Yesterday we checked the point at the tip of the bay twice for wind in hopes of getting to the north of the island. But twice we had to turn back having been deceived by the funnelling affect we were experiencing in the bay as the wind was squeezed up and over the hill.
This morning thankfully was different, and with tide in our favour we were heading 2knots in the right direction even before pumping up the kites.
It was almost one straight tack across the first bay up to Portnahaven. I was sorry Bruichladdich was so far in, as it would have been great to get a photo of us kiting by. We learnt on Saturday the reason for their turquoise company colour; allegedly when the owner looked out to sea, this was the colour of the water. I remember being slightly skeptical about this story. So far while we’ve been kiting in Scotland the waters have looked more like a giant pool of mercury lapping against hills you’d expect to see in Game of Thrones. But as we turned the point we could see giant swell smashing against the rocks and in all fairness, as you watched each successive wave pummel the coastline, in the heart of each of them was a brilliant core of turquoise.
At the point this same swell quickly became short confused waves, seemingly appearing from every angle. The previous tack Stew had been headed quite badly meaning he was further downwind of me. Not wanting to be too far apart I tried to head down to meet him. It was hard even staying on the foil. Joe on the boat was struggling also, suffering a few hard smashes as the boat crashed down the side of a wave. Luckily this turbulance was short lived, the tide pulling Mentor around the corner at 13knots, compared to her previous 9knots before the point. And once around it thankfully returned to soft rolling seas.
It was a long beat up the west coast of Islay, passing by Kilchoman Bay where we’d gone swimming on Saturday. On the port tack we got a good view of it as we made our way north towards Iona.
As with most days on this trip, the wind dropped before we reached our intended destination. This time with Stew dropping his kite just upwind of a partially submerged rock. Thankfully Jeremy was deployed fast enough with both stew and the kite being retrieved well before they drifted too close.
No wind forecast tomorrow, so hoping to explore some of Mulls hidden beaches.
Map of today’s route
Map Key: Stew (Red), Islay (White) and Mentor (Blue)
Iona – ‘The cradle of Christianity’ in Scotland
In 563, Columba, a prince from an Irish noble family, left Ireland after a tribal feud, landing on Iona. Here he and his monks spread the gospel throughout Scotland and into England, making the island a center of art and learning. The Book of Kells, perhaps the finest piece of art from Europe’s early middle ages, was written by the monks here. In 800AD invasion by the Vikings caused the monks to flee back to Ireland. The abbey is still a destination of pilgrimage today
| Days since start of trip | 69 |
| Number of Kiting Days | 31 |
| Distance Travelled Today | 50 nm |
| Distance Kited Today | 87 nm |
| Time spent kiting today | 7 hrs 20mins |
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