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NEWS FROM NORTHERN LIGHT CHARTERS :: JUNE 2007 Fri 1 Jun | Email errors Northern Light Charters have the dubious pleasure of being tiscali customers and, as such, in common with many others, we are experiencing terrible email problems at the moment. In theory we receive all emails sent to us (as they are not routed through a tiscali server) but outgoing emails have been going out, um, nowhere it seems, for up to 10 days or thereabouts. So, PLEASE, if you sent us an email in the last couple of weeks and don't appear to have had a response, then email us again or call us on 01631 740595. It's likely we replied being, as were were until recently, blissfully unaware that you would not get the message. That's technology for you... On a happier note half a dozen bottle-nosed dolphins were spotted from Hjalmar Bjorge this morning in the Sound of Mull. They were seen adjacent to the dive site but did not approach the boat. The vessel continued south to Oban where Mark, Ylva and Lindsay waved good-bye to the 12 divers who had been onboard for the week's charter. Sun 3 Jun | Birthday boy If it’s Chalice and it’s the 3rd of June it must be skippy’s birthday! Obviously such a notable day in the calendar should be marked by glorious sunshine but, hey this is Scotland, and instead it was dreadfully dreich. Considering it mean to insist his guests (picked up in Oban yesterday) walk anywhere Chris instead carefully manoeuvred Chalice around Ardnamurchan through fog and rain and into Loch Nevis. The boat was tied to the new pier where the guests then braved the rain and did battle with the midges. Never was a visit to the most remote pub in the UK so well deserved. Back on board for dinner where much silliness ensued with birthday banners, balloons, party hats and an awesome cake thanks to Jane the cook. Hjalmar Bjorge also embarked guests yesterday in Oban. Today's grim weather has had its compensations for Marks' guests though...three separate cetacean sightings, two by Canna. Firstly a pod of a dozen common dolphins and then a minke whale. Next, off Loch Bracadale, Skye, a second pod of around a dozen common dolphins. This time they joined the boat and bow-rode for about 45 minutes as Hjalmar Bjorge cruised toward the Sound of Harris. Mon 4 Jun | Hello again Hirta Hjalmar Bjorge has made it to St Kilda again following a month of pretty dreadful weather conditions. Mark anchored at Taransay last night and an early departure at 0530 got the vessel over to the archipelago arriving about 1100. The journey was a bit lumpy with no sightings worthy of mention but all aboard were delighted to spend the rest of the day ashore on Hirta returning for Ylva's evening meal and Lindsay's fiddle playing.
Tue 5 Jun | Whole day on Hirta This is how it should be when the weather is well behaved. A glorious day, albeit it a wee bit windy, out at St Kilda enabled Hjalmar Bjorge guests to spend the whole day on Hirta with a packed lunch provided. There's a snowy owl in residence (above) and here are a couple of other photos of this trip from our guests. Photos: (above) Graham Savage (below left) Carole Gardner (below right) Nigel Lynch
Chalice’s photography guests invaded Canna at the ridiculously early time of 0530 for sunrise photos and then the boat headed off to the Cairns of Coll. The day turned into a whale watchers paradise with two minke whales, two basking sharks, some bow-riding bottlenose dolphins and some other dolphins whose identity remains unconfirmed but suspected to be Risso’s. Cruising round the west side of Coll the boat came upon four more basking sharks and yet another two in Crossapol Bay. A further minke whale was also seen off Loch Breachacha where Chalice spent the night. Photos: Chris Jackson
Rob called from Norway today to let us know he was alive and well and that all was fine with his first dive charter. This began last Saturday when his guests arrived from the UK to meet the boat in Bergen. Wed 6 Jun | Birds, birds, birds Chalice left Coll early for Lunga departing at 0600 to beat the boatloads of day trippers. No surprise to see puffins galore plus razorbills, shags with chicks and guillemots with amazing coloured eggs. Next to Staffa for photos of Fingal’s Cave then into Cragaig Bay, on the south of Ulva, for the evening's anchorage.
Thu 7 Jun | Dolphins galore Dolphins, dolphins and more dolphins...Hjalmar Bjorge guests must be bored rigid with them today! After half a day and a lovely tranquil evening at the Monach Islands (below, when Scotland looks like this why would you want to holiday anywhere else?!) the vessel headed back in through the Sound of Barra. Photos: Carole Gardner
Hjalmar Bjorge once again met up with our regular friends, the bottle-nosed dolphins, whose group includes Cyd, last year's baby. There were about a dozen of them in total this time, so a few more than previously, and they bow-rode the boat for a while. Cyd is shown bottom right in the photos below. Note the tatty nose, just like the original Cyd! Photos: Nigel Lynch
Travelling towards Coll, approaching from the north east the vessel came across about 100 common dolphins and then, as they were entering the Sound of Mull, another bottle-nosed dolphin was spotted. Thankfully, to break the monotony of all those dolphins, a minke whale was seen also near Coll... For Chalice guests it was a birdy day again kicking off with a huge raft of shearwaters near Iona. The boat then cruised along the Ross of Mull, into Loch Buie and then Loch Spelve for the night. A sea eagle was seen en route plus a pair of golden eagles.
