Saturday is another beautiful day and we set off in the sunshine on a course for Staffa. As we approach the great face and Fingall’s cave I keep a wary eye on the rocky reefs to the west. Continuing north we pass the Treshnish Isles and move into more sheltered waters north of Mull.

It is great viewing weather but I don’t spot any marine mammals despite keeping a sharp look-out from the bows. We keep busy spotting the sea birds on the “Green Button” flash cards, including the skippers favourite the gannet. Trevor from MacBackpackers, who yesterday suffered from sea-sickness, has made an excellent recovery and is now climbing the main mast to the crows nest.

We arrive back in Tobermory in early afternoon in time to ferry the MacBackpackers ashore for the bus and ferry back to Oban. The 4 of us left, the skipper, the mate, Lisa and I blitz the boat clean and then ferry all the education equipment back to the HWDT offices. We have a final meal in the Western Isles Hotel with a stunning view over Tobermory bay.
Why did I volunteer for the education project? I love to travel and what better place could I choose than the Western Isles and what better reason could I have for going there. Ensuring the next generation understand and respect their environment is fundamental to the trust achieving its aim of conserving the ecology of the area. The HWDT have made me very welcome and I have thoroughly enjoyed working with a very professional team who are passionate about what they do.
By Peter Thornton