A cold start on a dark October morning. Lord of the Isles sits quietly and patiently at Castlebay pier, waiting for the appointed time when her passengers would board her for the journey to Oban. It is just after 7.00am as we stand on the pierside waiting to board. Travelling with me is Steve, owner of the website and the poor soul who has single-handedly managed to teach me the basics of web-page editing. As the ships sits lifeless at the linkspan berth we take the opportunity to practise a bit of night photography. I must admit the majority of my efforts turn out to be a blurred mess although I did manage to get one shot to turn out okay.

I can't quite believe how still the air is this morning. We are about to leave Barra in flat calm conditions - a stark contrast to the crossing we made from Eriskay to Ardmhor last night on the Loch Linnhe what must have been at least a force 8 gale. The residents of Castlebay are about to be awoken as suddenly the ferry shows signs of life. The deep rumble of her engines can now be heard, as can the warning siren on the linkspan which is being set to the correct height so we can board. Our tickets are checked and we are issued with registration cards to fill in prior to loading - its back to the car to find a pen... 

The stern ramp is lowered and one by one the half dozen or so cars drive onto the car deck.

As our scheduled departure time of 7.30am approaches, the residents of Castlebay receive their alarm call as the public address system comes to life. We are welcomed aboard by the captain and are treated to the umpteenth safety announcement of our trip so far, telling us where the various assembly stations can be found and what to do in an emergency. For the people of the town it must be something they get used to - hearing these announcements time and again at antisocial hours. 

The stern car ramp is raised and secured and the passenger gangway is retracted - just as one poor bloke legs it onto the pier in an attempt to catch the boat. By now Steve and I are outside on the top deck watching the proceedings. The man who has arrived late is very lucky indeed as he has been sent around to the linkspan. Sure enough the ramp is lowered once more and our last minute passenger is allowed onboard. For the benefit o this one individual, the whole place is treated to the same announcements all over again.

With loading completed, the ramp is secured

The clock hits 7.30 exactly and the mooring ropes are slackened off and untied from the pier. We're off to Oban via Lochboisdale on South Uist. Somewhere out there is the famous Kismuil Castle which stands proud on its island in the middle of the bay. I waste a bit of battery power trying to capture this famous landmark but to no avail. Indeed for the first part of the journey there is not a lot to be seen at all with it still being dark outside. I give up and do the sensible thing and head inside for breakfast. At this point the Lord of the Isles is still relatively empty. The 50 or so passengers onboard all appear to have had the same thought simultaneously...breakfast! That said, the cafeteria is not exactly crowded.

Barra far behind us

By the time we've eaten it is getting light outside - almost light enough to be able to take pictures of the islands we are passing as we cross the Sound of Barra and press on towards South Uist. Barra is most definitely behind us now. Eriskay can be seen off to our port side and in the distance off the starboard bow, Skye can just be made out.

It takes just over an hour to cross the Sound of Barra on this particular journey. The other half hour is spent negotiating the approaches to the the mouth of Loch Boisdale. At the sun begins to put in an appearance over the eastern horizon, we arrive at Lochboisdale pier itself and turn to berth stern-in.

From the ferry there doesn't appear to be much at Lochboisdale itself - a few houses and shops along the main street, the Calmac office and the pier itself. There is bound to be more there than that - however when there is a ferry due it is obvious that the pier becomes the centre of attention. The car ramp is lowered once again and the traffic in the marshalling lanes begins to head down (or rather up!) the linkspan. Lochboisdale is also the scene for a partial change of crew as we take on seven or eight new members and their bags.

We are not at the South Uist port for long. The last wagon is boarded and the ramp is secured, only to be lowered again - this time to allow for the removal of a canine stowaway who had darted up the gangway when his or her owner wasn't looking! This caused much amusement to the many passengers who were lining the stern decks and watching the action. Those who hadn't been watching were soon brought up to speed on the events as the captain once again came over the public address system to explain the delay in departing.

Departure from South Uist is about ten minutes late following the incident with the dog but nobody seems to mind. The majority of passengers go inside to the cafeteria or lounges. I on the other hand stay outside to get some more photographs as a golden sunrise can be seen in the distance (it wasn't that impressive but it made for a more promising weather forecast). Our path takes us back down Loch Boisdale and out into the open waters of the Minch. Of course the Minch is notorious for its rough conditions, although I have to point out that both on this day, and two days previously when we crossed the Minch  from Ullapool to Stornoway the sea was totally calm with virtually no rocking motion to be felt from either ferry.

