bubs. We ranged in experience from novice up to coastal skipper and while we had sailed as a group before this was the first time we had cruised Scotland together.
Although it was late afternoon, we were keen to set off on our voyage straight away, so we slipped the lines and pointed the bow towards Loch Craignish. As it turned out, it wasn’t the most auspicious of starts. For the first, and hopefully last, time in my sailing
career I had left someone behind – my wife, Clare. Ruby Too returned to the pontoon, my face burning red as we picked her up before we set off again, sailing a little way down the loch and finding a visitor’s buoy for the night. Once safely tied up, we enjoyed a pleasant evening in relative seclusion.
BREEZING ALONG
The breeze was up the following morning, so with a couple of reefs in, we set off, rounding Dorus Mor with the tide, just as Jon had planned. The crew was happy enjoying the crags and the verdant scenery as we sailed through the Sound of Luing and into Loch Spelve where we stopped for lunch. Our hunger satisfied, we continued north to the Sound of Mull and through the relatively narrow but hazard-free entrance into Loch Aline. The wind was a bit gusty when we arrived and that’s my excuse for the rather unorthodox manoeuvres I performed between the pontoons – all in front of an audience of fellow cruisers. Despite this, Ruby Too ended up in a berth without bumping into anything.
The brightly coloured buildings of Tobermory were a welcome sight the following morning. We had set off from Loch Aline early due to the unusually warm and sunny weather. Once moored we had a pleasant stroll and explored Mull’s capital before heading over to Loch na Droma Buidhe for the night. After two or three attempts at dropping the pick we found good holding with enough swinging room.
We had a peaceful night and enjoyed a beautiful, tranquil morning in this magical spot before heading out to do some serious whale-watching. Sadly the whales did not cooperate and although we saw harbour porpoises, seals, and great flocks of birds, we didn’t see a single whale. We did manage to round Ardnamurchan Point though, earning the right to display a sprig of heather on our bow. That evening we
stopped in Arinagour Harbour on Coll for showers in their community centre and a delicious meal in the hotel.
We had originally intended to call in to see Fingal’s Cave on Staffa but Bubs recommended landing on Lunga instead to see the seabird colonies. The approach needs a little care, but it leads to a sheltered bay with just a short tender ride to the beach. Once ashore, we saw huge numbers of birds, including puffins and razorbills, who didn’t seem to be disturbed by human observers. After leaving Lunga we still had time to sail past Fingal’s Cave before anchoring in Bull Hole, opposite Iona. A gentle swell was rolling in from the North Atlantic, which was of no concern offshore, but did make some of the reefs look quite dramatic.
Leaving Ruby Too happily anchored in calm conditions, we went ashore the following morning to explore the Benedictine Iona Abbey, including walking up the cobbled Street of the Dead, which formed part of a processional way from the island’s landing place at Martyr’s Bay to the burial ground. Back onboard, we set off for an afternoon of motor sailing south towards Colonsay.
We had chosen the passage between the Ross of Mull and the Torran Rocks and were still motoring when to our surprise we saw something large surface not far from us. We throttled back and were treated to an extended encounter with a minke whale. At one point this magnificent mammal surfaced just in front of our bow and it stayed with us for about a quarter of an hour before gradually moving away into the distance.
With this magical encounter forever etched on our minds, we carried on to Colonsay where Sandi’s friends Helen and Richard met us. It was only after I had told them how to tie us up that I found out that Richard is the master of a cruise liner and so knows immeasurably more than me about how to secure a boat. We had another great meal ashore and joined the locals for their pub quiz. When we got back to the boat we found that some of the local fishermen had kindly adjusted our lines for us to make sure all was well as the tide fell.
Helen and Richard lent us their cars so we could have a look round the island in the morning and at Kiloran Beach in the north we saw our second whale, sadly a rather dead fin whale that had washed up about six months previously.
In the afternoon, it was time to sail back to Ardfern, through the Gulf of Corryvreckan. Jon and I did tidal calculations independently to make sure we were going to get there at a sensible time. Even though it was pretty placid there were still violent eddies and huge upwellings, but these didn’t seem to worry the seals that were happily swimming about. After that it was, literally, plain sailing back up Loch Craignish as a mist rose and the evening fell.
The west coast of Scotland is a wonderful location and the scenery is simply stunning. The weather on this trip was far better than we expected, although a little more wind might have been nice on occasion. Overall it was a thoroughly enjoyable trip and we saw a whale. Mission accomplished!