The 30nm crossing from Inishtrahull to the entrance of Loch Indaal on Islay was a foggy one which didn’t clear until we were closing in on the Islay shore. We did have tide and a decent wind but turning into the Loch to Port Charlotte good help from the engine was needed as the northerly wind was now on our bow. The wind picked up even more as we approached Port Charlotte and we hoped there would be enough shelter there. Anchoring as close in as possible, the Danforth stuck straight away and gave us no worries overnight as those northerlies persisted. The Pilot Book doesn’t have much information on Port Charlotte which was probably why we were the only boat there.
Next day we made our way to Port Ellen which is a popular first stop on Islay from the north coast of Ireland. We passed numerous distilleries along the way with many of the walkways ashore leading to the distilleries also.
Next day the promised easterly winds arrived and we set off with the tide up through Sound of Islay towards Loch Tarbert on the Isle of Jura. It was another glorious day and this sunny warm weather was predicted to last for the rest of our cruise in Scotland. Loch Tarbert is beautiful and in calm conditions offers numerous anchoring options. Though the rocks and shallows need to be watched. The only complaint was that the phone signal was patchy.
From a lovely anchorage in Loch Tarbert we headed to Bunessan on the north side of the Ross of Mull. Along the way we sailed passed the popular Tinker’s Hole anchorage, sailed up along the Sound of Iona and passed close to another popular anchorage the Bull Hole. In previous years Lady Belle had stopped in all these wonderful places.
Bunessan is a lovely secure anchorage with nice walks ashore though the tiny shop is crowded with just 2 customers. We were off again the next morning to the island of Coll. Conditions were flat calm so along the way we did some sightseeing around Fingal’s Cave in Staffa getting there before most of the tourist boats. There are two sneaky rocks close to the entrance of the Cave that rise to 2 meters from 30 meters.
A few miles north of Staffa we passed through the Treshnish Islands on our way to Coll. Treshnish is an archipelago of small islands and skerries famous for it’s breeding grounds for a variety of birds. The crystal clear water of the anchorage was busy with boats and lots of people could be seen ashore walking the island. We carried on to Coll a further 8nm ahead.