Always for me the last two mentioned were very near to the top of the list, and one cruise to Ardmore with a family party of five was quite memorable. Leaving Crinan the weather was perfect, and with a light westerly breeze Ailsa, eldest daughter of the family and all of seven years (roughly), competently took the tiller for a spell reaching down the Sound of Jura. I shouldn’t have been surprised as her mother is a Shetlander. She took a keen interest in passing sea-birds, so I got her to make a list and identify each one as we coasted along. At the end of the day I asked her what the score was. “Fourteen, if you count goats and jellyfish!” she told me.

Entering the Ardmore Island environment is tricky, with islets and rocks all over the place, but nosing your way in gently you can find lovely wee corners, sheltered from wind and sea in any direction. The adult seals are quite confiding, and the pups leap like salmon around the boat. Ducks and cormorants perch or cruise about contentedly, and very often a herd of fallow deer graze round the shore. And on this occasion, we had just dropped anchor close up to a rock and were letting Harmony drop back on her chain when an otter climbed on to the rock with a big fish and chewed away at it, ignoring us completely. Beautiful, just, and I don’t think Plod nan Sgeirean ever disappointed anybody. As a bonus, Kildalton Cross is within walking/scrambling distance; approaching it from the sea is somehow more of an adventure, and much more satisfying than driving to it by road.

On this particular trip we went onwards the next day, through the Sound of Islay to West Loch Tarbert, Jura, and the kids –and their parents- were gobsmacked by that wild and wonderful corner of Jura, with it’s spectacular raised beaches, and waterfalls (one in particular which we used to refer to as the shower room!) and deer, and goats that made Billy Goat Gruff look like a cissy. Curiously, and a little sadly, last year Ailsa –now married- and her husband spent a few days on Jura expressly so that she could show him the places that so bewitched her as a child (especially West Loch Tarbert, Jura) but they were barred ‘because of the shooters’; I felt her disappointment when she told me.

The West Loch is wide, and open, narrowing gradually as it cuts inland to almost cut Jura in two, and from it’s head it is only about a mile overland before you hit the east shore. It is full of nooks and bays, and intriguing corners to anchor in; and quite nasty rocks, but Lord Astor many years ago had several sets of leading marks built on land which lead you all the way in through both sets of narrows, or ‘doors’. Just inside the second narrows, is a sublime little bay that I love, which is totally sheltered from anything the sea can throw at you, and you can sleep as soundly as in bed at home. The bottom is soft mud which stinks a bit, and that got me once when we were setting off in the morning, for after weighing the anchor Harmony refused to move, perfectly upright but her keel lovingly clasped by the mud, and the crew said what next? So I suggested morning coffee, and by the time we had enjoyed that the rising tide persuaded the bottom to let us go, and off we went.

One truly memorable happening in that corner, was when we had just arrived and anchored with some friends, and Alison announced that “This is our thirtieth wedding anniversary!” and produced a card for Eric; and a bottle of champagne. So in warm sunshine we sat in the cockpit and toasted them, and Alison, a keen bird-watcher said “It’s a pity there are no birds to see here”, at which I pointed to the cliff at the narrows and said a pair of peregrine falcons lived there: at this the two birds took of and circled above us, on cue. Then a pair of hen harriers suddenly appeared a couple of hundred feet above them, also circling, the male especially spectacular in his black and white livery. “It just can’t get any better than this!” said Alison, leaning back and absorbing the scene. “It just has, look!” I said, as two golden eagles drifted into sight, and joined the circling column a few hundred feet higher. So we felt we had to toast the birds as well, which we did, with a handy bottle of liquid Chilean sunshine. A memorable encounter, in one of my favourite anchorages: over in a few short moments, but never forgotten.

Probably the most exciting anchorage to visit on the two islands is ‘The bay of the glen of pigs’ in the Corryvreckan: only to be entered at slack water, or with a slight ebb tide running against you. And if the flood tide is running you don’t come out until it’s over! But to sit quietly and calmly at anchor, by an open beach of white sand, surrounded by deer-populated hills and goat- populated cliffs, and see and hear the flood tide going past like a train, is quite spectacular. We would spend the night there occasionally, if next morning the tidal state let you out at a time to go where and when it suited you, but if not it was always a coveted stop by charterers. Once we had a short break there and watched the Waverley pass through westwards, towards Iona.

