Forecast is for light and variable wind. Filled up with water at the pier, then set off via Sound of Scalpay towards the Shiant Islands.
The Shiant Islands are very much a fair weather destination – they say the Sound of Shiant (between Lewis and the Shiants can get quite nasty with wind against tide. If there is much by way of swell or wind you cannot go there anyway as the anchorage is not much good. As we headed over there all the islands to the south were in sunshine, while the mountains of Harris and Lewis seemed to create cloud which filled the Northern half of the sky. The wind was rather too light and flukey for our patience, so we motored the last few miles. The main anchorage between Garbh Eilean and En an Tighe did not seem inviting, with a bit if swell rumbling ominously on the rocks, so we looked at the alternative in the NW corner of the bay. As we approached some guillemots right beside the boat dived and we could see them swimming under the water. This anchorage seemed OK – it was just a tiny patch of sand visible among the weed and rock, so we dropped the anchor in 11m of water and had a cup of tea. The sea was quieter in this corner except where it came through a small rock arch, so we landed in the dinghy and had a very short look round, not feeling like venturing far from the boat.
The wind remained light so we hardly managed any sailing on the way to Loch Shell. We could not find anywhere good to anchor so picked up a huge mooring in Tob Lemreway (lots of places here are called Tob – must find out what it means). The mooring must belong to one of the fish farming boats, but as it’s Sunday nothing is happening. I hope they don’t need it early in the morning. After the rain stopped the place became totally silent. There are a number of houses round the bay but no people or cars or anything are on the move.
Tomorrow we could visit another Loch or go to Stornoway.
Follow our
track on Google Maps.
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| Filling up with water at N Harbour, Scalpay |
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| Sound of Scalpay. The bridge joins Scalpay to Harris |
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| Exploring the island |
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| The boat seemed much closer to the shore when anchoring! |
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| Lazy beds used for cultivation long ago. |
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| Short cut? |
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The basalt columns are similar to those on Staffa
but many times the height |
