Pulling Moonshadow's Mast at Ardfern Yacht Centre

2011 season comes to an end

The stunning views of the snow capped mountains - this was our view of Ben Cruachan as we passed Kerrera - almost almost made up for the freezing conditions as we sailed down the coast yesterday to our winter berth at Ardfern Yacht Centre.  

The sails are now off (well done Lorna and Chris!) and preparations underway for the winter work schedule, which this year includes pulling the mast for maintenance of the in-mast furling system.  Watch this space for further updates and photos!


Thanks to all of our lovely guests who joined us this year. We had a thoroughly enjoyable time sailing with you and hope that we will see you back on Moonshadow in years to come.

Visit Scotland Press Trip

The EU funded Sail West Initiative is the result of a collaboration of over 20 partners from the West of Scotland, Northern Ireland and Ireland. Its aim is to encourage the development of marine and cultural tourism across the entire region. As part of an extensive marketing campaign to promote the north coast of Ireland and the west coast of Scotland as important sailing destinations, Visit Scotland, with the assistance of Sail Scotland, organised a Scottish sailing weekend for a group of European travel writers.

Following their arrival in Oban on the Friday afternoon, the journalists enjoyed what was the start of an action packed weekend with a tour of the distillery and a meal at the Waypoint Grill on Kerrera, before settling down in their bunks for the night. Saturday morning saw us heading up the Sound of Mull to Lochaline and the new pontoons. A delightful lunch was provided at the Whitehouse Restaurant, then it was on to Tobermory for a seafood dinner at Cafe Fish. The evening continued with visits to the Mishnish and McGeochans, where we were all welcomed to a 21st birthday party which was already in full swing! After a hearty breakfast on Sunday morning, it was back down to Oban with lunch for the 15 party members on board Moonshadow before the afternoon train to Glasgow departed. 


For reviews of the weekend see the following articles in the Guardian and on Green Traveller:


http://www.guardian.co.uk/travel/2011/sep/09/sailing-holiday-scotland-oban
http://www.greentraveller.co.uk/blog/sailing-scotlands-west-coast

Gordounston International Summer School Cruise 2011

Another West Coast Summer School comes to an end and as usual we are left with many happy memories of shared adventures with friends old and new. Our international crews enjoyed a month of fantastic weather and no encouragement was needed for daily swimming off the yachts and some very enthusiastic water fights under sail. Staff had their hands full with a fleet of 11 boats and over 80 foreign students sailing in company during the final week.  

We explored a variety of islands and anchorages during this year's cruise, including the slate quarries on Easdale, the beehive cells on Eileach an Naoimh, the main island of the Garvellachs, Craighouse, Jura and Tayvallich at the head of Loch Sween. On Lunga, the students were entertained by Kyle who played a selection of pipe tunes as the sun set over the anchorage. A visit to Tobermory and the Mull Highland Games was rounded off with a BBQ and games evening at Aros Park. Mussels were enjoyed in Loch Spelve and trips through Corryvreckan and the Grey Dogs kept everyone on their toes.  

During the final week, with the sun shining and the wind still light, we even manoeuvred the fleet into a Sunflower in Loch Craignish. The views from the top of Moonshadow's mast were amazing!

Loch Moidart and Castle Tioram

We enjoyed some beautiful evenings in Loch Moidart over the summer and had the chance to explore the ruins of Castle Tioram (pronounced Cheerum), situated on the rocky tidal island Eilean Tioram (the Dry Island) where the waters of Loch Moidart and the river Shiel meet. The castle is the ancestral home of the Macdonalds of Clanranald and is one of the foremost surviving examples of a 13th century castle in Scotland.

Skye, Raasay and Rona

Skye, Raasay and Rona, a set on Flickr.

