Gometra 56:28.919N 006:16.055W
Pelagia
Frans & Sarah Toonen
Tue 9 Jul 2013 17:30
Tuesday 9/7/13, Fog no wind. Wow, what a day we had. Armed with the plan of Mull from the Tourist Office (annotated with the good spots identified from the tours advertised) we set off under engine and a clear blue sky in search of wildlife. Just clearing Bloody Bay not even a mile from Tobermory we spotted a sea eagle on the cliff side together with a juvenille who was more brown. We went close in and watched them for 15 mins or so. Wonderful majestic birds - a treat to see. Motored on towards the Treshnish Isles, a few foggy patches so we kept a good look out. Sue saw a black whale jump clear of the water dead ahead. Alerted by her shrieks we then saw just the tail followed by another jump clear. Not graceful like a dolphin just a clumsy jump splosh action. It was black and white and about 10 meters long. That treat over we encountered families of Atlantic grey seals close by on the rocks on approach to Lunga, the Treshnish Island we wanted to land on to find puffins. We anchored at Lunga and watched as the tour boats unloaded their passengers by raft gangways they drove at the shore and over the slimy rocks. The puffins were all around us in the water already. Dinghy was blown up and launched for the first time this season and off we went ashore and tied up the dingy on a rock a couple of meters above the waterline as we knew the tide was rising. Changed into hiking boots and followed the path up the cliff. Having trekked a mere 300m to a grassy meadow on the cliff top we were amazed to see puffins, puffins and more puffins. Lying in the grass next to them were the boat load of passengers mostly with massive zoom lens but the size of some the lens meant the photographers had to back off as the birds were just too close. The puffins are tame and take little notice of the people, rabbits and razorbills amongst them. Fantastic couple of hours watching them, so cute. Having been much longer than expected the dinghy line was under the water but still on the submerged rock. Gez had to wade in and get it and we returned to Pelagia eventually after some dubious paddling. The pilot book says always use a tripping line when anchoring on the west coast due to the rocks and kelp. Our line was carried around Pelagia by the current so when we had the anchor up we suspected the prop was fouled so we couldn't motor and there was very little wind. Nothing for it - on with the wetsuit Frans and in the sea. Sure enough the line was around the prop and would have fouled our lovely new propellor had we engaged gear. Motored over to spend the night at another anchorage recommended by our 1987 pilot book Dad found in a secondhand shop. Lovely quiet inlet tucked between Gometra and Ulva. We all slept well after our action packed day. |