Iona and a touch of serenity

We set off for Iona this morning (Saturday 12.5), still blowing like stink and still raining. I can manage without sunshine but the rain is starting to get to me. May is supposed to be the driest month, what does that make the rest like! It wasn’t far and two hours sail saw us anchored in Iona Sound.

St Columba arrived here on a currach in 500AD and brought Christianity from Ireland to the Druid Picts of Scotland. Moondance arrived on 11 May 2013 and I’m afraid that all I brought was two bags of rubbish! It is a lovely place; there is a serenity perhaps brought on by its religious past. St Columba founded a monastery and turned Iona into a place of pilgrimage. The monastery was razed time after time by the brutal Vikings who murdered many of the monks over and over again but a new monastery was built in 1203 which still stands today.

In the 1500’s a beautiful abbey was built with a very pretty cloistered court yard.

There are many Celtic crosses on the island. The Druid symbol of Bel (the shining God), a circle, was incorporated into the Christian cross to become the Celtic cross, no doubt to placate the die hard Duids, St Columba was a good salesman!

My pilgrimage seems to have done some good as it did bring the sun out by late afternoon as we sailed away leaving Iona in our wake.

When you can see it the scenery round here is stunning. 

There is a mountain on the other side of the Lock in which we are anchored that rises sheer from the sea perhaps a thousand feet with water cascading down its front in two spectacular water falls, their feeding streams snaking their way down from the mountains upper slopes.

The plan for Sunday was to sail out to Tiree on the Inner Hebrides, drop Dave to get a plane home and then for me to sail on to Bara, the most southern of the Outer Hebridean Isles. We woke up to another rainy morning and a forcast ‘southery force 4-6, veering westerly 6-8 possibly 9’. These waters are not for the faint hearted! Southerly 4-6 would have done nicely but westerly would have been on the nose and at force nine the only sensible place to be is in the pub. There is not a good enough anchorage on Tiree to sit out a gale so we headed back north for a wet 4 hours return sail to Tobermorey where Dave can get a bus and train to Glasgow. Well at least we are back to Tobermory's nice pub (excellent Scallops)!

My next crew, Nigel, a friend from university days has run into a problem at work; hopefully he will be able to make it for next weekend. In the meantime I will now head north to Skye.