View of Rhum from the sea by Ellis O’Connor

Opportunity Of A Lifetime!

My 5 Objectives

Challenge myself out of my comfort zone.
Get comfortable with keeping a sketchbook.
Try something way out of my comfort zone and learn to sail.
See some wild, beautiful and otherwise inaccessible places.
Educate myself on my impact on the environment.

My intention at the beginning of the trip

To document the trip daily through social media however mobile phone connection was patchy. Frankly, once I was on board, it proved a distraction. I found myself simply wanting to soak up the experience without the distraction of modern technology and connectivity.

The Crew

There were nine of us on board, the skipper, Oliver, first mate, Connor, lead artist, Ellis O’Connor and six other artists at various different stages in our art careers.

Oliver welcomed us on board at 6pm and not long afterwards we spent the evening getting to know each other over dinner before retiring for the night once we worked out who was going to sleep where.

Day 1 - Loch Na Cuiche - south coast of the Isle of Skye

We set sail from Mallaig at 12.30 pm after a safety briefing on Sunday morning and some instruction as we left the harbour on raising the main sail and then the Genoa. There was a good wind and a choppy rolling swell which made it quite an exhilarating challenge for us novice sailors. We were in good hands though with Oliver and Connor, both calm individuals who led us through step by step and we were soon making good headway. I even found myself taking a turn at the helm for a while which was pretty challenging keeping the boat pointed at the right spot on the horizon to keep us on course.

Peace and Tranquility Overnight.

We dropped anchor near Loch Na Cuiche overnight, a spot we shared with another yacht. We fell asleep to the peaceful sound of the waterfall, the boat rocking gently back and forth in the water.

Early next day, Monday, the quietness was broken by the sound of a boat motor. We assumed it was the people on the neighbouring yacht setting off early for the shore. Except … there seemed to be an awful lot of coming and going! What the hell were they up to?

Curiosity got the better of me so I poked my head out of the bow hatch to take a look. I was confounded by the scene in front of me. Gone was the peaceful, tranquil scene of two yachts quietly moored in the bay of the previous evening. The bay was full with a traffic jam of large black rubber dinghies, each one carrying at least 10-12 passengers! Where they were coming from was not apparent and they just kept coming.

After breakfast

A bit discombobulated we had breakfast. By the time we had done that most of the crowd that had disembarked disappeared inland, only the dinghies remained. We intended to spend a few hours sketching ashore hoping for peace and quiet as we did.

The source of the large crowd of arrivals soon became obvious. An ocean liner was at anchor just outside the bay. Such large vessels disgorging hundreds of passengers begs serious questions on how a remote delicate habitat copes with the arrival of so many people in one go (where there is no infrastructure or facilities to cope). While we all want to share in and appreciate the specialness of such places, such numbers must have a negative impact and counter the benefits of raising awareness of our precious environment.

Sketching and Painting

Collectively, we decided to stick to the shoreline to sketch. Ellis set up a central spot for a quick demonstration of her own sketching techniques. Intriguingly, she uses a collection of found tools to make marks such as bits of heather, fishing rope or whatever she found in the surrounding environment.

I spent next half an hour exploring the shoreline to see what I could find to try this out. In the course of doing so I was saddened to see just how much plastic was washed up in such a beautiful remote place. It really should be a wake up call for all of us. Even the sunscreen I planned to bring with me is full of micro plastics. In fact, did you know most sunscreens are not ocean friendly. They are made up of micro plastics and other harmful chemicals to the marine environment - which eventually enter our own food chain.

Still, some of the fishing lines and ropes did provide quite a choice of potential painting and drawing materials to use, alongside wild bearded iris leaves, dried heather and a piece of washed up (synthetic i.e., plastic) old carpet! Looking for the positives!

Midges are the curse of the Scottish Highlands and Islands!

Midges are real little bastards! Every time the onshore breeze dropped they descended in a cloud as we sat sketching. We tried very hard, we moved closer to the waterfall, tried to find where the wind was coming from but eventually it all became too much. It was impossible to concentrate (and despite wearing a head/face net it was also impossible to actually see what we were doing).