12 April 2010
It was hard to envisage that a city folk who lives in South East Asia could be with his family on a small boat out at sea, on the wild and remote coast of Scotland’s Isle of Skye. But this was not a dream. We were actually on an AquaXplore Rigid Hull Inflatable Boat (RIB) heading out to sea off Isle of Skye.
Earlier in the day, we had drove from Portree to Elgol where we booked a boat trip out to sea to see the wildlife, visit Loch Coruisk and Cuillins mountains.
There are a couple of operators to choose from, each offering something different. We decided to take the Bella Jane’s AquaXplore boat trip instead of the more leisurely boat trip to Loch Coruisk.
I had been on many boat rides prior to this but riding on the AquaXplorer RIB (Rigid Hull Inflatable Boat) was a new experience.
The wind and splash proof clothing we have donned a while ago proved its worth as the skipper of the craft gunned its powerful twin engines and sped across the relatively calm sea. It got a bit rougher as the boat moves out from the sheltered area of the bay towards some islands in the distance, where we would be doing some birds and wildlife spotting, he told us.
No pictures was taken and posted here as my camera bag was safety tucked under my clothing to keep them dry. It was fun and thrilling to say the least as the skipper did some show-boating, zig-zagging to show the manoeuvrability of the watercraft and made the ride to the islands more fun, and exciting.
The boat went close to the some steep cliffs of island which I believed was Isle of Rum. Here, we saw rookery of sea birds on the steep cliff, a large sea cave but no whales, dolphins or sea mammals. Probably too early in the season for the migratory whales.
Then we headed for the Isle of Eigg where there was an one hour stop at the island.
There was not much to see or do on Eigg, except to grab some lunch and enjoy the sun and breeze. Then it was back to the RIB for our ride back to Skye.
The journey back was fun! The wind was stronger than when we left, so the sea was much choppier. Riding the RIB on those sea was like riding a bucking horse. Best to grip the handles tight and half stood instead of putting our butt on the seat.
Fun and thrilling; and more show-boating from the skipper, even with those rough waves. Since we did not get to see any sea mammals, this bit of excitement on the way back was a consolation on an otherwise disappointing trip.
Finally we made it back to Elgol. As can be seen from the photo below, the sea was choppier now, even near Elgol and the thick clouds are rolling down the Cuillins mountains. What a sight! Isle of Skye, the misty isle. We were told that trekkers could get into trouble when clouds rolled in suddenly while they are out on the mountains.
As for me, I wanted to capture the dramatic scene of the thick clouds spilling over the mountains. Have to brave the strong winds, and with no time to set up a tripod, I took some photos to make the panoramas below.
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