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| Gott Bay (in Gaelic Tràigh Mhór, Long Beach) has a beautiful white sandy beach. It is backed by machair, which is found in many Hebriddean islands. Machair`s composition varies from island to island but it is generally a complex mix of sand, shell-sand, grasses, wild flowers and peat. |
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| The small harbour at Scarinish was originally built in 1771. |
After crossing the often-dangerous waters near the Gunna Sound, Tiree is now on the starboard side. Its numerous sandy beaches adding flashes of bright colour under the now-greying sky. The biggest sweep of sand is Gott Bay and at its southern end is the pier at which the Waverley lands. Although most of the island is very low lying, two hills rise prominently from the southern end: Ben Hynish (with its golf ball-shaped radar installation) and the smaller Beinn Hough on the Atlantic side of the narrow island.
The tide is particularly low today and the ship sits well below the pier, so much so that the gangway is very steep. This is made worse by too many passengers being on the port side, making the ship tilt down even farther into the water. The solution: a public announcement asking that passengers move to the starboard side in order to rectify the list.
Although about 450 passengers were disembarking, some 250 local people and visitors (from a permanent population of about 700) join the remaining passengers to enjoy a trip around the southern part of the island.
Once we are
ashore, many people head for vantage points on the rocky shore from which
to take a picture of the Waverley as it starts its short cruise.
You would think Kodak sponsored the Waverley.
A whole island to explore… and only about an hour to do it in. A bus trip using all (i.e. both) of the island's buses is available but most people choose to wander towards Scarinish, the island's main settlement. Sheep graze on the machair, but there is little shelter for them on the windswept fields. Glorious Gott Bay stretches northwards, ringed by machair, dunes and the occasional house. Just offshore are eider ducks and a lone heron, patiently waiting for its next meal to swim by.
The first
landmark, if you notice it, is the ferries` passenger shelter. This is
a most unusual structure which people were bemused to learn had recently
won architectural plaudits. It has a long entrance passageway then an
enclosed viewing platform. Even in today's relatively calm weather there
is wind blowing into the shelter - imagine the effect of a full-blown
gale !
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