Fri 8 Jun | Photo finish Hjalmar Bjorge and Chalice both finished trips in Oban today with Chris saying good-bye to his photography guests and expert-in- residence Chris Gomersall. HBj crew are having a well deserved week off. Chalice is back out on Monday with Big John at the helm so Chris also gets a week off but not his crew! Helen will be back onboard and we welcome back, for a couple of trips, Tony the cook who worked with us a few years ago. Another onboard birthday today, this time for Tracy who is cooking up a storm aboard Elizabeth G in Norway. Let's hope she didn't have to make her own cake! Sat 9 Jun | Boys and their toys Ever wondered what charter boat skippers get up to on their days off? When they're not cruising the high seas at a gentle pace, in the midst of beautiful natural landscapes, peace and quiet, seeking softly swooping eagles or delicately diving dolphins?
Although the above photo might make the words "mid life crisis" spring to mind (or was that just me?) proof exists of a long lasting relationship with machinery, below. Just arrived from Mark's old friend Nick, now living in Australia, a photo of your skipper circa 1989. Yes, Mark is the one in black, it being the colour to show the least damage from altercations with tarmac at speed... Photo: Nick Giles
Rob finished his first dive charter in Norway today with a same day changeover in Bergen. Rob, Tracy and Nicola said good-bye to Ted and his buddies plus Donald, Jamie, Max and Nick who have all dived with us several times before. Who better to compare Rob's first week in Norway to our "usual" product off the west coast of Scotland? Jamie emailed to say the week was "Excellent !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" (that's 18 exclamation marks, count 'em!) adding the "diving was really, really good, boat was brilliant (as usual)". The scenery was also stunning of course and Jamie sent these two photos, below, taken at midnight and one in the morning. Photos: Jamie Massie
Sun 10 Jun | Something fishy Max, who finished a charter on Elizabeth G yesterday in Bergen, confirms Jamie's report that all aboard had a good time. She wrote, "The trip was fantastic! We would have liked to have stayed for another week. Rob was great, and so were Nicola and Tracy." Max tells us that Nicola and Rob have both taken up fishing and, being competitive types, have been having little contests to see who catches the most fish. Apparently Rob usually wins which must mean Nicola is really rubbish at fishing because she started practising last year! Tue 12 Jun | Meeting a minke Chalice was in Tobermory last night and cruised to Inverie in Loch Nevis today. Hundreds of shearwaters were seen and a minke whale came within 15 feet of the boat in the Sound of Sleat. Once on the pier guests departed for a walk with guide Erica, had dinner aboard, and then disappeared into the pub – The Old Forge – until midnight. The plan for tomorrow, after a not too early start presumably, is to take a leisurely cruise up Loch Hourn before going under the Skye bridge and heading north to Rona.
