Date: Friday 5th June 2009
Anchorage: Tobermory
Position: 56°37`.186N, 006°03`.949W
Distance travelled: 32.47NM

We’ve had a grand tour. The weather has been spectacular. The animals have been sparse in the past few days. Creels remain numerous.

These are a few of our favourite things:
Ray liked the skuas and the storm petrels. He saw more skuas than ever in his life before (and he is a birder) and he appreciated seeing the storm petrels in their breeding environment. He found the diversity of geology exciting.
Wendy liked the basking sharks and the white beaked dolphins. She didn’t expect to see so many sharks and loved the bow riding dolphins.
Linda liked the dolphins too, especially from her perch in the crow’s nest.
Gil had been trying to see basking sharks for two years and finally did. The balletic movement of their fins through the water was beautiful. Getting to know the variety of land forms of the Scottish Islands from the sea was also a highlight for her.
Margot.....all of the above and the thrill of taking pictures of an orchid, new to her, the common- spotted orchid on the hills above the anchorage at Canna. Also the climb up to the crow’s nest, when least expected, was very exiting!
Lynn enjoyed the stories in Hamish Haswell-Smith’s book, The Scottish Islands, recommended by Skipper Dave. In fact however, everyone got into the vignettes of history in this delightful tome.
Nienke liked watching the cosiness of the puffins in their breeding colony. She was also excited to see basking sharks and white sided dolphins for the first time. The opportunity to make the trip to Stanton’s Bank with the calm sea was a special experience.
Dave appreciated the scintillating company! The highlight for him was seeing Margot’s exhilaration after climbing into the crow’s nest.
Lewis told us the conversational topic for whale watcher guides and skippers has been, “When are we going to see white sided dolphins?” Seeing 75 at one time was an amazing experience for him, a big ‘tick’ on the small list of cetaceans that are seen in the Hebrides.