On his death in 1164, Somerled, King of the Isles, divided is lands between his sons. Dunollie was passed to his eldest son Dougal. Dougall inherited Argyll on the mainland and a string of islands including Mull, Lismore, Jura, Tiree and Coll. The clan MacDougall takes its name from Dougall. The Chiefs were titled the […]
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The Glenfinnan Viaduct is a 19th-century railway bridge. It was famous for its 21 arches. Today however, it is better known for its appearance in the Harry Potter films as the bridge crossed by the Hogwarts express. The rail line provides regular rail service between Fort William and Mallaig. Originally referred to as the Jacobite
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It has been cloudy and raining for a week. Today was forecasted to be a nice day. So, I rented a car. I wanted to drive to Glenfinnan and Glenn Coe. My real purpose for visiting Glenfinnan will be disclosed in the next post. First, the history of the area… In 1745, Charles Edward Stuart
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In 1891 a small directional lighthouse was approved for the busy Oban Bay. It acts as a minor light to guide ships coming from the Firth of Lorn. It was built by the Stevenson brothers. The Stevensons were an engineering family. Robert Stevenson built or rebuilt 15 lighthouses. He had three sons that survived to
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The folks I had just met left Canna for the Outer Hebrides. I am departing Canna and heading for the Isle of Skye. Specifically, I’m heading for a town called Carbost on Loch Harport; home to the Tallisker Distillery. When I embarked on this journey I had three goals: to photograph Stalker Castle; to visit
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This was my first time to Canna. The boat I was following disappeared into the mist. From my charts, I knew there was one Red channel marker. I coudn’t see it. Any outgoing boats will keep close to that. I needed to be on the other side of the channel. The green marker was on
I have never been to Tobermory. I have heard lots of good things about the town. I was also warned… there is a lot of traffic moving in and out of the harbour: boat traffic, ferry traffic, dive boats, tour bouts, etc. Those were all good warnings. It was a very busy harbour with a
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My next destination is Tobermory. I’ve never been there, but have heard great things about it. I knew getting there from Loch Linnhe would be done in two hops. First, because of the distance. Secondly, there was a day of bad weather that (I was told) would make Tobermory uncomfortable on the boat. So, I
On the Move Again Read More ... »
The Small Isles consists of a group of islands on the west coast of Scotland: Muck, Eigg, Rum, and Canna. They are a part of the Inner Hebrides. I am departing Tobermory and sailing to the Isle of Canna; about 30nm (nautical miles). That’s a 6-7 hour sail due to the light winds… on the
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Ever since I had decided to fulfill this dream and actually sail to Scotland, my mental image of the successful completion has been seeing Castle Stalker from the water. I had hoped to photograph the castle from that vantage point; a perspective I have never seen. Having arrived at Linnhe Marina yesterday, my plan was
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