Isle of mull CIRCUMNAV.

By the time we came to consider a circumnavigation of Mull, I had already paddled the south coast on several occasions and explored the islands including Iona, Staffa and the Treshnish Isles.

We had been lucky with the weather on each occasion except the first day of that trip along the south coast when a big south-westerly swell and gale force winds ensured an enforced stay on the edge of Loch Buie. This time, given we were paddling all the way round, there seemed little point getting the ferry across, so we launched from Easedale, starting the trip with a long downwind crossing.

It was a fast run and saw us camped on the Ross of Mull within a few short hours.

A small, lively swell off the south-west tip of the peninsula provided some entertainment, before cutting inside Iona and beginning another crossing to the Dutchman’s Cap.

And so the scene was set - island hopping around Mull. For some reason, starting a 20km crossing late in the day was becoming a regular occurrence on trips with Tim.

Our second camp on the Treshnish Isle was nothing short of idyllic and it was a lazy start along the north coast.

The Sound of Mull stretched endlessly from our third camp beneath lighthouse south of Ardmore Point - neither of us were particularly looking forward to the slog that followed and by the time we reached Duart Point, there seemed little point in stopping.

Another 20km crossing began at around 4pm, on mirror seas, with only porpoises for company.

We covered 55km that day and it was with no small degree of tired satisfaction that we hauled the boats onto the gravel beach we had left four days earlier.