Framedlight

  It takes a long time to sail to Lochmaddy on North Uist from Tobermory, even if you are motoring, so we slipped our mooring at 6.00am and set out, past the Tobermory lighthouse Rubha nan Gall, and on towards Ardnamurchin and it's lighthouse.  Rubha nan Gall lighthouse Ardnamurchan lighthouse We carried on past the Small Isles and then, much to our delight, encountered a group of dolphin who were splashing through the water not too far from Zuza. The Small Isles At last, around 3.00 in the afternoon we approached Lochmaddy and tied up on the jetty. Lochmaddy is a rather charming little village, not too tidy and with a nice bit of decrepitude which I rather like. It is the administrative centre of North Uist and has a bank and a courthouse which is strange for such a tiny place. In 1616 it was apparently a haunt of "piracy and murder". We all got off board for an explore before dinner and to find somewhere for a beer. Here are rather a lot of pictures that I took on our w

  We have never booked a holiday a year in advance before so the anticipation leading up to our sea trip on yacht Zuza was immense. We had arrived in Oban the night before and at the appointed hour (2.00pm) we wheeled all our luggage, far too much with cameras, a laptop, walking boots and Alan's, new to him, yachting trousers and jacket recently purchased from eBay, down the jetty and onto the boat. The good ship Zuza is a Bermudan cutter rig ship built in 1998 as an expedition boat for the Royal Geographical Society. She is 22m long and weighs a  goodly 42 tonnes. When we were on her there were 3 crew and 8 guests who occupied two twin bunk cabins and two double en suite ones. I was too late to get a double cabin so we were in a twin. With a saloon and a covered wheel house she was perfect to take us all the way to St Kilda and then around some of the Hebrides. Bear with me while I introduce everyone. Neil was the Captain, Erin the First Mate, and Grosia the chef. Neil was very la

After the wet day we had had previously, Sunday morning was cloudy but dry. We took the first ferry from Tobermory on the short crossing to Kilchoan the 'capital' of the Ardnamurchan peninsula. The clouds were still enveloping the sky and made for some dramatic pictures. On reaching Kilchoan we booked into the Ardnamurchan Campsite, run by Trevor Potts, the first man to single handedly follow Shackleton's heroic rescue journey from Elephant Island to South Georgia in a replica 22ft open rowing boat. He still travels and lectures on the cruise boats going down to the Antarctic. The campsite has a lovely communal room packed with books on local flora and fauna as well as more southerly tomes. There is limited room for small camper vans but plenty of space for tents and the site runs right down to the water's edge with views across to Mull. We thought we would visit the Ardnamurchan Point lighthouse which figures in the 'shipping forecast' as it