Date: Friday 27^th and Saturday 28^th April 2007

Anchorage: Tobermory

Position: 56°37’.200 N 006°03’.700 W

Distance Travelled: 42 NM

The final survey, Friday, day saw us leave Tiree and motor up the west coast of Coll, then to Tobermory and home. Gorgeous weather again, king of the crow’s nest, Ian, back in position, the crack-team of volunteers working hard, and some nice porpoise and seabird sightings. Back in Tobermory, gave the boat a big clean down, then out for a curry. It’s the Mull music festival this weekend, so Tobermory is full of music and alcohol, which lent a certain extra flavour to the evening.

Saturday morning, and the volunteers have just left – many thanks for all their hard work and enthusiasm – it’s been great working with them. Safe journey home!

Susie (Science Officer)

Date: Thursday 26^th April 2007

Anchorage: Clach Chuirr, Tiree

Position: 56° 32’.700N 006° 44’.100W

Distance Travelled: 74 NM

The volunteers onboard Silurian continue to serve their apprenticeship in the vicissitudes of the Scottish climate. Having experienced vertical rain, horizontal rain, diagonal rain and every combination of blustery stuff, today it was the turn of glorious sunshine.

We woke up as bright-eyed, bushy-tailed, eager-beavers. Having listened to the forecast the night before, we were quite confident of some fine, settled weather. Things started well, as we made an early start for Tiree under clear blue skies. Over the summer months, the area is brilliant for basking sharks. There have been a couple of sightings reported this year, and we were interested to see if they had arrived in any numbers yet.

Ian, king of the crow’s nest, needed no encouragement to climb up to his perch, where he stayed for the next few hours, diligently observing, even as the swells began to build as we headed down the coast of Tiree towards Skerryvore lighthouse.

As we rounded the lighthouse, the swells got quite frisky. This was clearly the perfect moment for skipper Dave to start demanding tea. First mate Mat duly descended into the galley. Sadly a perfectly-timed lurch of the boat distributed the fresh brew evenly across the galley walls and floor, and the skipper had to stay thirsty for a while longer…

The sea settled as we surveyed up the west coast of Tiree. In fact, things were feeling pretty tropical onboard, what with Tiree’s white sands and turquoise seas, and the continuing sunshine. Porpoises were clicking away merrily on the hydrophone (although not showing their faces), and there was something of an outbreak of high spirits. We had a look at anchoring in Balephetrish Bay but it wasn’t quite what we were seeking, so carried on to Gunna, where we anchored for a while. The volunteers went for a walk on the beach, seeing barnacle geese, diving gannets and grey seals.

After a big old tea of haggis, neaps and tatties, and an epic sunset, we moved the boat to the more sheltered anchorage of Clach Chuirr off Tiree. As I write, Ian, Lisa and Mat have just come back from a visit to the island where they saw TWO CARS! Terrifying, apparently…

No basking sharks for us today…maybe still a little early in the year. But not too early for an impressive dose of sunburn for all onboard Silurian.

Susie (Science Officer)

Date: Wednesday 25^th April 2007

Anchorage: Crag aig Bay, Ulva

Position: 56° 28’.000N 006° 13’.000W

Distance Travelled: 32 NM

I pick up the day from Wednesday because the other volunteers wrote to you already. I just want to mention that the first few days were nice and terrifying because I’ve been seasick before and I didn’t know what to expect. As it turned out, nothing happened so now I can feel pretty safe being on rough seas. What I’ve seen up until now is very comforting – Davy is a good skipper and the calm manner in which he operates the boat proves he’s always in control. Mat is also very knowledgeable in handling the boat and he’s a good cook also (especially tea!). But the way Susie explains everything patiently and truly makes everything a pleasure. Due to the fact that we haven’t seen too many mammals coming out of the sea so far we should sing a few songs as we’re going along so the dolphins and whales will come up to see where the pretty voice is coming from.

The highlight of the day was as we passed the Island of the Puffins (not the real name) – there were so many of them congregated around the island – I’ve never seen anything like that before. PS – I’m starting to understand most of the things that Susie explained at the beginning.

