Thursday, 19 June At Duart Castle, Mull
We were in the restaurant bang on 8 am for a very civilised breakfast. The staff were very good. During the mornng we had crossed the whirlpools of Corryvreckan at 9 am, these being fairly low-key as there was not a high tide. Strong Atlantic currents and unusual underwater topography together produce a particularly intense tidal race in the Corryvreckan channel. As the flood tide enters the narrow area between the two islands it speeds up to 8.5 knots and meets a variety of seabed features, including a deep hole and a rising pinnacle. These features combine to create whirlpools, standing waves and a variety of other surface effects. The Corryvreckan is the third largest whirlpool in the world, and is on the northern side of the gulf, surrounding a pyramid-shaped basalt pinnacle that rises from depths of 70 to 29 m at its rounded top. Flood tides and outflow to the Firth of Lorne in the west can drive the waters of Corryvreckan to waves of more than 9 m, and the roar of the resulting maelstrom can be heard 10 miles away. Although not, as is sometimes believed, formally classified by the Royal Navy as unnavigable, the nearby Grey Dogs, or Little Corryvreckan, are classified as such. The Admiralty's West Coast of Scotland Pilot guide to inshore waters calls it "very violent and dangerous" and says "no vessel should then attempt this passage without local knowledge". Experienced scuba divers who have explored the waters have described it as "potentially the most dangerous dive in Britain".
Then there was a compulsory lecture on Zodiac use followed by, at 10:45 am, a lecture by Sasha the anthropologist and archaeologist on board, about Saint Kilda. We had the impression that she had never been there before, but hopefully we will find her more helpful in the future.
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| What Corryvreckancan look like on a Spring High Tide | When we went through it was fairly calm |
We had lunch at noon again in the restaurant, again very civilised, although my carrot soup were somewhat like dishwater - the kitchen had clearly failed to stir the soup before serving, so we just got the watery top of the brew.
We went ashore around 1:30 pm to an old castle, Castle Duart on Mull. An easy zodiac ride in very calm conditions and a blue sky with sun, quite unusual for this part of the world. We had an introduction to the castles history in its courtyard by a trousered Englishman and then wandered around by ourselves, middling interesting. We then walked for some time outside with an immense number of fox gloves in bloom.
Duart Castle was probably built by Clan MacDougall in the 13th century, and appears to have come into the hands of Clan MacLean in the following century. In 1691, Duart Castle was surrendered by Sir John Maclean, 4th Baronet, to the 10th Earl of Argyll (who was later created, in 1701, the 1st Duke of Argyll). The Campbell clan partially demolished the castle, and the stones from the walls were scattered. The 5th Laird of Torloisk used some of the stones to build a cottage for his family close to the site of the castle. By 1751, the remains of the castle were abandoned. Descendants of the 1st Duke of Argyll sold the castle in 1801, to MacQuarrie, who then sold it to Carter-Campbell of Possil who kept it as a ruin within the grounds of his own estate to the north, Torosay Castle. He later sold his Torosay Estate, which now included the ruins of Castle Duart, to A. C. Guthrie in 1865. On 11 September 1911, the ruin was separated from the rest of the Torosay Estate and was bought by Sir Fitzroy Donald Maclean, the 26th Chief of the Clan MacLean, and restored. The MacLeans are struggling to maintain the castle as the cost of upkeep is high
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We were back on the ship by 4 pm and I had a swim before we had our first afternoon tea on board: we felt the sandwiches could have been fresher as they were curling at the edges
We then sat outside on deck eight for a while before returning to the cabin where I had a siesta until the 6:15 pm briefing and recap. After this we got changed for dinner and went up to the Panorama Lounge for a pre-dinner drink, just getting there before the new closing time of 7:30 pm: must remember this in future. We had a long chat with the bar manager about the cuts that Silversea had made and some of which they had now retracted. Then into the restaurant for dinner around 8:30 pm.
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| Lismore Lighthouse on Eileen Musdile | William Black memorial lighthouse | |
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| Caledonian Macbrayne ferries link the isles | Foxgloves aplenty | The Norwegian farmed Salmon company |