Skye and the fish at Harlosh Skerry

Fortunately for me, the weather forecast proved to be correct, the high pressure area had arrived and the winds remained light after the early morning front had passed. I rounded Idrigill point in calm water and was almost half way back to Harlosh when I met the first boat I had seen all day. It was a creel boat checking his lobster pots that he had put out all along the cliff line to Idrigill point.



I confess, he looked a little surprised at seeing such a small boat as mine this far out ?



I was now heading full steam ahead for the Harloch Skerry. That’s where the fish finder showed an interesting sea bed full of holes. I had to wait for the tide to come in before attempting to recover the boat at the slipway so decided to do some bottom fishing.



The skerry was high and dry but there was still twenty feet of water below my boat. The cormorants watched with interest as I caught a couple of nice Pollack on a fake rubber sand eel bait. I also got another couple of mackerel.



That was enough fish for me so I headed back to the sandy bay on Harlosh Island for another coffee and sandwich. The Cuillin hills looked very rugged and spectacular in the afternoon sun.



I cleaned the fish in the sea before putting them in a pail of seawater to keep them cool till I got home. The guestimate biggest Pollack to be well over 3lb in weight.




I then wandered around the island to get some more photos and to reflect on my day. Tarner Island looked very clear with the sun on its west side.



I thought this point on Harlosh Island looked like a miniature Neist Point, with Rum and Canna in the distance.



I watched and waited until the tide was well up the beach again then headed over to Harloch and the slipway. I recovered the boat and headed for home as the sun set. I would recommend Loch Bracadale and a trip to the Maiden’s to anyone... it is simply magic .. on a calm day :-D

Skye and the sandy bay of Harlosh Island

Refreshed after my coffee and fish breakfast, I went for a wander around the north end of Harlosh Island. The wind seemed to drop as quickly as it had blown up and the sky slowly started to clear of low grey clouds. I noticed the wind was now coming from the south which was the forecast of calm southerly winds and sunny skies. I was hopeful that the squall was the passing of the weather front which would allow the high pressure area to settle.

The beach that I had landed on was one of the few sandy bays I have seen on Skye. It was flanked with large round pebbles at the high water mark and sheltered on the western side by a rocky cliff.



It was possible to look around the north of the island as there was a breach in the cliffs that surround the other three sides. It would make a great wild camp spot, in fact there were a few fire pit remains that proved it was quite popular.



It was a very peaceful little bay, far from the stresses and strains of my working life. I felt completely at home here in the solitude, not like the fish out of water feeling I get being in the claustrophobic cities.



Beyond the cliff to the west end of the bay was a rocky raised beach, and in the long grass at the top was the remains of a ruin croft. I wondered what the people who lived in it were like and what they thought when the left it for the last time, perhaps to live in the cities or to emigrate to America or Australia as a lot of the crofters did during the clearances. I wondered if they ever regretted leaving it in their later years.



I climbed to a high vantage point which overlooked the northern aspect of Harlosh island and the mainland Skye. Took three photographs in succession and joined them together to give this panorama view of the scene. It is worth clicking on it to see a larger version.



A couple of kayakers arrived as I was wandering around the cliffs. I chatted with them before I left the island and discovered they had paddled all the way down from Neist Point the day before. They had never seen a coast line like it and were full of enthusiasm at the sea views on their route. Their tales of discovery made me determined to see the sea maidens for myself.



When I left the sandy beach behind, the sun was shining and the sea looked far calmer and far more stable than when I arrived. The high was finally arriving and it heightened my spirits as the temeprature started to rise too. I was ready to cross Loch Bracadale to head for the cliffs on the western side then hopefully onto Idrigill point and the Maidens.

But first I went for a closer look at the small sea stack off Harlosh point on the mainland.



Just to make sure the sea was going to be kind to my journey, because I knew once it started, I was going to be very exposed... if the wind should rise again...

Skye and Harlosh Island

The water was flat calm as I made my way out Camas Ban bay heading for Loch Bracadale. I sensed a change in the weather, the cloud was thickening fast and the temperature seemed to drop as the wind from the north eased and started to shift to the east. My original plan to head along the cliffs to Idrigall point and MacLeods maidens first, was put on hold until I know what the wind was going to do. Being caught in the middle of Loch Bracadale in a twelve foot boat in a force 5 wind was not a pleasant thought.



As I passed Harlosh Skerry, the fish finder showed an interesting sea bed. Although it was only around twenty five to thirty five feet deep, it was full of holes and ridges. I made a mental note of this and decided to return later for some bait fishing as its the kind of terrain that Pollack like to habitat. I was trailing two surface lures on rods behind the boat but nothing nibbled.



The sea started to form some waves as I headed up the west coast of Harlosh island. Nothing to worry about but I could see a darker band of sea off the southern tip of the island. I remembered last year going round the south end of Cara on a day like this and right on the tip, the wind met the tide and it was quite lumpy. I suspected it was going to be similar with Harlosh Island.



Sure enough, as I rounded the south end, the east wind was making the water quite confused where it met with the out going tide. I wasn’t worried as I had expected it and the waves were not too big. It was at this very point, the fish finder showed what appeared to be a large shoal of fish under the boat. Next moment both rods bent and I was into the mackerel. However the sea was too turbulent for me to stop engines and reel them in for fear of getting washed onto the rocks.



The fish got a free tug tow round the point until I reached flatter water. They were then reeled in and dispatched with dignity. I was now looking forward to a breakfast of fresh fish as it was now almost 8 am. I was getting hungry.



I studied the rock formations with interest. From afar the cliffs look huge but close in I saw they were only 50 or so feet high.



The east side had some interesting caves cut into the rock and one or two seemed to go in quite deep. I was hoping to find some larger ones that I could take the boat in.



The wind had now swung to the south east and freshened a little but there were still no white horses showing. I know from past trips that once they start to appear, its time to head for sheltered waters. I looked at the wide open space between Harlosh Island and Tarner Island, judged it to be about a mile and should take approx 15 minutes to cross so decided to go for it........