Loch Leven and the mussels of the clansmen

It was too early to land at the campsite as the tide was now out, besides I was enjoying myself with the boat so headed off to the island of Eilean Munde. This is the burial ground of the MacDonalds and several other clans from the Glencoe and Ballachulish area. I visited it twice before in my inflatable so knew where to land.



I chose a deep water mooring off the rocks on the north of the island instead of the more accessable “beach” area to the east. The reason is the boat could be too heavy for me to re launch if it got stranded on a beach with a falling tide. Either that or its bottom could get damaged pushing it on sharp rocks. I intend devising a two anchor landing system soon so I can land and keep the boat off shore, pulling it in when I want to board again.

I then went for a walk round the island, keeping a close eye on the boat.



I visited the ruined church again and tried to imagine the services that went on here over a century ago. Were they fire and brimstone sermons ?



Then I visited the graves. Its still in use to this day. Most stones are made from the slate quarried at the nearby Ballachulish quarry.





Heading back to the boat, I stopped and collected a few mussels from the rocks. They were nice big ones and I wondered if they were fattened on the juices of the buried clansmen ?



I popped them in a pot and heated them till they opened, then ate them. You cant get fresher seafood than that. Loch Leven mussels have a unique meaty taste too. Yum :-D