At Canna Chalice crawled slowly along the north cliffs of the island where guests saw a golden eagle and a peregrine. There was also a nice stack with lots of puffins on top so John got the boat in close for a better look. This morning everyone had a couple of hours walking on Canna and after lunch Chalice was due to travel to Gunna Sound to look specifically for basking sharks. Mark embarked a full complement of 12 guests in Oban today, seven of whom have travelled with us previously. Welcome back Ann, Ann, Norman, Peter, Ronnie, Valerie and Veronica! Sun 17 Jun | Whale tales For Hjalmar Bjorge guests today there were several whale - and dolphin - tales to tell. Mark pulled away from Tobermory at 0500 this morning arriving at Canna for breakfast at 0800. On the approach to Canna common dolphin were seen in the distance then, nearer the boat, a minke whale and a huge basking shark. Guests enjoyed a morning walking on Canna where golden and sea eagles were both seen then the vessel left at 1300 to head north. Travelling toward Neist Point, on Skye, two dozen common dolphin approached the boat and bow-rode for about 30 minutes then, by Neist Point, two more minke whales were seen. Hjalmar Bjorge arrived at Taransay around 1930...just in time for dinner! News today from Norway where Rob is running dive charters on the Elizabeth G. Tonight he was invited to dinner by a local fisherman, along with Bob Jones, who is also running dive charters in the area. Whilst there, on a group of islands called Fedje, Rob met a guy who had worked as mechanic on the Elizabeth G for seven years in her previous role as Rescue Vessel "Bergen Kreds." Bergen Kreds was based on Fedje for 10 years so the boat is very well known locally. The main island of Fedje is about the size of Kerrera although the name is given to around 125 islands and rocks that form the group, four hours steam north of Bergen. Mon 18 Jun | 2008: It's a date At last cruises for 2008 have been finalised. Click here to see them - we've got a variety of our usual itineraries. Now that the dates are set in stone I will be posting and emailing them to recent customers and enquirers...this is a fairly time-consuming process as I get in touch with many 100s of people so please be patient. Alternatively if you have any questions do please get in touch. Wed 20 Jun | Old friends again Hjalmar Bjorge left the Monach Islands at 0600 this morning and travelled through the Sound of Barra. Mark had told our guests about the resident pod of bottle-nosed dolphins that we see frequently (with the calf that we named Cyd last year) and sure enough, before long two dolphins appeared near the boat. They were quickly joined by the rest of the group and stayed with the boat for about half an hour, bow-riding and amusing everyone with their antics. The vessel got to Eriskay just before lunch and a walk was taken in the afternoon. It was wet and windy to start with but turned into a lovely evening. Yesterday en route to the Monach Islands all aboard saw a basking shark. The day had started off with a couple of good sightings in Loch Tamanavay, on the west coast of Lewis & Harris. Firstly a golden eagle and then a sea eagle which was being buzzed by a couple of peregrine falcons. Thu 21 Jun | All hail Royal Mail Last time Royal Mail featured on these news pages it was a disastrous tale of woe but let's give credit where credit is due. Guest Gerwyn, who has bagged the last berth on a St Kilda Western Isles Odyssey at the end of August, posted his booking form early this morning and it arrived with us this afternoon! Okay, so he works for Royal Mail, and he posted it at 0500 but to arrive at its destination, some 500 miles away, by mid-afternoon is still pretty impressive. Fri 22 Jun | Real "rock" opera The history of St Kilda is celebrated tonight and tomorrow in an opera performed simultaneously at six venues across Europe. "St Kilda - A European Opera" will be broadcast in Stornoway, France, Belgium, Germany and Austria. Images will be beamed to the venues, from St Kilda, via satellite. The £1.5 million price tag, paid for by taxpayers, has attracted criticism although it is believed 80% of the cost came from Europe. Those behind the opera intend to produce a DVD and an education pack in addition to a website. All six European productions share the same script, score, libretto and pre-filmed material. The film features elements of a drama shot on St Kilda, archive footage and an impressive dance performance using abseil ropes on cliffs by French dance company "Retouramont." Time-lapse footage has been shot on St Kilda for a year and has revealed some unusual weather conditions which some believe may contribute to understanding climate change.
Sun 24 Jun | Going thru a gale Hjalmar Bjorge left Tobermory at 0500 this morning and got to Canna for breakfast. Guests enjoyed a decent walk ashore before the vessel departed at 1400 heading north for the Outer Hebrides. Common dolphins were seen of the west side of Skye near Loch Bracadale but otherwise the journey was pretty rough and by the time to boat arrived at Lochmaddy around 1800 it was blowing a gale. The good news is that nobody was sea-sick! Must be those stabilisers! Photos: Sheila Saltmarsh
Chalice headed to Inverie today with bird-watching guests from Heatherlea enjoying a good walk and some rewarding bird sightings pointed out by guide Kenny Taylor. Some of the group investigated the "Old Forge" pub both before and after dinner which was a culinary treat provided by Tony who first cooked for us about six years ago. Chris left Oban yesterday with this group and headed to Tobermory for the first night so he could suss out what the weather was doing. NE winds are forecast which will make adventurous cruising lumpy and unpleasant. Some of Chris’ passengers piped up they hoped it wouldn’t be rough so he will plan accordingly. Rough? In June? In Scotland? Surely not! Mon 25 Jun | Light green guests Chris aimed to take Chalice to Loch Rodel on Harris today but the weather was pretty pants (a seafarer’s term…or maybe not!). By the time the boat got round the Point of Sleat it was blowing a good Force 6 with a sea to match and some of his passengers had turned a not-so-fetching shade of green. A change of plan saw Chalice head for the calm of Canna where guests were able to take advantage of the most sensible solution to seasickness that I know of – "stand under a tree." Sure enough everyone got off the boat and had a good walk with guide Kenny around the harbour being particularly charmed by the eider ducklings.
