They lay there on the horizon, grey-blue shapes, tantalizingly close, sometimes hidden in the mist. The locals call them the Long Island, hundreds of islands and secluded anchorages that form the Outer Hebrides. Each year they have beckoned us and finally we answered the call.
Once again we trailed Ananahi our Swift 18 to Arisaig and launched her on a lovely summer morning.
Sunday 10^th June: We left Arisaig at noon with the tide. There was a light S.W. wind and we slowly crept N.W. The keel box had a slight leak so we had to bail for a while, also the log and echo sounder were not showing the numbers clearly so we suspected that it was damp and hoped that it would dry out in the sun, it never did. Progress was very slow so we decided to anchor in Loch Scresort on Rhum for the night. Using our lead line, we anchored on the South side in 6 metres and put up the cockpit tent, as it had begun to rain. Dave resealed the keel box and we had an early night
Distance run 18nm.
Monday 11^th June: There was no wind, but as the anchorage in Loch Scresort was not too pretty we headed out under motor towards Canna. As we reached the north of Rhum the wind arrived on the nose, so we had to tack all the way to Canna. It was a lovely day and the sail was really enjoyable, we arrived at Canna at 18.00hrs and anchored ion 3 metres close to the head of the harbour. We sat in the cockpit with our sundowners and watched the lovely sunset.
Distance run 22nm.
Tuesday 12^th June: Another lovely day. We motored out of the harbour and along the north shore of Canna, close inshore to look at all the interesting caves and rock formations along the coast. There were lots of Puffins and other sea birds and the wind rose slowly from the S.W. and we set a course due west for Loch Boisedale on the island of South Uist in the Outer Hebrides. The sea was very flat and we ghosted along arriving at the anchorage at 17.00hrs and found a free H.I.E. mooring for the night. We went ashore and used the excellent showers on the harbour side next to the tourist office, and at 50p. It was a real bargain. There was a small café so we had a meal and then went to the nearby hotel for a drink. We returned to the boat and had sundowners on deck to celebrate crossing the Minch.
Distance run 35nm.
Wednesday 13^th June: We slept late and went ashore again to eat. We spent the afternoon looking at charts and deciding on our next anchorage.
Thursday 14^th June: The wind had shifted to north, which is the direction that we wanted to sail, so we caught the Post bus north for about 7 miles to the Kildoan Museum which showed a good history of the islands. We walked half a mile to Flora McDonald’s birth place and then caught the bus south to Daliburgh, where there was a Co-op shop and replenished our stores. We hitched back 3 miles to Loch Boisedale. As we returned to Ananahi the wind picked up strongly from the north and we had a wet ride across the harbour.
Friday 15^th June: There was still a strong north wind, so we took the small bus to Ludaig on the South of the island and enjoyed some lovely views of white beaches on the island of Eriskay, across the sound.
Saturday 16^th June: Still very windy, so we went ashore and had showers and filled up with water and petrol for our sail north to Loch Skiport.
Sunday 17^th June: A brisk N.E. wind greeted us this morning, but the sky was really clear and we decided to tack to Loch Skiport, 14 miles north. The waves were very short and steep as we left the harbour, but the sea became a bit smoother as we tacked north at a good rate of knots. As we arrived off the entrance to Loch Skiport a large Oceanis yacht powered past us and raced for the anchorage in Wizard Pool, with what seemed like total disregard for the chart he headed directly along the east shore and came to a sudden halt which brought all hands on deck. We think he must have hit Float Rock which is only awash at high water. We motored along the west shore of Shilley More and around Shilley Beag and anchored in the north-east corner of Wizard Pool. It is a very pretty anchorage and we set off to explore in the dinghy.
Distance run 25nm.
Monday 18^th June: The wind slowly turned during the night and we got a forecast for a South West gale later, so we decided to move around the corner to Poll na Cairidh, which is recommended during S.W gales. We anchored in 3 metres close to the shore and decided to explore Linne Arm, the western extremity of the loch by dinghy. A floating dock had been built near the slip and we went ashore to explore. There were herds of deer and wild horses wandering about and we had a good walk. The wind began to get stronger so we headed back to the boat. As we climbed aboard, the dinghy blew upside down and the outboard motor went underwater. We got it onboard and Dave stripped it down. The wind increased so we pulled the dinghy onboard and took down the cockpit tent. Two other boats came in to shelter and anchored on our port side. As the wind increased at 22.00hrs a large Oceanis came in and anchored to starboard of us very close to shore and very near an underwater reef. They put out two anchors in tangent and settled down for the night. The wind increased and we started to heel at anchor as the rain lashed down.