Add by Lisa – I’m adding a little bit about the island we stopped out (Ulva – an unfortunate name I realize) because Dad didn’t feet like walking very far but Ian, Ted, and I followed a path from the southside of the island to northside for several kilometres. When we first pulled up to the island, the sun actually poked its head out. We got in the skiff and motored over to the island, where we got mired in some major seaweed as we pulled ashore. On this side of the island are numerous uninhabitated stone houses that had their thatched roofs burned by a laird between 1846 to 1851 (luckily Ted is reading a wonderful book called The Scottish Islands, which gives a comprehensive history of every island in the Hebrides). Apparently the laird was a nice guy because he burned out the local people in order to steal their livestock. During our tramp we saw a standing stone, which we approached in proper 2001 fashion, a bunch of heather, some beautiful primroses clinging precariously to the hillside, and a lot of different birds including stone chats, whin chats, wrens, and meadow pipits. We also climbed about 81 metres to the top of a hill where we got a stunning view of the island. Altogether we walked about 7 kilometres roundtrip. Then, on the way back to the boat, we had to go past two rocks where about 30 seals (mainly common, which look like cats, and one grey, which looks like a dog) were sunning themselves. Being curious animals, they slid off the rocks and followed the skiff. Davy turned off the motor and we were treated to the sight of a bunch of seals circling us and staring curiously. Apparently they’re camera shy because every time we tried to take their picture they submerged (actually I think they were teasing us just like the ornery cats they resemble). Then back to the boat for some well earned dinner cooked by Mat and Susie. Another fun day on the Silurian.

Bela and Lisa

Date: Tuesday 24^th April 2007

Anchorage: Bunessan

Position: 56° 19’.200N 006° 14’.900W

Distance Travelled: 57 NM

Clyde coastguard on the VHF was warning of a “gale, force 8, perhaps severe gale 9 later” as we lay in the magnificent desolation of Loch Tarbert, Jura. But it was a mild morning and there was evidence of blue sky on the Western horizon, so we tentatively poked the Silurian’s bowsprit out beyond loch entrance, and found an ocean of glassy ripples (sea state1.5 on the Beaufort Scale). So we ventured on, intending to at least do a circumnavigation of the nearby islands of Colonsay and Oronsay before scuttling back to Loch Tarbert if necessary before the force 9 hit.

We were not long out when a bird appeared on the water that looked just a bit too big to be the usual guillemot, razorbill, or even eider duck. Hurried consultation among the twitchers on board established that it was diver - but was it a black throated or great northern? The science officer confirmed it as a great northern, though several black throated ones did turn up later in the day.

Then there was our first sighting this trip of a manx shearwater, and then another and another, and then clouds of them. These distinguish themselves from many other common seabirds by their skilful banking and gliding just above the waves, interspersed by short bursts of manic flapping, behaviour which the science officer was able to mimic very convincingly.

Lots of birds - razorbills, guillemots, kittiwakes, shags, puffins, shearwaters, fulmars, and even a great skua – were logged throughout the day, making us wonder just how much we’d missed in the previous days of wind, drizzle and choppy seas.

At midday, the sea state was still 1.5 and someone suggested that this might be an opportunity for any suitably enthusiastic volunteers to experience life in the crow’s nest. Ian was subsequently hoisted aloft, and stayed there for several hours, even having lunch up there, in the shape of a bacon buttie, delivered personally by the skipper.

Lisa volunteered next and found the experience totally exhilarating especially the completely different perspective it presented of the boat, the ocean and the wildlife.

Early afternoon and there was still no sign of the predicted gale, so skipper proposed a change of plan which involved venturing ten miles on into the open Atlantic, rounding the Dubh Artach lighthouse, and then turning North to seek a safe haven for the night behind the Ross of Mull.

And it was on our way to Dubh Artach that we spotted our very first cetacean of the trip –a harbour porpoise, which broke the surface100 meters to starboard, and gave us several tantalising glimpses of itself before disappearing astern, leaving a satisfying trail of red triangles (=porpoise clicks)on the acoustic record. An hour or so later, there was another one, but this time it broke the surface enough times for everyone to see it.

Dubh Artach was awesome. As we rounded it, less than half a mile off, an undiluted Atlantic swell was breaking over the evil-looking reefs surrounding this desolate little beacon, throwing massive clouds of spray high into the air, and creating a permanent mist around the lighthouse itself.

An hour later we were presented with a similar spectacle among the notorious Torran Rocks – scene of the shipwreck in RL Stevenson’s Kidnapped. Mat the mate, assisted by the chart plotter and the skipper in the crow’s nest, brought us safely through these, and then close in to see the extraordinary pink granite cliffs of Erraid Island (which also features in Kidnapped). And then on through the Sound of Iona, to a sheltered anchorage in Loch Na Lathaich, and a terrific Hungarian-themed, paprika-spiced dinner courtesty of Bela and Lisa.