Oddly enough, the next time they met up there was no talk of Mike being ruled by the birds...either human or feathered... Mike adds that he is no longer allowed to overrule Sheila's weather routing and ungrateful Chloe still bites him as much as she ever did.
Delightful photo, right, from guest Sheila of Hjalmar Bjorge in the picturesque setting of Scarp on the Outer Hebrides off the coast of Lewis & Harris. Nobody does white sandy beaches and clear blue waters quite like the Western Isles! Photo: Sheila Saltmarsh
Yesterday’s forecast indicated Chris would be able to get Chalice out to St Kilda today but after rising at 0500 he was aware that the wind had increased considerably overnight. Still, with the Northern Light Charters attitude of "Who Dares Wins (Sometimes)" he steered Chalice away from the relative shelter of Taransay and plotted a course for St Kilda. The boat immediately met with quite an uncomfortable NW swell and began taking waves over the bow right away. The previous evening Chris had advised everyone to stay in bed at this hour, for their own comfort and safety, but some guests rose and came up to the saloon. After Helen, the crew, told Chris that the wooden bench seat had launched itself across the saloon for the second time, he took the sensible decision, about 40 minutes after setting off, to turn round. The journey back to the Sound of Harris was through an uncomfortable following sea but, before long, guests were enjoying breakfast in the shelter of Loch Rodel. Chris and Kenny decided the best place for bird-watchers to go was the Shiant Islands where, in fact, they would probably get up close and personal with a more diverse range of birds than at St Kilda. So the Shiants it was! Turned out to be an excellent change of plan with rafts of puffins and razorbills. Guests were also intrigued by the interesting rock formations of the islands.
Above, a slippery rock landing for sure-footed Hjalmar Bjorge guests at Mingulay today. Other guests lending a hand made it easier for everyone negotiating the step across from the Zodiac onto the wet rocks and the clamber up to the grass on top. Not an easy way to get onto an island but worth it for the beautiful beaches and parade of puffins. Photos: Sheila Saltmarsh Thu 28 Jun | Fixed or floating? Here's a story from the other side of the planet that might interest you. Just has England has been struck by terrible floods in the last few days the east coast of Australia was hit by some freaky localised storm conditions a couple of weeks ago. Photos: source: internet
This enormous bulk carrier - Pasha Bulker - with its cargo of coal was grounded at Nobby's Beach, Newcastle on the coast of New South Wales on Friday 8 June and has been stuck there ever since. After "several million requests" the authorities put in a webcam to broadcast live images around the world. Although it is an awesome sight there is concern for the topography of the manmade beach which is normally awash with surfers. The cameras are monitoring sands which have shifted since the vessel came to rest. Latest news reports suggest an attempt to refloat the vessel will occur at high tide Friday night (1900 local time) so tomorrow morning (about 1100) might be an exciting time to check in. Fri 29 Jun | Dolphin display Chalice sailed through Gunna Sound and on to Lunga this morning with guests spotting two more basking sharks as the boat left Vatersay. Mid-journey the stabilisers took it upon themselves to spray some oil round the engine room and had a bit of a sulk in the process. Luckily the sea was reasonably calm with just a little rocking around through the Sound before arriving at the Treshnish Isles for lunch. Whilst all Chris’ guests, except one, went ashore after lunch he fixed the stabilisers. Guests always love Lunga, with its friendly and curious puffins, and this party was no exception. Chris had to virtually prise them off the island, with the threat that if they didn’t hurry up before the tide changed, they’d be swimming back to Chalice! With all his errant passengers onboard he cruised to Gometra and anchored for the evening. After dinner three bottle-nosed dolphins came into Gometra harbour and put on quite a display for everyone (it took us ages to organise that…!!!). Yesterday Chalice travelled from the previous evening's anchorage in Loch Eport to Vatersay with sightings of a couple of minke whales and more basking sharks en route. Although it was quite a rainy day all guests bar one went ashore for a good walk and enjoyed the flowers of the machair. Sat 30 Jun | Suited and booted That's dry-suited and booted for Mark, skipper of Hjalmar Bjorge. Yesterday he finished a cruise and he, Ylva and Lindsay waved good-bye to 12 guests as they disembarked on the Railway Pier in Oban. The vessel was unable to stay put as a ferry was coming in to lie on the new linkspan so Mark put her on a mooring in Oban Bay (thanks Tony). Most sensible skippers have a little tender, dinghy or scull to get back ashore, one they can leave tied up or is light enough to put in the back of a van. Not Mark. After bringing Lindsay ashore in the main Zodiac tender he returned that to the mooring, tied