I slept extremely well. We had a pleasant breakfast at 8:30 with our fellow passengers. I’ll take a moment to introduce them.
Shirene is from Devon. She is an experienced traveler here in the Hebrides. This is the fourth time she has taken a boat trip here, and her third time with Argyll Cruises. She is wonderfully friendly and helpful.
Marie is from Martinique. Although French, her English is astonishingly good. She is deeply curious to learn as much as she can about everything here in Scotland. She spent some time here, in Glasgow, I think, when she was younger.
Roger and Sandra hail from the borough of Richmond in London, though they also have a house on the island of Arran. Roger is a big guy with a beard. He is funny and incredibly friendly. Sandra is a little quieter, but the moment you meet her you can tell that she is really smart.
David and Anne-Marie are our resident Scots, coming from a smaller city near Aberdeen. Anne-Marie just retired as a special education teacher, and I can tell that she was a superb one. I think Roger worked in the oil industry, but I’m not sure.
And, that’s all the passengers, other than John and me, of course. I was a little nervous about possible personality conflicts on a small boat. When we took our barge trip through the south of France there was an American woman on board I absolutely hated. But I like all of these people and I am looking forward to getting to know all of them better.
After breakfast we sailed to Ardnamurchan. This is a peninsula on the mainland that juts out into the Sea of the Hebrides. I think, though I am not completely sure, that it might be the easternmost part of the mainland. John came with us this time. Ted, our skipper, took us ashore by the remnants of a failed tidal energy project.
The group wandered up the road to see what we could see. John and I were always a little slower than the rest of the group.
We passed by new, fairly large distillery run by the Ardnmurchan Estate. I have been a little surprised to learn that many of these large old estates in Scotland are still functioning, but have been sold to Danish and Dutch investors who appear to have much keener entrepreneurial instincts.
I found some of the small things fascinating. For example, there was like an old post box by the distillery
and a little wooden carving hidden among the brambles along the road.
In the afternoon, Ted took some of the group ashore for a hike. Marie fished off the starboard deck. Sandra and Roger tried their hand at kayaking.
John and I just relaxed and watched.
Later, we sailed across the Sound of Mull to anchor for the night in a quiet inlet. We set out some lobster traps. If we find any lobster in them tomorrow morning, we will have a special dinner. David put the traps down for the group. No pressure David, but I hope you picked the right place!
One of the real pleasures of this cruise has been how good the food is. I am astonished by how Iggy, our cook, can turn out astonishingly good meals in a small kitchen.