Sunrise in the Outer Hebrides

This crossing is totally new to me and unlike the majority of the locals and other tourists who are aboard, I'd much rather be out on deck taking in the scenery as we leave the Outer Hebrides behind and pass close to the Small Isles. Having looked on maps of the route in the past, I always thought that the route taken was much further to the south, however it is clear that this leg of the journey hugs the Small Isles of Rum, Eigg, Muck and Canna very closely before turning nearly due south to enter the Sound of Mull. On this crossing I also discover that the Small Isles are by no means small, as the two pictures below show:

Isle of Rum

As we progress away from South Uist and Barra, we approach a lonely island in the middle of the Minch, on top of which stands a lighthouse. (I did have a look on the charts on the walls in the main entrance area for the name of the island, however it escapes me now) As we pass by this lonely outpost, our captain calls over the public address system to advise that the ships whistles are to be tested and that passengers should not assume they are hearing the General Emergency Signal. Some random whistling goes on for a few minutes, probably much to the confusion of a fishing vessel we can see in the distance...

Nearly two and a half hours since we left Lochboisdale and there is now land all around us. It is strange how as soon as we approach land, more people take to the outside decks. The Small Isles are now behind us. Coll and Tiree are off to our right and the Ardnamurchan Peninsula - the most westerly piece of the British mainland - can be seen off the port bow and the Isle of Mull is fast looming up in front of us. From here is it impossible to make out the entrance to the Sound of Mull, mainly due to the Lord of the Isles not having an open deck space facing out over the bow.

As we enter the Sound of Mull, there are roughly two hours before we arrive into Oban. Loch Sunart can be seen ahead of us and the barren cliffs of Ardnamurchan tower over the ferry on the left. The remote Glengorm Castle can be seen on the northern tip of Mull on the right. Perhaps it was this that prompted one young boy to come running into the Observation Lounge and announce at the top of his voice: 'Ding Dong - ladies and gentlemen, the ferry will shortly be arriving at Balamory!' This sudden interruption of the calm silence reduced many to laughter.

Immediately after this happens, Steve spots a large group of seabirds on one patch of the sea surface. This means absolutely nothing to me (my reaction being among the lines of 'so?') but I am told that the reason for the birds being there is probably a whale down below forcing a shoal of fish to the surface. Sure enough, as the ferry passes by and leaves the  birds behind I spot a fin break the surface as either a whale or a porpoise comes up for air.

As we carry on into the Sound of Mull, we pass Kilchoan village on our left hand side. This is the mainland port for Mull's third back-door route - and as we carry on just a little further, Tobermory Bay comes into view on our right. The Loch Riddon is seen on the slipway as she prepares to take the lunchtime sailing over to Kilchoan. Normally it would be the Loch Linnhe, however we went on her last night on the Eriskay - Barra crossing.

It would appear that not only does the proximity of land draw people onto the open deck - the sun does too. The weather is now bright and sunny as we bear right and head south east down the Sound towards Craignure and eventually Oban.

The Lord of the Isles continues down the Sound of Mull from Tobermory to Salen Bay on Mull on our right hand side as we take make the left turn into the southern part of the waterway. It is only in an area where land is present like this that the speed of the ferry can be appreciated. In the distance we can see the Loch Fyne making her way across to Lochaline in Movern. Les than a quarter of an hour later and we are parallel with Fishnish slipway. The queues for the next sailing are already developing. Lochaline itself remains hidden for a couple of minutes until we pass the mouth of the loch. By this time the Loch Fyne is safely berthed at the slipway reloading to come back across.

Just twenty minutes further on and the Lord of the isles approaches Craignure - Mull's main ferry terminal and the traffic queue is already forming for the 3.00pm sailing back to Oban. Even from this far out in the Sound of Mull, the pier can clearly be seen jutting out into the bay. Also off Craignure, this time on the port side is the Clansman making her way out to Castlebay and Lochboisdale, having already made a return trip out to Coll and Tiree this morning - a busy schedule if there was one. From Lord of the Isles we get a grandstand view of the larger ferry as she passes by.

This last leg of the journey, from Craignure to Oban sees quite a lot of ship activity. In addition to the Clansman passing us off Craignure, we also pass two fishing vessels; one heading out past Lismore and the other which we overtake near Lismore. This second one has to alter course to move out of the way of the fast approaching Isle of Mull. 

