Anchorage: Loch Scresort, Isle of Rum
Distance travelled: 55.2NM
The good ship Silurian left Lunga with the crew suitably attired for Pirate Day, aaarrrrhh we looked a fearsome bunch, with eye patches, scars and bandannas. The Cap’n was even sporting the finest cardboard parrot. The weather that greeted us as we headed across to Tiree was somewhat out of the ordinary for this trip so far, the sun was shining! The sea was however up to the previous days’ tricks as we rolled and pitched about. The sea calmed down as we rounded the east tip of Coll and we got our first sighting of the day, a large basking shark, shortly followed by a second. Some of the crew then had the briefest of glimpses of a Minke whale in amongst the swell and as we circled trying to see a better view we saw a porpoise and another (or possibly the same!) basking shark, which Emma up the crow’s nest judged to be half the length of the boat, 9m!
As we left the shelter of Coll we resumed our rolling ride up to Rum. We had fleeting snatches of a couple of porpoises, a seal and another basking shark. Rachael heard the distinctive whistles of dolphins on the hydrophone but none were seen. The sea flattened out and the sun shone as we circled Rum, getting spectacular views of the island. We had one last porpoise sighting before we entered Loch Scresort, another beautiful spot to spend the night. Another marvel of Rum was showers, and a pre-dinner run ashore guaranteed clean volunteers (well Rachael and Hazel) after which we enjoyed another hearty meal. Emma even managed to get Hazel to eat cheese! After dinner we left our skipper behind and went ashore once again. Emma and Olivia cleaned up as the rest of us went for a look around the island. We walked around Kinloch castle which was gorgeous and peeked in the windows to see magnificent Victorian furniture and architecture. There was even a lion skin rug! We had the bar of the hostel to ourselves and enjoyed a quick drink before heading back to Silurian for Leanne’s bread and butter pudding, after a few card games it was soon time for bed.