With her bottom sporting a fresh coat of anti-fouling paint, engine serviced, various repairs seen to as well as being given a good clean, "Saorsa" was at last re-launched on April 27 but as the summer has not exactly been encouraging as far as sailing out into the wild blue yonder is concerned, most of the time has been spent in local waters.

I had originally planned to go on two main trips this year but so far - and it's now mid-September - I've managed only one . . . and that was not as extensive as I would have liked.

On the spur of the moment and with excellent weather, I left Eriskay early one morning and went down to Castlebay on Barra.  After picking up some supplies, I sailed on further south, exploring the east side of Vatersay, which is now linked to Barra by a short causeway, before moving out into the Atlantic where I continued down past the islands of Sandray, Pabbay, Mingulay and Berneray.

To me, these last two islands certainly are the most spectacular and, I'm afraid, the following two photographs don't really do them any justice at all.  Seeing these two islands from a distance was awe-inspiring enough but their sheer magnitude really came to the fore when I managed to sail close inshore.  Facing the islands, the sky all but vanished and only came into view again when I looked vertically straight up.  Mingulay is the larger of the two and rises to a height of almost 900 feet, the first 500 on a large part of the west side being virtually sheer up from the sea. With a number of caves and deep gullies cut into the cliff face, the Atlantic appeared to boil as it relentlessly smashed itself on to the cliffs.  (As with Eriskay and her "Eriskay Love Lilt", Mingulay has her "Mingulay Boat Song" too.)

And then Berneray - or Barra Head as it is often known - came into view as I pulled away from beneath the cliffs.  At almost 630 feet, it's not as high as Mingulay but the vertical west and south sides form a giant buttress against the seas at this southern end of the Outer Hebridean chain of islands.  At the top of the south western corner stands the lighthouse which is 620 feet above sea level and behind it, the ground slopes gently down to the shore perhaps a mile or so to the north east.

To get the best view of both these islands, I sailed further out to the south west - there was nothing else ahead of me except America - before turning north once more to make my return.  My original plan had been to anchor in the bays for a night on each of the four main islands but unfortunately on this trip, time wasn't on my side so, after a short walk on the beach at Mingulay Bay, I started my return to Castlebay and Eriskay.

On my way back, I also tried to land on Pabbay but, because the swell from the south east was as bad, if not worse, as it was on Mingulay (where I was all but thrown out of my dinghy as I tried to leave the beach), I decided against it.   The whole time I was sailing round these islands, I had this immense feeling of total emptiness and freedom and it was strange to think that I was alone at least 13 miles from another human being in that vast expanse of sea.  All in all, a great experience and I loved every minute of it.  I'll return next year if I can.

The other trip I had wanted to to was to go over to the Inner Hebridean islands of Eigg, Muck, Rhum and Canna as well as visiting the Hyskeir Lighthouse before moving on to Arisaig and Mallaig but this will now have to wait for another time.

"Saorsa" was taken ashore in October for the winter.