One of our party A2 has an obsession with outdoor cooking and had smuggled a gas stove and some cooking utensils into the car boot back down South. Well we are not carrying stuff 400 miles for the fun of it so we put it to good use when A2 decided that he would cook local sausages for breakfast... outside. The weather was kind again and with a bit of help from the kitchen staff we had a great breakfast, probably the best of the holiday including the Hotel breakfasts. So its thanks to A2 for the breakfast, however there may be a weight/size restriction on future holidays (think .. EasyJet with an excess baggage charge).
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| Nice enough for making breakfast on the lawn |
Today we had booked on the Alternative Boat trip, a real boat with sails. We were lured by the promise of untamed islands, wildlife and red sails. When I made the call to book the trip I spoke to a guy who said that he was not sure if there was a trip on this particular day, but he asked his Dad who decided that 4 of us was enough to set sail with.
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| The advert |
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| You can see our boat waiting (white and blue sails down) |
As usual the weather was fine and we had no idea what to expect. We had all been on a sailing boat of some description but as we walked to the jetty we all wondered if this was a good idea. Some of us are not the greatest seafarers. We arrived on time and were pleased to find the boat and our cheerful skipper Mark already there. As we were picked up the boat was under power of its motor. The journey across to Iona was very quick where we picked up another 3 passengers. One couple and an American Lady.
The first manoeuvre with the boat was to put it in free reverse back out into the estuary while Mark gave us the scary sounding safety brief. (The reversing was more worrying to me than the safety brief, however my fears were unfounded.) At the end of the health and safety brief at least we knew where the radio was should anything awful happen.
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| Our Skipper or Captain? |
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| A1 pic - better shot! |
Mark is obviously a very accomplished sailor and also very knowledgable about all things boats, sea and islands. While still in reverse he started raising the sails and then slowly the wind took control and in the words of Mark "She sails herself". The boat is a very impressive 80 year old working boat from the continent (sorry Mark I forgot) and it had taken several years to get her into its spectacular shape to take intrepid holiday makers around the Scottish waters around Mull and Iona in comfort and safety.
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| Life on the ocean wave. |
The plan for the day was circumnavigation of Iona under sail for as much of the time as possible. Mark said that conditions were more or less perfect as there was some wind, the weather was warm enough to be comfortable and the sea was calm. We were relieved (about the calm waters). Being under sail is very very relaxing, especially if you have not responsibility of avoiding the numerous hidden rocks and whirlpools. Well I had no responsibility but A2 was keen to have a go at steering. Mark set him off on course to a certain rock but we quickly noticed that A2 was aiming at an alternative rock, no problem he was quickly realigned by Mark and we safely rounded the south side of the island passing Columbus Bay and 1 Sheep Island (Guess why it is so named?). Apparently in days gone by Iona was packed full with folk farming on every inch of the island. I imaging they were tough times. After a while A2 was relieved of steering duty and the helm was taken by another passenger. The new captain was evidently an old hand at boats and he was at the helm for most of the way back North. I was always amazed at the concept of sailing into the wind but this we seemed to do with little problem, the great boat with its red sails had no problem. There were however lots of ropes. I tried to imagine the instruction manual for such a boat. In the style of B&Q. Take rope (F) from slot (B1) and pull until Sail (S1) takes the wind. Don't forget to check ropes (J),(T) and (L) are not trailing in the water, etc....
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| A1 artistic shot of B&Q diagram |
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| A1 artistic shot of front of boat (bow?) |
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| Beach ahoy. |
We really enjoyed the experience and the hours passed quickly with views of different parts of the island and were entertained by a constant flow of tales and information by our likeable skipper Mark.
As the boat started to slow into the wind we changed tack and were given mugs of hot coffee which went down very well. After a couple of tacks into the wind Mark decided that in order to get back in reasonable time it would be necessary to use the motor for the final bit around the north and back to Iona.
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| A1 shot of beach (above) |
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| A1 shot this - we missed the ferry literally! |
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| A1 pic of our boat from Iona. |
A great trip and one that we would repeat on any future visit. But thats not all...
I had read in the house visitors book that "someone" on the island of Iona would (for a fee) bring you back to Mull after the last ferry. The someone happened to be our new friend Mark. We agreed the fee, disembarked on Iona and arranged to meet at 9 o'clock at the slipway for a return trip to Mull.
We should perhaps have booked a meal in advance as the Hotel was full but no problem we got a very nice meal and a drink at the restaurant by the ferry terminal. At 9 o'clock we went to wait for Mark. It was very dark (no moon) and the lights of Mull seemed a long way off. Were we mad? What boat were we going to travel in? (We had forgotten to ask!). Anyway just after 9 Mark appeared out of the darkness, picked up a dingy and disappeared, rowing into the darkness saying "I'l be back in 5".
Now we were feeling odd. He seemed to have no torch and it was pitch black. We kind of felt bad for asking him to come out at night on the whim of a bunch of holiday makers. No worry, we soon saw the lights of the sailing boat switch on and heard the sound on the good old sailing ship motoring towards us. As he said back in 5. I suppose we imagined he would have a smaller boat for taxi purposes. We were loaded on and the dark journey to Mull was over in a flash. What an experience! We thanked Mark many times, he is a likeable chap! After dropping us off we watched him sail away into the darkness. I made a note to myself to check the boat was safely back in the morning. It was no problem I assume he has done such trips 100's of times and in much worse conditions.
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| A1 took this pic on the dark crossing |
And thats still not all... well its a long way to come not to do everything possible.. It was Pub Music night. We had been told that the music really gets going after 9 so we were just in time. The Pub was full of locals, holidaymakers and local musicians. Over the night there were performances by Accordion, Guitar, Violin (Fiddle), Trumpet, Harmonica and finally Ukulele. The beer was flowing well with us and also with some of the musicians. As some of the audience left we found a seat beside the music and with audience participation encouraged A1 helped to keep the band together for a rendition of all 23 verses of American Pie! I should say that A1 loves to sing but is a little shy (you would never guess). The musicians were good and the evening was very entertaining we only left after last orders.
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| Accordion, Guitar and Fiddle in full swing |
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| The trumpet player on guitar with the guitar playing singer |
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| Ukelele, Harmonica and Guitar end of the night! |
What a day. I have little memory of anything when we got back to base except Zzzz... for all.
