The second half of our season saw a remarkably long stretch of settled weather which allowed us to spend quite a bit of time in the southern half of our cruising ground amongst the Small Isles, which are open to the prevailing south westerly wind and waves.
We welcomed a family with teenagers in mid July and with seven nights we were able to explore the deep sea lochs along the Knoydart coast, the lovely harbour of Arisaig and the Small Isles . We all enjoyed watching the puffins off Canna and then a memorable early morning sail back to southern Skye and a stop in spectacular Loch Scavaig – complete with an eagle glimpse over the Cuillins.
Next trip we returned to Scavaig and spent a very still night there. This was a particularly calm trip with some wonderful dolphin sightings and turquoise seas.
For our next cruise we were joined by a lovely family who were excellent at tending bar…which lead to many ‘happy hours’ on Red Moon’s fore and aft deck as the sunshine continued. We went north for this cruise stopping at the islands Rona and Raasay before a final night at one of our ‘hidden gems’ for a wild swim!
Returning guests, who first cruised with us around Mull in 2017, joined us for an exploration of the Knoydart and Lochaber coasts. We went into picturesque Loch Moidart and then on to the gorgeous beach of Kentra where we all went ashore to experience the ‘Singing Sands’ – a first visit for us.
We had the most amazing whale sightings on the cruise ( as well as dolphins, otters, porpoises) – one of which came up very close and personal to Red Moon!
Next cruise was south again and more new places to explore. We had never been into Loch Eishort which lies to the east of Lochs Scavaig and Slapin so we ventured in there and spent a lovely evening anchored near a waterfall with a view of the Cuillins. We also managed to get out to Hyskeir ( an unmanned lighthouse skerry) …followed by multiple whale sightings en route to Muck. We also tried out a new lunch anchorage on the southern point of of Sleat – a lovely spot but for calm conditions only.
On our penultimate cruise of the season we again headed south for an in depth exploration of the deep sea lochs of Hourn and Nevis and were rewarded with several eagle sightings, lots of dolphin pods and some very cute otter pups! We spent another quiet night in Loch Scavaig with an intense sunset reflected on the hills.
Our final cruise was not blessed with the best of weather and we had one rather exhilarating sail to get safely under the Skye Bridge and into the calmer waters of Loch Duich ! However we still took in some lovely cruising both north and south of the Bridge and saw some great wildlife including a pair of eagles just posing nicely on the rocks at the head of Kylerhea. Our cruise and season ended over the rainbow at Plockton…
We did squeeze in a couple more nights on the water when friends joined us for a mainly walking weekend. We had a long walk up to Plockton Crags, which is to be recommended. A brisk sail up to Rona and a hike along the ridgeline to views over Caol Rona, followed by a stop at Churchton Bay on Raasay for a walk up to see fabulous views over Raasay Sound completed our mini weekend cruise. There were some fabulous wildife sightings – caught by a very long lens! A lovely meal in The Shores in Plockton just finished things off nicely.
Autumn is the time we head back to Oban to winter Red Moon in Dunstaffnage Marina. It is also Scott’s birthday and this year to make up for Mary’s second lockdown birthday in April we treated ourselves to a weekend away in Edinburgh with a night on Fingal an ex lightship which has been converted to luxury accommodation. So, yes another boat…but we had a lovely weekend, joined by good friends – yachties like us. We went on Britannia and saw some spectacular lights at the Royal Botanic Gardens. Just wonderful!
We had a nice Christmas with friends ( of Red Moon and us) and then welcomed Mary’s family onboard for Hogmanay. Shame it wasn’t snowy but we took them on some scenic drives anyway and explored Dunstaffnage and Oban by foot.
Scott has been busy with work on Red Moon, making improvements and ensuring all our systems are as they should be. We are hoping for some better weather in the next couple of months so Mary can start Moony’s pre- season beauty treatment !
Not too long before we welcome our guests back onboard and we are very excited about that and to be fully booked for 2022!
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