Date: Friday 22nd May
Anchorage: Canna
Position: 57°03`.356N, 006°29`.579W
Distance travelled: 50.3NM

This morning started off cold and grey with a light rain. The forecast was not promising either and the Skipper warned us to dress accordingly and to stow things away properly. We left Loch Dunvegan and began travelling South down the Little Minch. It was nice not to hear any sonar audible on the hydrophone and no military vessels were visible. As the day progressed blue skies and plenty of sunshine arrived, which was a very pleasant surprise. Then near Loch Harport, Skye it happened: SIGHTING!!!!!!! MINKE WHALE!!!!!! Yippee!!!! Everyone got a chance to see the Minke before we continued on our way. With such a gorgeous day and headed for Canna, I started to get that Common Dolphin vibe, as it was near Canna that I saw them last year. During a 1 minute acoustic data recording, faint dolphin whistles were heard and soon enough a splash in the distance was seen. ‘SIGHTING!!!’ was yelled with glee and true bliss for everyone onboard as we were surrounded by Common Dolphins. It was fascinating to watch the gannets diving and the dolphins leaping into the air in their quest for food. Alastair was in the crow’s nest and Lyn on the bowsprit, while the rest of us crowded around the rails and enjoyed the show. Truly a special experience on such a gorgeous day! The dolphins went back to hunting for their dinner, while we sailed for Canna. We arrived in harbour and anchored for the evening, going ashore ASAP. Most of the group climbed to the top of Compass Hill (alas no cell phone signal), while Lyn and I explored around the harbour a bit more. Truly a brilliant evening on Canna. We returned to a delicious Silurian supper, prepared by the Skipper, of risotto and chocolate cake and custard (Gemma rocks!!!), what more could you ask for??? After supper, Lewis led a great discussion about viewing marine animals in a responsible fashion. It is now quite late and after such an exciting day, everyone is ready for bed. Tomorrow is our last full day of surveying as we head back to Tobermory and maybe we will be gifted again with some spectacular sightings.
It was a full, rich day.
~Danielle
Editor’s Comment: My first sighting of dolphins from Silurian, good times!! I finally set foot onto Canna (last time was a flying visit!) for a magical shore leave where we were surrounded by rare orchids, peregrine falcons and had stunning views of the Cuillen Ridge on Skye.

Date: Thursday 21st May
Anchorage: Loch Dunvegan, Isle of Skye
Position: 57°26`.950N, 006°35`.727W
Distance travelled: 54.5NM

We set out from our anchorage in pleasant weather, back into the Minch to zigzag the area travelling over 54NM without a sighting. The warships were out in force however accompanied by jets and helicopters. This unstoppable force had to deal with an anonymous creeler however and was introduced to the Hebridean concept of 10 minutes. Danielle spent quite a few hours in the crow’s nest and arrived back on deck hours later wet and cold as the weather had deteriorated. Lewis produced a marble cake which was very welcome and Laura produced a Shepherd’s Pie; vegetarian to the relief our nearest neighbours.
We went on shore leave to Dunvegan Castle; going in on the rib to the rear entrance and saving a few quid.
As Lewis was casually mentioning he had one eye on a certain persons’ personal hygiene and the other on the water meter, he was challenged to substantiate this as there were too many unknown variables; the skipper stated he could perform his ablutions with a light sea spray.
This story is going to press despite claims of hearsay as people may share these concerns and may shed light on the truth.
~Alastair
Editor’s Comment: Some lovely sightings of Pomarine Skuas, presumably on a seasonal migration, kept our attention during bird watch.

