OUTER BARRA
HEBRIDES
VATERSAY
MINGULAY
BERNERAY
PABBAY
SANDAY
MULDOANICH
Barra HeadLighthouse
Mingulay Bay
Sound of
Pabbay
Sea of
Hebrides
At
lan
tic
O
ce
an
Vatersay Bay
Bagh Ban
Castlebay
N
BARRA
JURA
GARVELLACHS
TRESHNISHISLANDS
TORRAN
ROCKS
STAFFA
LUNGA
GUNNA
Eilean Mhor
IONA oRfo Mssull
MULL
COLL
RUM
CANNA
EIGG
TIREE
Sea
of
Heb
ride
s
Gunna
Sound
Sound
of Iona
Gulf of Corryvreckan Soundof Luing
Ardalanish
Aringour
Castlebay
Oban
Craobh
Haven
Atlantic
Ocean
SCOTLAND
OUTER HEBRIDES
nautical miles
030
Fingal’s Cave
Loch
Breachacha
Looking down on
Kalessin anchored
in Mingulay Bay
Ph
ot
os
:^ G
en
ev
ie
ve
L
ea
pe
r
Next morning, as there was no hurry to
catch the tide through the Sound of Iona,
we had time to sort our gear and
familiarise ourselves with the boat, starting
with Dad’s complicated colour coding on
the anchor chain.
After a gentle sail along the coast inside
the Torran rocks I could see we would be
motoring through the Sound and opted
for a scenic shortcut through Tinker’s
Hole. This is a popular anchorage in the
narrow gap between pink granite walls of
Erraid and Eilean Dubh. It wasn’t clear
from the pilot book exactly how much
water there would be in the channel north
of the anchorage, but the bottom is flat
sand and the tide was rising.
The twin keel Konsort draws only one
metre but still it was a few centimetres too
much. Halfway through we ground gently
to a halt, dropped the anchor with a token
length of chain and pretended we meant
to stop for lunch all along. By the time
we’d rowed ashore to explore the islet
Eilean Ghomhain the boat was afloat and
we were soon passing Iona abbey on the
flood tide.
The sea was glassy calm and as it would
only take a few hours to get to Treshnish
under power, it seemed ideal for a visit to
Staffa. I have sailed past and admired the
basalt columns of Fingal’s cave many
times, but never landed. There is no
shelter but it is possible to anchor in a
small area south of the landing place
where there is a flat bottom at about 10m.
The tripper boats were still coming and
going. Seeing a boat-load of tourists
heading for the cave as we set off in the
dinghy, we first rowed round to the larger
Boat Cave and then into Fingal’s Cave
once it was empty.
Land of the giants
According to legend, Fionn Mac Cumhaill
was an Irish giant who built the Giant’s
Causeway to get from Ireland to Scotland
to fight a rival. Both basalt formations are
indeed part of the same 60 million year
old lava flow but apparently the cave on
Staffa was only named after him in the
18th century. The older Gaelic name
Uamh Binn means ‘Cave of Melody’.
Mendelssohn heard the cave’s music on
his visit in 1829 and was inspired to write
the opening to his Hebrides Overture then
and there. Later we landed and walked
among the orchids and wild thyme,
before heading on to Lunga, with dinner
on the way.
There was only one yacht in the
anchorage but two new pontoons on
moorings were a sign it would be busy
with tripper boats here too. They pick up
the pontoons and motor them ashore to
land the passengers on the rocky beach.
For now all was quiet, with just the rasping
calls of corncrakes, the birds you hear but
never see.
The puffins were as obliging and
entertaining as ever, busy with their own
social life and unconcerned by human
‘We landed on Staffa and walked among
the orchids and wild thyme, before heading
on to Lunga, with dinner on the way’
ABOVE The basalt
columns of the
famous Fingal’s Cave
on the Isle of Staffa
LEFT Westerly
Konsort Kalessin
under sail off
Mingulay in the
Western Isles
HEBRIDES
➜