Date: Friday 5th September, 2008
Anchorage: Tobermory
Position: 56° 38’.100N 006° 03’.700W
Distance Travelled: 33 NM

The Skipper’s Report:

The sun rose over the hills of Mull in a glorious burst of orange light illuminating the clouds which softly clothed the velvet slopes of the hills. As usual, only Geoff and I were up, conscious and able to fully enjoy the exquisite pleasure of waking up on a yacht anchored in one of the most beautiful places in the world. The rest of the crew remained in slumber waiting for the inevitable arrival of the wake up call.

Friday had arrived, the last day of a wonderful trip around the islands but a new experience for me being involved in a weeks surveying and monitoring the wildlife of the area. The company had been great, the weather superb (we had enjoyed sunshine while England was battered by winds and heavy rain) and we had seen several whales, lots of porpoise, basking sharks and birds. A report of orcas in the area had raised spirits but despite our best efforts they remained elusive.

However as skipper in charge of overall discipline I had found things hard at times, many of the volunteers proving a trial which even Captain Bligh would have found a challenge. Water had been regarded as a commodity to be wasted, electricity used in a frivolous manner and food consumed in huge quantities by all aboard (apart from myself of course due to being on a strict diet). The other crew were supportive, when it suited them. The food cooked by Julie – excellent but no regard given to the massive quantity of washing up which were left after every meal. Rick, the 1st mate (with an varied and stylish assortment of undergarments which were on various occasions on display) was the epitome of the stylish adventurer, with an apparently strange relationship with coffee of all things. He specialised in exploding coffee cans, wreaking havoc in the galley on one occasion, but his real forte was in the recovery of dinghies which had been left in stupid places. Why he felt the need to strip to minimum clothing must remain a secret between him and his mother but did seem to indicate a singular lack pf potty training. And of course I have to be grateful for the help, assistance, advice and general back seat driving from the scientific officer on board – Susannah. Occasionally one has the pleasure of meeting someone who has the natural ability to lead people beyond their normal limitations, who has an unnatural ability to think ahead and plan unerringly, who has the depth of biological knowledge which has only been superseded by Darwin. One day I hope to meet such a person.

But all in all I have to report that a wonderful time was had by all, Skipper, 1st Mate, scientific officer, cook and all the volunteers – a marvellous time which I will remember with great pleasure and gratitude.

D.

Date: Thursday 4th September, 2008
Anchorage: Craigaig Bay, Ulva
Position: 56° 28’.200N 006° 13’.000W
Distance Travelled: 40 NM

After a blissfully peaceful night we awoke to a clear blue morning and calm seas. This aided in our sighting two minke whales in the first 40 minutes. 30 minutes was taken to admire the creatures, with us presuming that it was an adult and a youngling. With such calm waters we made good use of the Crows nest, with everyone having a go! However, the sightings calmed down somewhat after the initial treat of the minke whales, but we still sighted a basking shark, several porpoises and a couple of grey seals. Tonight we have moored in Craigaig and decided to take a trip to a wee small Isle. This was a wondrous place with a small cove beach with maerl sand (that’s algae, which is a delicate and sensitive habitat). Nearly all of the party took a cool swim in the crystal clear water, with all agreeing it was a wonderful experience, with me saying that it was the ‘best beach I’ve ever swum at’. The day and night has been topped off with Haggis and neaps and recurring tales of how the 1st mate once again had to strip down to his pants to retrieve the dinghy. High hopes of another good day tomorrow, but the weather is looking a bit dubious.
Cheers all, GUY.

PS. Recipe for Dahl (Pam’s secret recipe):
¼ pan of dahl
2 to 4 bay leaves depending upon pan size
3 to 4 whole cloves of garlic
Salt and Pepper to taste
Cover dahl with boiling water (just enough to cover)
Keep over low heat and keep topping up as it evaporates
When near to serving, ensure that liquid is reduced and texture becomes thick
At this point add 1/3 to ½ pack of unsalted butter and stir through
Serve and enjoy!

Date: Wednesday 3rd September, 2008
Anchorage: Gometra
Position: 56° 29’.100N 006° 16’.000W
Distance Travelled: 56 NM

So, I’m writing the blog tonight, as we’ve worked our marvellous volunteers so hard that they’ve all crashed out to their beds already – and it’s only ten o’clock. Another long day at sea, but a brilliant one, with little but sunny blue skies and bonny Atlantic swells rolling in from afar. We started out from our anchorage heading for seas west of Tiree, encountering our basking shark friends from yesterday on our way. Onwards from there to Skerryvore lighthouse, where the big turquoise waves were breaking spectacularly over the reef, and catching the sun. From Skerryvore toward the west coast of Mull, and our anchorage, as the evening sunshine turned to golden then red as it set over the Treshnish Isles. On top of the sharks, we’ve seen seals and sunfish, and detected a good many porpoises on the hydrophone. We have also managed to eat like lords – yet again. Highlight undoubtedly the afternoon scones, where valuable lessons were learnt in the wisdom of eating in moderation…or not…where were those Rennie, skipper…?

