Date: Friday 11th September
Anchorage: Bruichladdich, Islay
Position: 55°45’.882N, 06°21’.453W
Distance: 63.0NM

Today has proved to be the best weather we have had thus far. The waters were perfect for sighting, even though, to our dismay, not many sightings occurred throughout the day. Nevertheless, we were definitely enjoying the weather and the blue waters, so much so that some of us shed off our oilskins and wellingtons to show off some skin under the rays of the sun. The beautiful day brought along a lone basking shark, spotted by the skipper. It was the first non-seal or porpoise we had seen on the trip. Riveting! We hope that this is only the beginning of good weather and more sightings to come. Because of the calm conditions, we spotted quite some storm petrels, and even a bonxie attacking another bird. After a day at sea we decided to anchor by a small, picturesque town that seemed as if it came from a postcard (Portnahaven, south-west Islay). Dozens of seals were sun bathing as we attempted to anchor adding to the beauty. However, the tide was too strong and the water too shallow to allow for a proper anchoring. It was too bad as the spot was absolutely beautiful. It was decided to travel a little further around the corner into Loch Indaal. Currently, we are drooling as the smells of Federico’s much-awaited-for mussel pasta are slowly cooking in the galley. Then there is Phil remaining persistent in his efforts to catch mackerel. Phil’s average catch has been a fish a day - not quite enough to serve nine people, but it has been quit sufficient for starters! Time to pick mussels out of their shells! Cheers. Phil managed to catch enough mackerel for a main for tomorrow, already looking forward to it..... After today’s lovely dinner, all travel possibilities for the next few days were discussed, resulting in a busy schedule ahead of us for Nienke wants to make most out the forecasted good weather days to come.