The Kyle of Lochalsh
"Kyle" is the collective term for two villages and a stretch of water. On the north, there is the village of Kyle of Lochalsh. On the south side, is the Skye village of Kyleakin. In between is the fast flowing body of water called Kyle Akin, over which the distinctive Skye Bridge now sits.
Very sadly the Harbour Master of Kyle, Robert Thompson, was too busy to see me, added to which, the pontoons normally in place for visiting yachts had not been installed due to the virus, so it was difficult to find a place to tie up. He is the first HM I have missed for no unavoidable reason.
However, there were two huge silver linings - first our visit to Plockton around the corner and second that we bumped into (not literally) four amazing Round Great Britain rowers (@exe.endurow ) who were on their way to breaking the WORLD RECORD for the youngest ever team to row around GB unsupported!
A huge congratulations to Arthur, Charles, Harry, Oliver and for battling through some horrendous weather to complete the row in 42 days. We saw them on day 26 (they had hoped to do it in 28 days I think) and they had clearly packed a lot of emergency rations! We pulled alongside them and enjoyed chatting to them as they rowed north. Thanks to instagram we then tagged each other and all enjoyed sharing the video we took of them. Well done guys - you did 1,820 miles the hard way!
Kyle of Lochalsh is a shadow of its former self. For over 100 years the sleeper trains would pull in from London and people would enjoy breakfast at the Hotel Lochalsh before boarding the ferry across to Kyleakin and on into Skye. Now the concrete ferry ramps stand empty and the heavy tourist traffic streams continuously over the Skye bridge high above. Did you know Skye was the second biggest tourist destination in Scotland after Edinburgh?! It also has a massive Salmon processing factory - photo 8.
Very sadly the Harbour Master of Kyle, Robert Thompson, was too busy to see me, added to which, the pontoons normally in place for visiting yachts had not been installed due to the virus, so it was difficult to find a place to tie up. He is the first HM I have missed for no unavoidable reason.
However, there were two huge silver linings - first our visit to Plockton around the corner and second that we bumped into (not literally) four amazing Round Great Britain rowers (@exe.endurow ) who were on their way to breaking the WORLD RECORD for the youngest ever team to row around GB unsupported!
A huge congratulations to Arthur, Charles, Harry, Oliver and for battling through some horrendous weather to complete the row in 42 days. We saw them on day 26 (they had hoped to do it in 28 days I think) and they had clearly packed a lot of emergency rations! We pulled alongside them and enjoyed chatting to them as they rowed north. Thanks to instagram we then tagged each other and all enjoyed sharing the video we took of them. Well done guys - you did 1,820 miles the hard way!
Kyle of Lochalsh is a shadow of its former self. For over 100 years the sleeper trains would pull in from London and people would enjoy breakfast at the Hotel Lochalsh before boarding the ferry across to Kyleakin and on into Skye. Now the concrete ferry ramps stand empty and the heavy tourist traffic streams continuously over the Skye bridge high above. Did you know Skye was the second biggest tourist destination in Scotland after Edinburgh?! It also has a massive Salmon processing factory - photo 8.