Susie

Date: Tuesday 2nd September, 2008
Anchorage: Loch Breachacha, Isle of Coll
Position: 56° 35’.100N 006° 37’.400W
Distance Travelled: 34NM

- WELL HELLO BIG BOY !
As the enormous basking shark was approaching the boat slowly we could start to see the shape of its impressive body under the water.
- Come on, open your mouth! They must surely have been a good dozen of them lurking around the boat at the same time this afternoon. Having missed the “stunning full breach, surely the highlight of the trip and blah, blah, blah…”, I desperately kept on asking them for one forgetting that the sharks probably didn’t even realise the boat’s presence…
A few hours later we got a “very lovely sight” at Rick’s pants as he was trying to get into the tender brought out of reach by the incoming tide. Even a seal joined us to have a look at his backside. Vic regretted not being able to show you his hilarious adventures by putting photos up on the blog but Susie put on a big grin at Rick and said “It’s actually probably better we can’t”. Poor Rick we’re surely going to laugh about this for a long time…

Nadj

Date: Monday 1st September, 2008
Anchorage: Craigaig Bay, Ulva
Position: 56° 28’.200N 006° 13’.000W
Distance Travelled: 54 NM

An experienced old mariner once said; ‘rain at seven, sun by eleven’ and that is exactly what happened this morning, the same old mariner also said ‘sun at eleven, squall at quarter to one’ and funnily enough that happened also though it cleared up by ‘one’. Hopefully our skipper won’t take too much offence at being called an ‘old mariner’…

With the rain came wind, and for the first time this trip we were without the help of our trusty engine, to everyone’s delight. We managed to keep up the desired 6 knots of speed for much of the day without The day wasn’t as ‘successful’ in terms of sightings, however we did spot a few porpoises and basking sharks, with one basking shark even stunning us with a full on breach just in front of the bow.

There was even a chance for the odd shower, though of the saltwater variety, as anyone standing at the main mast on ‘obs’ (scouring the sea for any signs of life) got a good soaking as we crashed through the waves. It was pretty exhilarating and no-one could quite believe it when we realised we’d done 10 hours of surveying.

All in all it was an amazing day, with impressive skies (even a dolphin shaped cloud, which I wrongly interpreted as an indicator of dolphin sightings to come…!) and team spirit, topped off by yet another amazing meal from Julie. And cake, we had cake, as it was Vic and Guy’s 1st wedding anniversary today!

Mairi

Date: Sunday 31st August, 2008
Anchorage: Isle of Muck
Position: 56° 50’.700N 006° 15’.800W
Distance Travelled: 49 NM

Apparently some woke up earlier than anticipated this morning – something to do with a springy anchor chain – but this didn’t apply to those with a clear conscience and a deep sleeping habit. The morning was a little grey and mysterious but that seems a long time ago now because we had a fantastic afternoon – chugging around with a little help from all three sails in the area between Barra and Muck – the mysterious changed to glorious as the sun took ‘his hat off and came out to play’ (acca Monty Python). Our cetacean pals did the same and we saw some more porpoises to add to the morning tally, three basking sharks (one breaching) and a couple of minkes joined the party. This was particularly fine if watched from the crows nest. The passage back to our anchorage was illuminated by a full rainbow right over Muck with darker shades beyond the outer bow – a portal to another dimension perhaps!

Then back to the mooring of last night at the west side of Muck where the sunset was stupendous and Julie showed us a lovely little shell beach to admire it from. Now we are getting reports about the milky way and shooting stars!

Can we have the same tomorrow please but make sure that the dolphins get an invite?

Tim

Date: Saturday 30th August, 2008
Anchorage: Isle of Muck
Position: 56° 50’.700N 006° 15’.800W
Distance Travelled: 17 NM

Welcome to the first day of the new project. In attendance are volunteers: Mairri (from Inverness), Nadja (from Switzerland), Geoff (from Commondale, N Yorks), Tim (from Stirling) and Vic and Guy (Exeter). Crew and scientist include Susie (science), Rick (first mate), Julie (chef) and Dave (skipper).

We are currently moored at Muck. Its dark, but before the lights went out, we could see islands and mountains behind the boat shrouded in mist. We are moored just in front of a little bay in Muck. There are a few sheep and about 4 houses on Muck but apart from that it all seems very quiet and peaceful.

We have had a good first day on the boat. We have seen an otter in Tobermory harbour, an Ocean Sunfish only 2 mins into the spotting, a possible minke whale spotting and several grey seals. The sea has been relatively calm but with some bigger swell in the middle of the afternoon. No one has been seasick and we (the volunteers) are all learning lots of new things about cetaceans – who would have thought a killer whale was really a dolphin?

Victoria