The Season of 2015

Common dolphins seen near Heisker

To many of my sailing friends on the West Coast, this last season was a bit of a wash-out!  To me it was just like any other; sometimes wet (bad), sometimes windy (good), sometimes sunny (good) and most times a mix of all three! What we did get was very few days with no wind but lots of rain (the very worst option).  The weather certainly does appear to be changing, with the seasons seeming to arrive later and later in the year; Spring starting in May, summer in July, Autumn in October and winter beginning in late December, or even early January!  Only my impressions of course!  The temperature of the sea off the west coast has been steadily dropping over the last decade but this year was the most obvious fall with the temperature at least 2.5 degs below expected, resulting in the winds we had coming off the Atlantic being much colder than we normally get.

Passing McLeans nose heading for Ardnamurchan

On a trip in late May we were passing Maclean's nose heading for Ardnamurchan in lovely bright but chilly conditions.  The two Cu-nim clouds you can see in this image later gave us some very gusty winds and heavy showers, thankfully short-lived.  however these conditions were typical of the early part of the season and the weather didn't warm up until mid June.

Still you can do lots  with that kind of weather; passages between islands can be quick (sometimes exciting) and given decent waterproofs, walking is a real pleasure in conditions of superb visibility and comfortable temperatures. In May the flowers may be a bit sparse but the birds are at their best, still immaculate as they prepare for breeding.

Puffin

 

walking on Ulva

 

 

 

 

  The sailing this season was overall very good - some years we often find we have to motor a lot due to lack of wind - but 2015 was not one of those years! We made some excellent passages, especially across to the Outer Isles, although at times we were best to take shelter and watch the waves from the shore!

Stormy day!

Passing the Skye bridge

I did manage to find time this summer to make a solo passage around Skye, although typically managed to choose one of the very calm periods and ended up making almost all the trip under engine!

It was made up a little with this sunset seen from my veranda on the evening I spent at home:

 However from the point of view of the wildlife, things were very strange this season.  The very low sea temperatures meant that there was a delay of some weeks before the first plankton bloom, and in fact we saw very few jellyfish until late July! We did see quite a lot of basking sharks remarkably early in the season although I questioned why this should be? I personally think they were up here not because there was food to be found in our waters but rather there was little food where they usually frequent in the early part of the year!

Basking shark off Barra

 Cetaceans, apart from porpoise, were also noticeable by their absence. We saw a few minke, more especially off the Western Isles, but also off Muck during the second half of the season but in very small numbers compared to recent years.  In keeping with a similarly recent change in their behaviour very few approach the yacht any more.  The days of seeing considerable numbers of minke whales surge feeding on massive shoals of young herring seem to be well past nowadays.

Young minke off Mingulay

 We did come across a group of Risso's dolphins off South Uist one day.  The group comprised of about fifteen adults and two calves although the yougsters were prevented from coming near the yacht by the protective adults.

Risso's dolphin off South Uist

 There were however plenty of common dolphins around and we saw them on nearly every crossing either to or from the western Isles.  I understand there were a lot to be seen to the north of Skye and sighting of minkes and even Orcas were much more common up in those waters.

On anchor at Vatersay

In general sailing on the more exposed coasts this summer meant we had to contend with what seemed to be an almost continuous southerly swell. This made many of the usual anchorages we use (Coll, Eigg etc.) very uncomfortable and normal routes had to be adapted to suit the conditions.

The predominant winds were easterly, normally an unusual direction (south west winds being the norm) which made getting to and staying at St Kilda impossible on the two occasions we made the attempt.  However we did manage to make visits to some of the more off-lying islands - in fact we had an excellent couple of days on the Monachs before being chased away by the weather.

On anchor at the Monachs

 It was great having time to spend on the islands looking at the wonderful flora and walking on the marvellous beaches.

Sea rocket - Monachs

On anchor in north bay - Monachs

Overall though - it's been a very good season, we have had to take the rough with the smooth(very nautical!!) but there were very many days when the Sun shone and the weather and the company was just magic!

west bay Taransay

 We explored lots of Hebridean islands, both inner and outer, and hopefully next year will prove just as exciting.

Upper Loch Resort