Lotus anchored at Staffa,
home of Fingal’s Cave
APRIL 2016 http://www.yachtingmonthly.com 71with the buoy behind us. We
made for Gometra Harbour and
were soon ensconced in the
bay, which we had entirely to
ourselves. Another glorious day
dawned, with blue skies and
bright sunshine.
As we left I noticed that both
sun and moon were visible, so
I thought I’d practice celestial
navigation. Comparing my results
with the GPS, I found I was six
or seven miles out. Not too bad
for a beginner. In the middle of
an ocean it would probably be
accurate enough, but near land it
didn’t look so impressive.
Whisky tour on Islay
We called in at Staffa to visit
Fingal’s Cave and then on towards
Iona and Colonsay, flying the
cruising chute when we could.
I took extra care passing through
the Torran Rocks, as I thought that
this was a particularly good area
not to run aground.
In the morning we made our
way to the Sound of Islay and
before long we’d sighted the
Bunnahabhain distillery, its name
proudly painted across a (very
long) building, forming a great
landmark. It seemed rude to
pass by without saying hello. We
were a little over-dressed, but the
distillery guide took it in her stride
and conversationally asked if
we’d come by boat – as if people
wearing sea-boots, waterproofs
and lifejackets often came by bus.
She described their whiskies and
let us taste a couple. That night
we moored at Craighouse where
the distillery was closed but the
pub was open, so we avoided the
washing-up again.
On the final day we had a
pleasant sail up the Sound of Jura
back to Craobh Haven. To round
off the day and the trip we had
a celebratory meal in the Lord of
the Isles pub.Despite touching the bottom
and picking up the fishing buoy, it
was a thoroughly enjoyable trip.
Craobh Haven was a wonderful
location, and the extra space in
Lotus, compared to other boats
I’ve chartered, was very welcome.
The weather was far better than
we expected and the scenery was
simply stunning, even if the coast
is most unforgiving. There are far
more rocks than there are people,
so you have to be self-reliant. WChartered Engineer
Matthew Diggle started
sailing by signing up for
the Clipper 2011-12 race
and competing in the leg
from Australia to Singapore.
Since then he’s helped bring
a yacht back from Portugal
across the Bay of Biscay
as well as cruising in and
around the Solent and off
the coast of Italy.Matthew Diggle
Matthew has built
up experience with
charters since 2012The whole crew enjoyed
exploring a beautiful
cruising ground that
was new to all