Practical Boat Owner – June 2019

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

➜