When in Islay.....

 

With some unsettled conditions and persistently strong S to SE winds, it seemed to make perfect sense to stay for 3 days in Port Ellen, Islay. After a day of heavy, squally rain that make us complete some admin and boat jobs, the welcome return of sunshine gave us the chance to stretch our legs for a hike along the Three Distilleries Walk yesterday.

Walking north from Port Ellen, with a stop at the McDougall's Monument

We pressed on to the furthest of the three distilleries, Ardbeg.

Here a tasting flight of five excellent malts cost £20 and included the Wee Beastie, the Ten Years Old, the An Oa, the Uigeadail and a 57% one called Corrywrekan. The tasting notes for the latter suggested 'smoked bacon, peppered steak, dark coffee and bitter almonds' on the palate!

Suitably fortified, we walked back a mile or so to Lagavulin (one of Graham's favourite malts) where we'd managed to get a couple of last-minute cancellations on the otherwise fully-booked distillery tours.

It is possible to bring a yacht into the rocky sea loch and anchor just in front of the distillery, but we'd have needed much more sheltered weather to consider attempting it! 

Although the distillery is owned by the giant Diagio, the place had a very homely, independent feel to it and our tour guide, Sarah, who's always lived on the island, was wonderfully enthusiastic and knowledgeable.

The tour finished with a tutored tasting of three malts, including the Distillers Exclusive Bottling that retails for £100 a bottle. Luckily, drivers and non whisky lovers like Dianne could bring their samples home in little, um, sample bottles!

Our return to the boat was just in time for the next weather system to arrive so we endured strong winds that had Maunie straining at her mooring lines before heavy rain introduced a better wind direction and a sudden reduction in its power, just as night fell.

This morning dawned sunny and relatively calm so many of the visiting boats have moved on. We're staying one more day, however, so inflated the dinghy to identify and (we hope) fix a slow but annoying air leak.

The shallow water around the pontoons is pretty visible from the air

Maunie in the foreground, next to the Farr 65. One of the twice-daily ferries is in the background.

Next stop, we think, will be Mull and then we'll head over to Barra, the most southerly inhabited island of the Outer Hebrides - if the weather cooperates, that is. The forecast suggest more strong winds are heading our way.

Finally, we have uploaded a 20-minute video of our passage from Cornwall to the Isle of Man https://youtu.be/wrYTFeO-O40