Our guests John and Jenny Bartram and Steve Lloyd are the first of our guests to send us images of the Flannan Isles. This new 10-night cruise is in our “far-flung islands” collection, calling in at Harris, Taransay, and the Flannan Isles with stopovers on Skye and the Small Isles en route. Highlights of the cruise included a shore visit to a beautiful Taransay beach, a visit to the Callanish Stones, and calling in at the amazing Shiant Isles. Perhaps the high spot of the cruise was being able to actually land on Eilean Mor on the Flannan Islands, with its famous lighthouse. Being able to land on Eilean Mor is a very rare occurrence so we were delighted to be able to provide this opportunity of a lifetime to our guests to go onshore to soak up the atmosphere and history of this evocative island.
There were also great wildlife sightings during the cruise, with a basking shark, common dolphins and Minke whales spotted. On the Flannan Isles, the bird list included fulmar, Manx shearwater, European and Leach’s storm petrel, great skua, greater and lesser black-backed gull, and herring gull. And of course the gannet colony.
John and Jenny and Steve have cruised with us several times before and we love having them on board. We look forward to their next trip with us next year aboard Emma Jane. View John and Jenny’s and Steve photos in the gallery below and a few of Skipper James's images from the same trip.
Christine is from the Isle of Lewis and John is a Munroist. We have spent a lifetime exploring almost every corner of our wonderful wee nation. But our tour aboard Elizabeth G still exceeded our expectations. We got to visit the amazing Shiant Isles and spend a night there. The crew simply couldn’t do enough for us. Our skipper Alasdair, a West Coast man born and bred, knew the area intimately and, as well as getting us to the Shiant Isles, found us some idyllic spots including Tarbet in Loch Nevis. Craig the Bosun - a total legend. Zöe - what knowledge, and what patience. Phoebe - had to be kidding when she said she’d never cooked in a galley before. Thanks all, especially for laying on some glorious weather - what a fabulous week we had.
John & Christine Blair: 13 May 2023Skye, the Small Isles and the Shiants