Undoubtedly, the west coast of Scotland to me is the best sailing area in the world, with its islands, and sounds, and hundreds of anchorages, each with it’s own personality, and delights peculiar to itself. If I was ever pressed on my favourite anchorage anywhere in the Western Isles I would never expressly name one. There are literally dozens of desirable corners around where I loved to drop the hook but I could never leave West Loch Tarbert, Jura out. Is that an answer?

Back to Colonsay now. Scalasaig is a wee, albeit the largest settlement, spread over quite a large area and has, besides a hotel, brewery, and a beautiful church an excellent shop annex post office annex petrol station. The reason why I mention this shop is that when you’re out and about for a day on Colonsay you might want to stock up first because this is in fact the only shop on the island. If you’re a day tripper from Islay you’ll have about six hours to discover the island before you have to return to Scalasaig for the return ferry.

If you’re a first time visitor of Colonsay and arrive at Scalasaig either with a car of bike you’re probably doing the circular road which starts and ends in Scalasaig. The best known attractions on Colonsay are Kiloran Bay in the north-west of the island, Colonsay House and Gardens in the centre of the island, the House of Lochar bookshop in the west not far from the golf course/landing strip and Oronsay with it’s priory in the south. The island is also an excellent place to to discover by foot

Of course there are other means of visiting Colonsay besides a day trip to the island from Islay. The island has direct ferry and air services with Oban. Colonsay has some excellent facilities such as b&b’s, guesthouses, a hotel and a good selection of self catering cottages which makes the island a perfect destination for a longer stay. For more information you can visit the Colonsay page on this site or the Colonsay community website

Another reason for this blog post has something to do with the population on Coll, which is currently around 200 people. There is an interesting story to tell about the decline and growth of the islands population. The following article appeared in the Oban Times titled Isle Of Coll Population Explosion and was written by Moira Kerr:

The Scottish island of Coll is enjoying a population explosion with the number of residents now at its highest for 30 years, up 70 per cent compared to the 1981 census. And one couple, whose four children have all moved back to Coll to raise their own sons and daughters, have received the community’s “Oscar” for best breeder, as their family of 21 now make up almost ten per cent of the island’s population. There were 131 people living on Coll in 1961, when the island, which lies in the Inner Hebrides, had no electricity and relied on gas heating and lighting. But today the numbers have soared to 228, with the island bucking national trends to boast a bumper population of children, with 56 under-16s, including 22 at high school, 20 at primary school, eight of pre-school age and 12 under-threes.

Island nurse Esther MacRae, who has lived on Coll for 35 years, said: “I remember, at one time, in the 1970s, the population went down to 104, although that wasn’t at the time of a census. Improved transport links and the coming of electricity has changed it.” Julie Oliphant, who has been running Coll Hotel with her husband Kevin for the last 25 years, said the island’s population was really booming at the moment. She said: “When we came here the population was 150 but now it’s going up and there are babies everywhere. “There are lots of young families here now. They have decided that this is the perfect place to bring up their children.”

One family in particular is contributing to the island’s vibrant population more than most. For all four of Brian and Moira MacIntyre’s children have now come back to Coll to raise their own families. The couple’s immediate family on the island number 21 and Mr MacIntyre, 61, said: “We are told that we now make up around ten per cent of the population. I think the population was 123 and there were five children at the local primary school when we moved here 23 years ago, but now there are 20 pupils at the primary school and it will go up to 25 next year.” He added: “We moved here from mainland Argyll and our four children all grew up here and then went away travelling around the world, or away to work. Now they are all back, with our eleven grandchildren. Mr MacIntyre, who is a farmer, said: “There was a charity fund raising ceremony on the island a couple of weeks ago and we got the Oscar for best ‘breeder’ on the island! Just because you are divided by a bit of water, some people think we are isolated here, but I don’t think we are.”

Seonaid Maclean-Bristol and her husband Alex moved here from London five years ago, back to the island where he grew up. The couple now have three children. Mrs Maclean-Bristol said they made a conscious decision to give up better paid jobs in the city to reap the rewards of a better lifestyle on the island. An improved ferry service and a new air link to Oban are helping to make the island more attractive to young families. However, the island’s population has a long way to go to reach past heights. In the late 1700s there were about 1,000 people living on Coll with the main industries farming and fishing.