Date: Wednesday 20th May
Anchorage: Loch Eport, North Uist
Position: 57°20`.279N, 006°25`.321W
Distance travelled: 49.3NM

Welcome back bin lid, all is forgiven, we've missed you. But who'd have thought of looking for you in the bottom of the bin?
A day of 3 halves.....
Half 1,a slightly lumpy Minch causing some discomfort to some of our number.
Half 2, in the middle of a NATO naval exercise, but if I told you what they were practising I'd have to torpedo you all.
Half 3, cetaceans at last. On the West side of the Little Minch the Skipper spotted a Minke whale, which immediately disappeared before anyone else saw it. Then Danielle saw fins in the choppy waters, which turned out to be a group of 5 dolphins. Sadly they did not linger and, though they may have been common dolphins, we couldn't get a firm identification.
On the way into our anchorage in splendid isolation in Loch Eport on North Uist, we were entertained by a young Red Deer stag swimming, numerous Black Guillemot and some divers (red throats?) and Danielle's banana bread. An expedition ashore produced photos of insectivorous Butterwort and Sundew while Alistair produced a brilliant supper and his assistant (your blogger) reduced the galley to chaos.
And so as darkness begins to fall at 10.30 we are all getting sleepy and anticipating more encounters in the Minch in the morning.
~Phil

Date: Tuesday 19th May
Anchorage: Port Nan Long, Isle of Skye
Position: 57°20`.279N, 006°25`.321W
Distance travelled: 49.3NM

Leaving Nienke, our scientific officer, in Mallaig in the morning, now being nine on board including our beautiful relief science officer Gemma, we made our way towards Skye. The general plan is to cover the Minch, but that is to be written about later. Today we headed through the sound of Soay towards this night’s anchorage in Loch Harport. The sun accompanied us the whole day. Despite not seeing any cetaceans we had beautiful whistling on the hydrophone. There has also been lots of sonar audible, as well as military aircraft, warships on the horizon and military helicopter. And more sun, some swell and enough wind for sailing. We learned about the abandoned basking shark hunting station on Soay, had a walk ashore before dinner getting an astonishing view and any more sun. The only thing missing today were sightings of our beloved cetaceans. But we will continue working to find out where they are.
~Christian
Editor’s Comments: Already looking forward to second breakfast and, following a premonition-type dream, we will surely find a whale today...

Date: Monday 18th May
Anchorage: Inverie
Position: 57°02`.121N, 005°41`.139W
Distance travelled: 51.3NM

This morning we were treated to some blue skies and sunshine as we sailed from Loch Moidart. Seals on the rocks and terns in the sky, we started our survey for the day. Our first sighting was a single Harbour Porpoise, with several others throughout the day. Seabirds were plentiful, with numerous Shags, a large group of Manx Shearwaters, and even a few puffins. We sailed among the Small Isles of Muck, Eigg, and Rhum. Lewis treated us with egg sandwiches for second breakfast and parsnip & ginger soup for lunch. The skipper played some tunes for us on the tin whistle, hoping to attract some cetaceans, but no such luck today. In the afternoon, the rain caught up with us and we all got a bit cold and damp, but hot mugs of tea were always around. We went to Mallaig to shelter for the night, but the Skipper decided he didn’t want Silurian to have to do battle with any fishing boats during the night. So we are currently sailing for the village of Inverie, looking forward to a delicious supper, chocolate cake and a possible trip ashore to the pub. We are an easy group to please.
~Danielle
Editor’s Comments: Dazed and confused.

Date: Sunday 17th May
Anchorage: Castle Tioram, Loch Moidart
Position: 56°47`.241N, 05°50`.276W
Distance travelled: 25.1NM

Dear blog: Lyn’s first day:
Our highlight came at the end of the day, when we saw a magnificent Sea Eagle - wonderful!!! We began with instruction and were inducted gently into our duties. We saw Gannets, Guillemots, Shags, one Diver, Terns, Herons and Shearwaters. We had two sightings of Grey Seal and coming into our night berth, saw Common Seals. We moored for the night opposite Castle Tioram, Loch Moidart, but it was too late to go ashore. We were well cared for with teas and coffees during the day and Lewis’s evening meal drew everyone to the Saloon and it was very delicious indeed. We had lovely home-made soup for lunch; I am sure it will be impossible for anyone to go hungry on the voyage. We have discovered the best place for warming up if we ever have cold hands or any other cold area that needs warming up, for example when sitting down? Another highlight for me was when I was allowed to take the helm for a while, keeping an eye on the headland ahead and the computer view of our course and keeping us away from the rocks! Final thoughts: will Glen ever stop sitting at his chart table texting himself?
~Lyn
Editor’s Comments: Lyn gets first go ascending to the crow’s nest for writing the blog single handed.