Sunday 27 May 2012 – Port Ellen to Craighouse

The project to upgrade the pier continued. Today they were stripping away the old (perfectly good) paving and had a gang of men all set to lay the new paving.  I guess it’s paid for by whisky money, but I hope the lorry loads of old paving get re-used.  The wind seemed a bit lighter than yesterday, so we decided to head through the Sound of Islay to West Loch Tarbert.  The beat to the start of the sound started well, wondering if a reef might be needed.  However by the time we reached the SE corner of Islay we were not making sufficient progress, so motored to Craighouse, which is on the E side of Jura.

There were lots of visitors’ moorings, so we picked one up and visited the hotel, the only source of refreshment on the island (apart from “tea on the beach” – see last year).  This was still busy with competitors and supporters of the Fell race up the Paps of Jura, which had been on Saturday.  Jura is living up to its reputation for remoteness. No Orange mobile signal, but I think they have another operator.

Tomorrow the wind is forecast to be very light so we hope to go up the Paps, well one or more of them.

Follow our track on Google Maps.

Port Ellen pier. Boat is delivering blocks.
Crane busy with the building work

Approaching Craighouse. Paps of Jura behind

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