Skyefall

24Jul13

We slipped our mooring buoy and headed out from Portree with a clean prop and the promise of some good sailing as we headed south for Kyle of Lochalsh. No such luck, the wind dropped but we were rewarded with the sight of our first sea eagle [white-tailed eagle] circling the harbour entrance performing for the tourist boats whose patrons pay a lot of money for the same priviledge.

Passing through this spectacular landscape even at our mediocre boat speed is serious retina overload; so much to take in; every few metres a new angle; new shades and textures as the light constantly changes. We sail between Raasay, with its distinctive flat-topped volcanic summit, and Scalpay and then pass under the Skye bridge finding a free space on the pontoon at Kyle to re-vittle the boat before riding the Spring streams through the narrows to the Sound of Sleat and on towards Ardnamurchan Point.