A visit to Rona would not be complete without a walk over the hill from the beautiful anchorage of Acarsaid Mor to the east coast of the island and Church (or Giant's) Cave.  Before Rona's Church was built in 1878. islanders worshipped in this cavern and used it to celebrate weddings and baptisms.  Beyond the large Gothic-like archway, the cave opens out to reveal its intriguing contents.  Rows of stones span the width of the cave; these were used as pews for the congregation. A low stone pillar was used as a pulpit and beside it a hollowed out stone, fed naturally by drips of water from the cave roof, served as a font.  The views from the Cave across to Applecross  are magnificent. 


On Raasay, a wander along Calum's Road was in order. You can read about this remarkable project, the achievement of local islander Calum Macleod, on the community website:
http://www.raasay.com/RaasayBooks-CalumsRoad.html

The Small Isles

Moonshadow was a regular visitor to the Small Isles this summer.  Guests soaked up the sunshine and enjoyed exploring the contrasting landscapes on Rum, Eigg, Muck and Canna.

Dolphins

It's been a great summer so far for dolphin spotting and guests have enjoyed some excellent close encounters with these beautiful creatures. This pod accompanied us through the narrows at Kylerhea.

Potholing Adventures on Skye

In June we paid a visit to Spar Cave on the Strathaird Peninsula on Skye. Settled conditions allowed us to anchor off the narrow inlet which hid the entrance and excitement built as our intrepid crew headed ashore in the tender, headtorches at the ready to explore the Cave's hidden depths. 

 In the 18^th Century, the Cave had been a fashionable destination for well-heeled Victorian tourists, drawn north to the area by Sir Walter Scott's poem “The Lord of the Isles” in which he wrote of a mermaid who 'bathes her limbs in sunless well, deep in Strathaird's enchanted cell... where dazzling spars gleam like a firmament of stars'.

The “spars” referred to in the poem, gave the Cave its popular name, but its true Gaelic title is Slochd Altrimen, or Nursing Cave. This dates from the ninth century when a local princess fell in love with the son of the chief of Colonsay who was shipwrecked on the Strathaird coast. Unfortunately the fathers of the young lovers were sworn enemies and when she gave birth to a child, the baby was concealed in the cave to ensure its survival until the feud was settled.

As we approached the Cave entrance we passed the moss covered remains of the wall built by one-time landowner, Alexander MacAllister, to keep out the unwelcome Victorian visitors. It was eventually destroyed by cannon fire from a disgruntled passing sailor.   

Once inside the cave, our head torches lit up the glistening, marble-like Spar or Flowstone (Calcium Carbonate) which covered the surfaces and the huge columns formed by centuries of water dripping through the limestone. Once upon a time stalactites hung from the high ceiling, but these were taken as souvenirs by the aforementioned Victorian sightseers.  The staining from their candles and torches can still be seen on the roof.  


After a nerve racking scramble up the steep flowstone staircase, which despite initial qualms had surprisingly good grip, we marvelled at the strange rock formations and watery pools which emerged from the darkness around us. The floor levels out at the top of the staircase to descend a short while later to the deep pool featured in Scott’s poem.  This marks the end of the cave. We didn't linger much longer – time, tide (and torch batteries) wait for no man - so we formed an orderly (well, there were a few shrieks resulting from the water dripping down our necks) queue and went backwards (literally) down the staircase.  

As we emerged, from this secret underground world, blinking in the late afternoon sunshine, we were surprised to see that the world was as we had left it.  Filled with a real spirit of adventure, we made our way back to Moonshadow with magical images of swimming mermaids in sparkling pools filling our thoughts. 


Share this adventure with us in the following video:

May Cruises 2011

Despite an unusually wet and windy May, Moonshadow's guests enjoyed some exhilarating sailing, beautiful sunsets and close encounters with some of our local wildlife.   

Seals, Canna

Sunset, Sound of Mull

Chocolate and tulips

Dolphins off Ardnamurchan

Dolphins off Ardnamurchan

Minke (very far away!) off Rum

Calm waters

Kingairloch

Homeward Bound

Our work at Troon completed, we headed back up to Dunstaffnage for the start of the new season. Despite gale force winds off Jura, the sun shone and we enjoyed a cracking sail home.