A sudden spell of good weather prompted a drive west and an all too short couple of days sailing around a couple of the Small Isles. Located south of Skye and north of Mull, they are a small archipelago of islands in the Inner Hebrides, off the west coast of Scotland.
We set off early the next morning, gliding out of the marina before most people woke and pushed west towards the distinctive shapes of Eigg and Rum. Although the Small Isles consist of four main islands, time only allowed us a visit to these two.
We made good time and arrived in the sheltered bay at Eigg shadowed by the distinctive shape of "An Sgùrr" before lunch.
The Sgurr was formed as the result of one of the final eruptions of a volcano - the core of which now forms the Isle of RumThe lava cooled and formed structures, similar to those at Giant's Causeway, Ireland. This eruption was the beginning of a long history of the island which has been inhabited since the Bronze Age. In A long running feud between the MacLeod and MacDonald clans may have resulted in the massacre of the island's entire population in the late 16th century when the MacLeods built a fire in front of a cave where some 395 MacDonalds where hiding resulting in the death of them all. Although there is some question over the truth of this story human remains in the cave were reported by James Boswell in 1773, by Sir Walter Scott in 1814 and Hugh Miller in 1845 who have all visited the Island. As the sand shifts, more bones are occasionally uncovered - most recently in early 2017 where some bones were discovered. The cave has since been known as Massacre Cave.
The small entrance to "Massacre Cave"
An Sgurr from the southeast
An Sgurr from our boat
We took advantage of the surprisingly high temperature and made our way to one of the many beaches on the island to enjoy lunch. We found the beach deserted apart from some cows who seemed to be taking advantage of the sun too.
We retuned back to the boat and settled down, ready for an early start to sail to Rum in the morning.