it off on the back of Hjalmar Bjorge, put on his drysuit and swam back across Oban Bay! At a distance of a few hundred yards that will have burned off a few of the calories Ylva had been feeding him all week. This morning of course the exercise had to repeated in reverse so he and Lindsay could get the boat off the mooring and back onto the Railway Pier to welcome another 12 guests onboard this afternoon. Hjalmar Bjorge then departed from Oban just after 1700...but without Mark as Big John is skippering for us this week. During the safety briefing one guest asked if he could go swimming from the boat saying he had brought a wetsuit, boots and a snorkel with him. Ylva has been swimming a mile a day from the boat so was happy to have some company. Then another guest said he too would like to swim each day if possible but no fancy gear for him...just trunks! Brrrrrrr!!!! After a peaceful week exploring quiet anchorages in the Inner and Outer Hebrides Chris’ guests aboard Chalice requested some retail therapy in Tobermory today. Whisky, mainly, seemed to be brought back onboard! A couple of basking sharks were seen on the journey round the north of Mull and after wallets were emptied Chalice was off again, for a quiet final night in Lochaline. |
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Chalice skipper Chris appeared to have a post birthday headache this
morning or maybe he was simply wearing his shades because the sun returned
with lots of blue sky! He took the boat off to Loch Scavaig for stunning
scenery and thankfully no midges. If you look really hard you will see a
wee speck in the water, furthest right, which is Chalice! Guests enjoyed a
walk to Loch Coruisk then a cruise to Canna. 
A somewhat cursory and only slightly apologetic email from tiscali this
morning suggests their server problems have been addressed and our email
should be better behaved from now on.
A photo, right, from Ted, one of the divers on Rob's first week based in
Norway. It shows Elizabeth G berthed at Eide, a very quiet location
where the boat spent this evening and overnight. Ted says the area was
great for chilling out, lovely countryside and lots of good walking -
about 9 km in his case! 
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All aboard Hjalmar Bjorge celebrated guest Nigel's birthday today. Cook
Ylva excelled herself with a birthday cake in the shape and design of an
ipod, pictured right, which went down well (in both senses) with music
lover Nigel and everyone else. 
Well, in the case of Mark (Hjalmar Bjorge) and Chris (Chalice) they are
likely to be seen burning rubber on the straights of Glencoe or the like,
not ever exceeding 60 mph of course, because that's not big and it's not
clever. Kids, huh?! 
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Thu
14 Jun | Sunny in Sandaig
Sat
16 Jun | Delightful dolphins
The photo, right, was taken today by Valerie, who with husband Norman,
has been on six Northern Light Charters cruises so far...they return in
July for their seventh bringing son Magnus and a friend. In the picture
are Hannah and Mark, who set up the company in 1995, plus Ship's Dog Daisy
and Seven. Daisy isn't a very competent Ship's Dog as she is scared of the
noise of the engines but Seven, who is generally a more chilled character,
is quite at home on Hjalmar Bjorge... especially if she is in the vicinity
of the galley. %20by%20sheila%20saltmarsh.jpg)
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Talking of seasickness...here's an
amusing tale from Mike & Sheila, onboard Hjalmar Bjorge this week, all
the way from America. Sheila has a parrot called Chloe (right) who goes everywhere
with her including out on their sailing boat. Chloe has, however, been
know to suffer from seasickness. Some time ago Mike and Sheila arranged to
go sailing with some other boat-owning neighbours. The flotilla of four
set off across the bay into Mississippi Sound where islands provide
sheltered anchorages from southerly winds. Anchoring on the first night in
a southerly wind of 15 knots was no problem. However the forecast
suggested a strong front would soon be passing through and Sheila, mindful
of Chloe's previous seasickness, suggested they turn back the next
morning. After explaining to their friends (and quite sure he heard
remarks about his being "hen pecked" or was that "parrot
pecked"?!) Mike turned back the next morning. They spent a day under
glorious blue skies whilst their friends' mocking laughter sailed in the
opposite direction. That night Mike, Sheila - and Chloe of course - were
safely anchored in a sheltered bay whilst the predicted winds steadily
grew to 25 knots and beyond. Torrential rain, tornadoes and lightning
played hell with their friend's three boats, there were six foot waves in
their anchorage and one boat went aground - twice. An expensive commercial
rescue service refloated this boat and the party of three escaped to sail
ten miles in the wind and dark arriving in a marina after midnight. They
promptly abandoned their vessels and checked into a hotel. 
Tue
26 Jun | Eagle encounter
Wed
27 Jun | Sing after supper 
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