The Treshnish Isles - Bird Lovers Paradise.

After two lovely relaxing days on Colonsay the weather was just perfect for the 20km crossing to Mull with the forecast South Westerly of 10-12 maybe 15knots it was likely to be an easy fast crossing. Both sails went up pretty much as soon as we left the beach, the wind was light but we could feel we were making good progress as we daydreamed our way along in the sunshine. After about an hour and half Lynne happened to look behind and exclaimed “Look!” Blimey, we knew there was rain forecast but the sky behind was a threatening black wall of cloud. We were still in hot sun, but not for long. Gradually everything went grey, the wind and sea picked up noticeably and in the heavy showers visibility was very poor. We headed in a more westerly direction, directly for the Sound of Iona and at 11, 3 hours from leaving Colonsay we landed on a sheltered beach just inside the Sound for a cuppa and a bite to eat. 

I noticed the aluminium rudder blade was a bit bent from the force of steering in the following seas, which it shouldn’t be. On closer inspection I realised why.  The aluminium was cracked half way across just above the rudder cheeks, just where the blade flex is concentrated. Mmmm, that’s not going to last long in seas like this morning. There’s nothing we are able to do to repair it and we’re a long way from an aluminium fabricators to have one made so I unpacked my phone and headed up looking for reception. None, not unexpected in this part of the world but across the Sound of Iona I found free wifi outside the Iona Craft Shop. Within a minute or two both our daughters were lined up to remove the rudder blade from our kayak at home and send it to Mallaig Post Office for us to pick up.

We had passed this way in 2013 but the weather had prevented us from getting out to Staffa, and the state of the tide made landing the laden double on the Treshnish Isle of Lunga very difficult. We vowed to return. 

So here we are with a dodgy rudder on a bit of a grim wet wild day but Staffa an easy 12km run downwind and with high tide at 5pm, just perfect for landing and camping on Lunga, a further 8km downwind. Onward, but with only one sail up and treading very lightly on the rudder pedals. 

We couldn’t see anything ahead of us through the grey murk as we followed a compass bearing of 20deg. The Staffa tour boat from Iona disappeared straight ahead of us into the greyness, at least confirming we were heading in the right direction. Surprisingly the Treshnish Isles to the NW of us were fairly clear and there were even patches of blue sky far beyond them. 

At about the time we were thinking “surely we should be able to see Staffa by now” a darker shade became visible in the murk.  The island slowly became clearer.  We could also see lots of coloured dots on the rocks adjacent to Fingals Cave and three tourist boats standing off waiting to pick up or drop off more people. 

Wilderness this ain’t. 

The array of hexagonal columns and the terraced hexagonal ‘tesselated’ pavement formed by the tops of columns was certainly an impressive sight. 

Landing on a shingle beach on the SE shore we had lunch then headed around the north of the island. 

Along the NE shore suddenly the sky and sea around us was full of puffins! Thousands of them. Many fringing the cliff edge in front of their burrows, others swooping around us, wings beating furiously, bright orange webbed feet streamed out behind and those bobbing on water in the lee of the island apparently unconcerned with our presence until just metres away. 

Such attractive gloriously comical birds. 

Back out into the wind and it was a quick crossing to Lunga, where another tourist boat stood off the shore having deposited its load of tourists ashore to explore the island. 

At high tide the big seaweed covered boulders forming the stony spit at the northern end of the island are well underwater leaving a flat area of pebbles, easy landing for us an hour or so before high tide. As we pitched the tent and settled in the clouds slowly cleared to a glorious sunny evening. 

If we thought the puffins on Staffa were impressive they were nothing compared to Lunga.  Tamed presumably by the regular tour boats we could sit and watch the puffins come and go from only metres away. They just didn’t seem to notice us at all. Coming and going from their burrows, some just standing there seemingly enjoying the warm sunny evening as we were. Quite a few were flying in with beaks full of fish, landing with uncanny accuracy right in their burrow entrance and disappearing underground instantly. 

Razorbills intermingled with the puffins and there were also shags nesting under boulders, fulmars perched precariously on tiny ledges as well as a colony of thousands of guillemots clamouring raucously on offshore rocks and pillars off the west coast. 

The long evening sunlight culminated with a spectacular sunset but not long after we settled in for the night the rain began again and continued all night and well into the next day. 

In the morning while we had the island to ourselves we explored again, walking to the summit of the island in the light rain as well as of course some time simply watching puffins going about their daily business. 

We emerged from our tent again late afternoon to a scene of busyness.  One of the tour boats was using their floating landing ramp to load passengers and a group of sea kayakers had just arrived, whereas we were packing up to leave on the same late afternoon high tide that we’d arrived on the day before. 

Across towards the shore of Mull with just the last of the flood tide helping us on our way and then north to Caliach Point where the tide was well and truly ebbing against us. It was a bit of a plod the last few kms to a fantastic campsite at Langamull beach. We’d camped in exactly the same spot on beautifully smooth machair on a raised platform above the beach on our way to Tobermory in 2013.