Canna beat this

Once we got to the beautiful island of Canna, our holiday began in earnest. After arriving in the evening and taking in a nice sticky toffee pudding in the local cafe, we decided to stick around for a few days. As a reward, we had our first day of sunny weather the next day and went for a hike over the island. The visibility was amazing: Rum, the Cuillins on Skye and the Outer Hebrides.

Atop Canna

The Cuillins

Canna Harbour with Rum in the background

The local church where the roving minister came to give a service for the islanders while we were on the island

Friendly harbour seal, hand fed by a fisherman every evening

On our second morning, we woke to howling winds and driving rain - and to the very surprising sight of tiny Hyskeir, our friend Paul's boat, anchored near by. He'd had a horrendous night getting to Canna single-handed. His aim was to nip in before the gale arrived but it didn't quite work out. Luckily, this storm was not long-lasting and by the afternoon we could stroll around the island in the sunshine again and take advantage of the hot shower provided for visiting yachties. 

In the evening we were all invited aboard Piota, owned by the redoubtable Keith and Fiona who used to run the North Scotland Sailing School. They had a lot of entertaining tales to tell while we all watched a charter boat trying to anchor for two hours and gradually ploughing up several tons of kelp off the bottom of the harbour.