Tuesday 22 June West Loch Tarbert to The Ardmore islands Islay 32 nm

I woke about 0530 and all was peaceful. I could tell the sun was up so quietly clambered out of bed just to view the scene. I stood on deck and took night perfect morning. The sun was indeed up casting a golden glow on the world and the water was completely calm with uninterrupted reflections. The sea birds on the nearby island were squawking wildly which seemed to strangely add to the peace. Returned to bed and sleep for another hour or so.

We set off from the lovely anchorage at Rhu point in a little breeze which was just rippling the surface. The sunshine was turning hazy and the air temperature chilly , which has been a feature of this year. the Islay ferry came past but no panic! Some breeze stung up before exiting the Loch so we put the sails up and headed towards Islay round the northern point of Gigha. We had to then roll away the headsail and motor for a bit. I wrote the blog and we had Cornish pasties for lunch still under a sun and cloud sky. Sadly the sun got less and the cloud more, but the wind kindly blew more from the west and eventually we approached the little white lighthouse signalling the Ardmore islands. This couldn’t be wilder or feel more remote. It’s an archipelago of islets, all it seems home to a huge number of grey seals. We almost felt we were intruding. We anchored at the far end after picking our way through carefully according to the plotters and the pilot. We sat at anchor tide rode for sometime, as the tide pushed us one way and the wind the other. A slightly uncomfortable position as you want to be protected from the wind by pointing into it. Never mind we sat and watched the seals and ate peanuts beforeJ cooked supper . I tried to work out port Ellen tides which was very challenging and I’m still not sure are right. 🤔