We pass the busy Mull ferry just after Lismore, as we head across the Firth of Lorn for the last twenty minutes or so to Oban. On this final part of the crossing there is a spectacular view from the starboard deck down towards the Garvellachs and the Paps of Jura in the far distance beyond. I would take pictures of the view down but for two reasons; firstly it is looking straight down into the direction of the sun, and secondly that general direction is on the agenda for later on in the afternoon.

We are now rapidly approaching Kerrera and the northern entrance to Oban Bay as Lord of the Isles reaches the end of the longest route in the network. But as we enter the bay, Steve spots something perched on a rock that causes some bemusement among other passengers...

I'm still not sure why this guy is on the rocks. (Although there have been some interesting answers such as  'he is the new EU inspector of rocks!') He was attracting quite a lot of attention from passengers on the upper deck as we came into the bay. Moments later we are called down to the car deck as the visor is raised and the vessel comes alongside the pier at the linkspan. As the bow ramp is lowered onto the linkspan, the registration cards are collected and we disembark. 

Now most normal passengers would at this point drive off through Oban to their onward destination. However, we do precisely the opposite and instead join the vehicle queue for the Colonsay and Islay ferry. After a ticking off for not being available for the designated check-in time (like we could have been, given we had only just got off the boat!) we fill in the new registration cards and drive straight back onto Lord of the Isles - attracting some funny looks from the car deck crew in the process.

Once the car is parked (again) we head back out onto the deck for a look at Oban's new terminal building in the advance stages of construction. Eigg can also be seen just outside Oban Bay on her way to Lismore, having left as we arrived. On the other side of the deck I can see the little Bruernish at the spare berth having just come back off her annual overhaul.

Almost 3.00pm and the alarms go off down there on the car deck as the bow ramp is secured. And right on cue the public address comes to life with the captain welcoming us back onboard and asking us to listen to those safety announcements once more.

3.00pm and right on time we back away from the linkspan and the visor is closed. We turn away from the pier and head for the sound of Kerrera and the second leg of today's journey. This time we're off to Colonsay and eventually, in about three and a half hours time, Port Askaig on Islay. The sun is high in the sky and the deck seats are proving popular once more.

This crossing, down to Colonsay first of all, is very different to the route we have just been one through the morning and early afternoon. For example we follow the coastline for most of the way down to Colonsay and the scenery is varied whichever way you look - with Kintyre and the Garvellachs on one side and the south coast of Mull on the other.

Following the second meal of the day on the Lord of the Isles, we draw ever closer to Scalasaig on Colonsay. The sun is no longer as prominent as it was earlier this afternoon and the temperature has fallen significantly. By the time we swing round into Scalasaig Bay the sky has completely clouded over and there is drizzle in the air. 

The approach to Colonsay pier is tackled with a high degree of precision due to the nature of the channel. The captain brings Lord of the Isles to a halt at right angles to the end of the pier before gently manoeuvring the stern round the pier and then backing onto the linkspan. This whole process only took a couple of minutes - obviously the result of much practise! Once at the linkspan, all but our car and one other are offloaded and a handful more cars are brought on for the short hop over to Islay. This evening there is an extremely high tide and as a result all foot passengers are taken off via the car deck onto the linkspan. This delays us slightly at Colonsay but even with this going on we are only at the pier for just under ten minutes.

As we set off for Port Askaig we have now been on the ferry for about 11 hours today. It is now starting to get dark outside (I don't know why I sound surprised given that it is the middle of October...!) For a while I am distracted by a phone call and so miss the entrance to the Sound of Jura. By the time I'm off the phone we're well down the sound and only a few minutes away from Port Askaig. I notice on the way in that we pass a number of distilleries within a very short space of time. I knew Islay was famous for its whisky but I didn't realise there were quite so many distilleries producing the stuff - shame its wasted on me...can't stand the stuff!

It is high tide still as we approach Port Askaig and Steve and I head out to test the night vision features on our cameras in the now rapidly diminishing light.

The photo on the left is the only one I managed to get without blurring the image (I blame the movement of the boat). You can just make out the height of the water against the pier. What can't quite be seen is the height of the metal ramp that passes for the linkspan. It is at full height and even then when the stern ramp is lowered, there is still a steep descent from the car deck to the linkspan.

As we head down to the Ka once more I can't quite believe that 12 hours ago we were just getting ready to board Lord of the Isles for the journey from the Outer Isles. Now we're leaving the ferry onto an island that couldn't be more of a contrast to the Outer Hebrides that we have left behind. 

Out of all the crossings we've been on during this trip, today has been the highlight so far by a long way. Some get bored of being at sea for long periods of time...not me - no way!

All photos by Ships of CalMac