Hebridean Flame 

3-17 July 2025 

Skipper: Geoff Norwood  Mate: Reg Morris  Crew: Jonathan Cavan  , Alex Barry  , Fran Morris  and Mike Hill 

Our trip in the Hebridean Sea and Small Isles last year was a great eye- opener to this amazing cruising ground, and the core crew were quick to sign up for a 2 week adventure this year, joined by Reg. My hope and intention was to make it to the Outer Hebrides, weather as always permitting. We had arranged to drop Alex back at Oban in the middle and pick up 2 new crew for the second part of the trip.

Our experience was that there was little by way of provisioning options beyond Tobermory so we loaded the car with provision for the best part of 10 days, and picked up Jonathan on a rainy mountain top on the way to the marina.

There was a blow forecast for next day but a fine evening and very late sunset gave us the chance to head across to the Sound of Mull and into the pontoons in Loch Aline for the first night. It is a little way to the limited facilities of the village there, but the mooring itself has excellent showers (requiring coins), although no other facilities or fuel. It is an easy access and very sheltered spot which proved to be a blessing. The wind built overnight and the morning was stormy, wet and grey. A force 6-7 was forecast but it seemed possible that we could make it to Tobermory to sit out the storm since the sound is somewhat sheltered and the sea state likely to be manageable. We set out into heavy squalls under motor, with the expected southerly funnelled into the WSW and on the nose in a choppy passage. After an hour of huddling into our winter gear and making a few miles it was clear that the wind was increasing and our destination would be a long uncomfortable slog away. I decided to return downwind to Aline. As we set course back to the entrance we recorded a momentary indication of 46 kts, luckily dead on the stern and under bare poles. We were very glad to get back to the sparse security of the pontoon where we sat out a grey day and another night.

I won’t go into a day by day detail but the weather was in our favour for the next few days and we made our way to the sheltered bay on Rum, before setting out for Uist and the recommended harbour of Lochboisdale. Great visibility and a steady NW gave us a close reach all the way there in superb sailing conditions with Skye to our North and the hills of Uist looming ahead. It’s a well protected harbour a short walk from the unprepossessing village and the beckoning white Lochboisedale Hotel, the only game in town for eating out. To be blunt it has room for improvement. Gruff service, limited choice, probably frozen sea fare, and just 1 veggie option, requiring Reg to eat cauliflower cheese for the 2nd night in succession. The harbour facilities are good though with clean hot free showers adjacent to the harbour office.

As expected we were then faced with a weather choice. Uist is kind of central to the southern Hebrides and we had no expectation of going as far north as Harris. With a stormy day ahead and a potential nice south-westerly to follow, we planned to spend just 1 more day in the islands before taking the SW back across the Hebridean Sea. We set out with a W F6 forecast, but heading south in the lee of the Islands the short hop to Castlebay on Barra seemed not too daunting. Forecasts can be wrong. On a broad reach with only a twice reefed foresail we made rapid progress south in poor visibility and soon found a steadily increasing wind consistently above 30kts and a lumpy sea. Any thought of anchoring for lunch at Eriskay was forgotten as we surged along, with squalls through the gaps in the islands hitting true gale force. Not a comfortable ride but in honesty the boat rode well under a triangle of jib, and the crew gritted their teeth as we headed up into the windy but calmer, well buoyed entrance to Castlebay. Bedraggled and a little shell shocked we were glad again to be on a walk ashore pontoon in the interesting bay, with a classic castle on a small island in its middle. Once secure and fed – the sun came out, the wind dropped and the scenery took on a new appearance in the brightness.

The marina is I believe privately run, and has 2 or 3 unisex showers with tokens supplied along with the pontoon fee. Certainly adequate but not glitzy. There was (possibly temporarily?) no water or power on the long hammerhead, but we were able to reach a socket using a long extension. We took a short walk out around the bay and headland, now in a fine evening sun, before a welcome drink on the balcony of the oddly-named ‘Castlebay Hotel’.

Our schedule and weather dictated that we needed to head back eastwards, and the next day offered a SW 4-5, ideal for 30 odd mile stretch to Coll. We set out in fine weather under full sail enjoying the views of the Cuillins in the distance - until the grey mist behind us caught up and enveloped us. The wind persisted, though slightly more S than ideal, and we continued towards the gap between Coll and Tiree, with not a sight of land until just 1 or 2 miles from these low lying isles. Some good sailing but dull and wet for the most part we decided to choose the more sheltered bay on the east coast of Coll, over a likely rolly anchorage in the south. Even on a mooring well into the bay we found the swell rocking us ‘vigorously’ to sleep.

The forecast for the next few days was fine and calm, and we had 2 or 3 nights before needing to change crew. There was not enough wind forecast to make ‘Round Mull’ realistic so we made the easy crossing to Tobermory and managed to book an early slot in the ‘Café Fish’ a much recommended spot on the waterfront. It was busy but the staff were attentive and it has a nice ambience – very much café rather than restaurant. Naturally ‘fish focussed’ the food was good and a welcome change from cooking on board. Rather expensive in my opinion for standard fare.

Loch Sunart and the Sound of Mull are lovely enclosed waters, and with fine weather we decided to explore Sunart and head for Salen – a small set of pontoons on the north shore. After navigating the narrows between islands in the entrance it opens into a stunning vista with a wide clear channel. In a very light following breeze it seemed a perfect place to get to grips with the cruising chute, and we set to extracting it and rigging. There was little complication apart from where to attach the tack, and we soon had it flying nicely with the main up. By this time we had reached Salen but the sound was still wide and open for a few mile further east so we continued with and without main to get a feel for the sail. With a flood tide there is a significant stream at the narrows and we decided against having to make our way back against it, so turned and motored the few miles back to the charming creek of Salen. We had reserved a slot on the small pontoon and were soon met by the shore team there. It is a well sheltered bay but very little in the village. There are showers and a small shop at the jetty. After a short walk into the woods and adjacent headland we were disappointed to find the only café/bar was closed on our return, but luckily our supplies both solid and liquid had held out for the passage and we enjoyed the sunny evening on board.

For convenience of handover we had arranged to meet the new crew back in Dunstaffnage, and for Alex to get a lift to Oban for his train, so we made an early start in mirror calm looking back at the highlands in the early haze. A very lovely place to be. The long trip down the Sound of Mull was partly wind assisted but with a flood tide as we approached Lady Rock we made a slow crossing of the turbulent waters past Lismore, and the short hop to the marina where we met up with the crew for Part II of this trip.A great 10 days with sun, rain, wind, calm, views, and fog!