Ted

Date: Monday 23rd April 2007

Anchorage: Loch Tarbert, Jura

Position: 55° 57’.500N 005° 54’.900W

Distance Travelled: 46 NM

Got underway at about 0915, a little later than planned as it proved more difficult than expected to retrieve all 3 anchors. In the end we had to leave the third to the team in the RIB – the seal sitting, watchfully, on a neighbouring rock, seemed pretty non-plussed throughout! Perhaps it’s got particularly high standards of seamanship.

Set off down Loch Sween, streaming the hydrophone and posting lookouts – but it was hard to see anything given the steady rain and wind (Force 5/6). Once we reached the open sea, we set sail and turned the engine off (for the first time this week!) heading south into the wind, destination Gigha where we understand there is a pub (a great relief, as we remain concerned about the risk of dehydration). The latest weather forecast, which threatens Southerly winds of up to Force 9 tomorrow, does however force a change of plan so we ease the sheets and head off towards Islay, destination Loch Tarbert. The rain remains pretty steady, making it hard going for the lookouts who see nothing. We do however get some good porpoise detections on the hydrophone. Whilst cetaceans are clearly making themselves hard to see, the birds are more cooperative and we see our first puffin of the trip, as well as wonderful displays by fulmars swooping low over the waves.

The sailing remains excellent as we surf downwind in the Force 6/7 breeze (with gusts to Force 8) in much reduced sail, seeing more birds (especially black guillemots) but nothing much else. The rain eases a bit as we pass down the Sound of Islay, giving us a good view of the rather quaint-looking Port Askaig, and two distilleries … pity we couldn’t stop!

All too soon, its time to strike sail and put the engine on again, ready to navigate the tortuous inlet to Loch Tarbert (said to be the second most beautiful place on earth - and we were not to be disappointed). We did a quick tour of the Loch before anchoring – mainly to confirm that we were indeed alone in this wonderful place – we were, except for the birds and a grey seal.

After anchoring most of us went ashore for a walk, and were treated to wonderful views as the sun at last broke through, really bringing the contrasting colours of the landscape alive. The stark, bleak, landscape, with its wonderful geological features including ‘raised beaches, was truly something to behold – the browns and greens of the land mixing with the blues of the sky and the water. Even the recent rains helped add to the magic of the moment, as we walked past a large waterfall over which flowed a torrent of brown water – rich with peat.

The sun remained with us as the evening drew to a close, albeit losing its strength before sunset – a pity, but perhaps that experience is being deliberately saved for another day.

On reflection, another wonderful day – no sign of cetaceans (other than on the hydrophone), but some good bird sightings, great sailing, and an idyllic anchorage to bring the day to a close.

Ian

Date: Sunday 22nd April 2007

Anchorage: Fairy Isles, Loch Sween

Position: 56° 01’.700N 005° 35’.500W

Distance Travelled: 49 NM

Well I get to write the blog today and since I’m used to writing dry, technical material I feel quite challenged to wax poetic…but I will do my best. Today started out quite well since we found a family of seals cavorting along the side of the boat this morning. Ted and Ian got first watch on the deck while Dad and I had to watch for birds (which are very easy to distinguish from one another since they all seem to be white and grey or white and black) and listen to the hydrophone. Unfortunately, all the marine mammals decided to sleep in so we didn’t actually see any for quite a few hours. However, to keep our spirits up the crew plied us with food and tea (and apparently my no-tea stance has caused some members of the team to despair of my sanity – later on my disparaging remarks about potatoes caused even more consternation).

The weather today was actually quite nice – we had some rain on and off but by the end of the day the clouds starting lifting and it was quite warm. Although we didn’t see anything other than seals and birds we still had a lot of fun – just being on the water is fun – plus we got to see some beautiful wild and remote places in Scotland.

The best part of the day was when we moored in an absolutely beautiful place called the Fairy Isles. If you have an idea in your head of what you think Scotland looks like, this is it. Ted and I cooked a delicious dinner of moussaka and broccoli and then we took the boat to one of the islands. We hiked along a bike path that led through birch forests and moss covered rocks – and we were lucky enough to have a tawny owl fly by right in front of us. Then, since it’s Scotland, it started raining again so we went back to the boat. Right now, to hydrate ourselves we are all partaking of mineral water and listening to CDs. All in all, it beats work!

Lisa