sailing

Similar conditions to two days ago with a gloomy grey sky and choppy easterly sea, but the wildlife was more forthcoming. We went a bit further east this time, and as we sailed past a few gannets peering down at the sea, they started to dive. Then porpoise fins started rushing through the waves, and…

It was a tricky day with low grey light, and a brisk easterly wind which made things pretty choppy. We had a fast sail though! Seabirds were mainly loosely scattered with no focused feeding going on. The Manx shearwaters have all gone now, leaving the gannets, guillemots and razorbills. Some distant dark looking waders with…

It was a murky day today but the wildlife brightened everything up. We started at the island watching seals start to haul out, then as we went south, we appeared to motor into a cloud which was pretty persistent for about an hour. We watched some fish boiling away at the surface and some kittiwakes…

Autumn days like this feel like a gift from the gods, especially in the aftermath of wind and swell like we had at the weekend. On this morning’s Bay Discovery trip, we had an awesome encounter with a massive fin whale – this was feeding with what looked like over a thousand gannets, plus countless…

Though grey and choppy, conditions were far better than expected today and we had a great couple of trips. This morning there were eight seals hauled out – it’s been a popular spot for them there lately. We then headed a long way south and found two groups of common dolphins feeding with just a…

After the strong wind of the last two days (more strong wind) we were back out today and conditions were surprisingly benign. This morning we saw several grey seals round the island and a couple of groups of harbour porpoises, but on the whole it was rather quiet. This afternoon we tried a different route…

Conditions today were similar to yesterday’s, though with no rain and slightly less swell. This morning on our three hour trip we saw plenty of grey seals and seabirds including a sooty and Cory’s shearwater. We also found some common dolphins and had some clear (though brief!) views of harbour porpoises. There are a lot…

This weather 😱! There was a bit of a window this morning so we headed out, undecided about whether it would be two or three hours. We sailed southwards into increasing swell, looking for fins among the waves and the birds. One lady saw a tuna breach, but the rest of us were all the…

What a fantastic day we had today. There was still a hefty swell running, but otherwise conditions were good. This morning we found fifteen seals on the island; they were mainly adult females but there was two males and a couple of juveniles as well. We then headed south, finding bluefin tuna and, rather unusually,…

The autumn swells are definitely making themselves felt at the moment – it was startling how abruptly our glorious summer came to a screeching halt with the arrival of Hurricane Erin at the end of August. However our passengers still want to get out there and they are proving to be an enthusiastic and hardy…