Skye, Rhum & the Highlands

Photo: Distinctive volcanic plug on Eigg

Skye, The Small Isles & Highland Lochs

Between Skye, Mallaig and Oban are some of the best coastal mountain scenery in Scotland. Sailing an eye catching wooden pilot cutter like Lizzie May will usually introduce you to some interesting characters in ports and anchorages. No sailing experience is necessary as you will be given full training so you can be an active part of the crew.

Loch Nevis & Knoydart Peninsula

Closer to the fishing port of Mallaig is the isolated Loch Nevis with the remotest pub on the mainland of Great Britain. The Old Forge sits at the centre of the tiny hamlet of Inverie which is not connected by road to anywhere else. The Knoydart Peninsula and vast tracts of uninhabited moorland and mountain lie behind the hamlet so transport to and from Inverie is solely by water craft.

Over the Sea to Skye

Dominating the skyline for miles is the island of Skye with the mighty Cullin Ridge and the Red Cullins forming the mountainous backbone of the island. Skye also has over 400 miles of coastline and deep sea lochs.

Canna

A stone roofed chapel, orchids amongst the grass, a lovely sandy beach and sheer sea cliffs teeming with breeding birds at nesting season are some of Canna's many charms.

The Small Isles - Rhum, Eigg & Muck

Rum and Canna are famous for White Tailed Sea Eagles and on Rum there are three of four breeding pairs of Golden Eagles. For this and the other bird life Rum has been designated a SPA (Special Protected Area)

Manx Shearwater
Around 61,000 pairs (23% of world population) breed on the Rum 'Cullins', digging nesting burrows in the soft volcanic Peridotite. You will often see huge rafts of them gathering near the shore where they congregate before going ashore at night.

Merlin
A typical raptor of heather moor land found on the Western Isles of Scotland, they nest on the ground in long heather and can be seen in a very fast dashing flight style chasing smaller birds..

Red-throated Diver
This rare species, red throated as the name implies, have just 11 breeding pairs on Rum from where they commute out to sea for food for there young.

Guillemots
Guillemots are the biggest breeding bird on Rum with 2,680 pairs and are an excellent example of high density colonial nesting.

Kittiwakes
With 1,500 pairs, these birds are also major part of the seabird cities . The sight of several hundred birds gathering inland at freshwater to collect mud for plastering their nests cliff side is spectacular.

Mull & Loch Sunart

Making your way South as you enter the Northern end of the Sound of Mull you come to Tobermory with its multi coloured houses and famous Mish Nish Inn - stocking almost every whisky ever made. It sits in a small sheltered bay and is an ideal stopping place, apart from the sea plane which spectacularly lands in the same anchorage !

A more tranquil option is Loch Sunart which has several bays like the temptingly named Loch Drambuie.