Tuesday 19^th June: We nodded off to sleep during the night, waking occasionally to check the anchor. We were woken at 3.30a.m. by a loud bang and jumped on deck . The Oceanis had dragged his anchors, which got entangled and smashed into us, bending our pulpit, he then dragged past us and lifted the anchor of another boat as he hauled his two anchors still twisted together, on board. The other boat had a lot of problem encoring in the increasing gale. The Oceanis disappeared down Linne Arm, presumably to reanchor. We spent all day watching the other boats as the spume flew over the anchorage and we could see their keels as they heeled in the height of the gale. We kept watch all night luckily the Oceanis did not come back.
Wednesday 20^th June: The forecast was for W. to N.W.6-7 so we decided to move to another anchorage so that we were not on a lee shore. 1.5 miles north , on the North East corner of Loch Skiport was Bagh Charming, an anchorage recommended in northerly winds, so we lifted our anchor and motored across, anchoring in 5 metres at the head of the loch. The anchorage was very nice and reminded us of Soay which we visited last year. Dave tried to start the outboard, but it still wouldn’t start so he rowed ashore to explore some old ruins and found some old farm implements, including a foot plough and turf spade. I stayed on board and was bird watching when a golden eagle soared over the boat, it was very majestic and had an enormous wingspan. As the wind died down the anchorage became very calm and we had a relaxing evening on the boat. At 03.05hrs I heard a very slow motor and worried that someone might be trying to steal our dinghy, I looked out and saw a dark dinghy with two black shadows slowly proceeding up the anchorage. As I got my night vision I saw them lay close to shore and another dinghy with 6 people on board being launched from the beach. It was very quiet and Dave came to have a look, as they slowly motored past us we saw that they were soldiers in full camouflage, probably on night manoeuvres.
Thursday 21st June: It was a good W.N.W. wind and we sailed off the anchor and out of Loch Skiport towards Loch Boisedale. It was beautiful weather and as we sailed close inshore we passed a large flock of gannets fishing noisily. Slowly, to our starboard side we saw a black shape rising and as it blew we realised that it was a Whale. It was a bout 20ft long and stayed around the stern of the boat for several minutes before diving and heading away. We were really pleased with such an enjoyable sail and headed into Loch Boisedale and picked up a mooring.
Distance run 18nm.
Friday 22^nd June: We thought the boat which had hit us and not come back to see us about the damage seemed to be a charter boat - it was called Sleet Queen. The outboard motor was working again so we went ashore and looked through the yellow pages for charter companies. We found one called Sleet Marine and they confirmed they had a boat out on charter called Sleet Queen, but said that he had not reported the collision. We were advised to wait until his charter was over and call again.
Saturday 23^rd June: We caught the bus to Daliburgh to replenish our stores and called Sleet Marine again. He had admitted responsibility, but thought that he had not done any damage - we were told to send a claim.
Sunday 24^th June: We awoke to a lovely sunny morning with a 3-4 S.E. so we sailed off our mooring and headed towards Canna. We didn’t have to tack at all and had a wonderful sail. As we sailed into the harbour the heavens opened and we got drenched. The anchorage was very crowded and we anchored and dried off and had a meal. We decided to reanchor as we didn’t have much swinging room and felt a lot better as we sat in the cockpit watching the sunset.
Distance run 32nm
Monday 25^th June: We had a day ashore walking to a white beach on the west side of Canna. Then we walked back along the South shore and Dave found lots of mushrooms, which I fried for tea.
Tuesday 26^th June: With a nice S.W. blowing we sailed off our anchor and headed past the north coast of Rhum. The wind slowly moved behind us so we hoisted the spinnaker and cruised gently South east to Arisaig. There were not many other boats and we had a lovely sail, arriving at the entrance at 18.00hrs and sailed into Arisaig and took a mooring.
Distance run 31nm.
It was good to have some following winds this summer and we enjoyed the long summer evenings. We had hoped to sail more of the Outer Hebrides, but had to return home to sort out the insurance claim, We finally got a settlement and are awaiting delivery of our new pulpit ready for next summers cruise.
                                             Total Distance run 183nm.

We have now since sold 'ANANAHI' and have got 'CALLISTO of PARKSTONE' an ELIZABETHAN 30