Round GB 2021, Day 45. Iona Sound.

The wind, ever contrary, was on the nose and quite light so I motored to and through the Sound of Iona arriving with a favourable south going tide but quite close to low water so care was going to be needed as the channel is narrow and winding.

My track through Iona, this one is plotted every
 10 minutes so it smooth's out some of the turns,

The Antares chart covers a channel 100 yards wide and the centre of it is within 100 yards of the steep too Island of Eilean Dubh.

Iona from the offing.

The Mainland Shore.

 

En Gainmheinich.

En Liath (Island)

Almost at the closest point of approach to Eilean Dubh, a
sharp right turn came shortly after to avoid hitting the mainland.

The "Bull Hole" anchorage behind Eilean Dubh. It can be
uncomfortable and is quite shallow so I had other ideas.

Fionnphort where the Iona Ferry and lots of tripper boats leave.

Iona

Like Staffa anchoring off Iona is problematic and there is no jetty so again I could not go ashore.

Approaching the Cathedral, with the low tide I had to take
the channel on the mainland side to the Cathedral was about
threequarters of a mile away.

The Cathedral

Martyrs' Bay (left), the ferry terminal and the Cathedral

Having past through the sound there were two anchorages I had in mind, the first was Tinker's Hole, a very narrow but secure area as the southern end of the sound on the mainland side. It is a very popular place and can get very crowded with not many boats, there is also a lot of tide through much of it. I could already see a couple of boats there and AIS showed others probably heading there, probably local boats out for the long weekend. I therefore decided to move on to my alternate about six miles down the coast at Ardalanish.

The trip is interesting going through a channel half a mile wide between the rocky coast and the Torran Rocks, an area of 16 square miles littered with islets and rocks covering at high water or close enough to the surface to cause the raves to break. They are open to the Atlantic swell so smooth seas are rare.

Bogha nan Ramfhear (Torran rocks) North Cardinal buoy.

Slide show of all my pictures of the Sound of Iona, page through by clicking the arrows or click in the centre of the pic to view from Flickr in a new window or full screen:

Click here for that nights anchorage at Ardalanish.