Launch slip at Balmacara, just east of the Skye Bridge
The Inner Sound - June 2002
Six of us in a range of canoes and sporting a variety of rigs toured the area to the east of the Isle of Skye, Scotland in June 2002.We covered over 90 miles, wild-camped from the boats and enjoyed some excellent weather and sailing conditions.
Launch slip at Balmacara, just east of the Skye Bridge
Just west of the bridge, pausing before crossing the 5 miles to the Crowlin Islands
Enroute for the Crowlins in a nice F2 east wind
South entrance to Crowlin haven
Lunch landing
Packing after a wet, wild camp on a beach at the north end of Scalpay
Leaving Scalpay
Leaving Scalpaylooking north towards the Sound of Raasay
Part of our fleet leaving Scalpay
The Skye Cuillins as backdrop
Blowing about F3 from the south we reefed a bit to be more manageable
Some of the party waiting for the others to catch up
Lunch stop on Skye
In spite of the sun coming out as we left the bay after lunch, the breeze blew up and we all reduced sail It was blowing about F5 to F6 so the smallest sail available (or none!) was enough; we were going directly downwind
I
One canoe was a trimaran and therefore very stable - but big winds puts much
load on the rig and produces lots of spray when it argues with waves.
As we progressed round the tall headland we gained some shelter and some of us
took refuge exploring a cave
After a brisk very close reach into the Portree inlet it was great to land in
such a pretty spot and head for the civilisation of a tea room and the shops.
One shop in Portree has a name which we did not want our craft to live up to!
Having enjoyed a trip ashore we left the village to find a campsite out towards
the mouth of the inlet and where we could see our route and look forward to
crossing to Raasay the next day.
Next day we saw lots of dolphins - Honest! (pics are hard to come by)
Our route took us north to Rona where we eventually found a rather mediocre and
midgy place to camp late in the evening. Next morning was fantastic and we
repacked eagerly.
Heading out of the perfect natural harbour on Rona.
We then headed southeast towards Applecross in perfect conditions: a broad reach
in F2 and blazing sun - unlike most of the rest of the UK where it was mostly
raining!
After a brilliant crossing of the Inner Sound (the firing range was not in use!)
we landed for lunch and an ice-cream at Applecross Bay
Continuing on south past the Applecross coastline we had some great sailing but
then encountered quite a squall as we tried to round the corner towards Uags
bothy where four of us eventually camped. Two of the group decided to put ashore
before that and joined us next morning.
As the sun went down it cast a warm glow on the sandstone headland.
The sunset itself was pretty good, too
Our wise and cautious colleagues join us.
The conditions beyond the headland where our intended route back to the Skye bridge lay had been very windy overnight and up until midmorning (up to F6 from the SE).
But, by the time we were ready to leave, the wind had gracefully done a 180 degree
about turn and it wafted us gently, with us running all the way
back to the bridge. We then had to stem the tide to get back through the narrows
before landing for lunch and ice-cream at Kyleakin.
Another easy and pleasant run/reach back to our original launch spot completed a great tour of an excellent cruising area.
