The first thing you need to know is that
we use two departure points depending on the tidal conditions
— the Main Pier at the end of Cooper Street, and
the Pontoon at the car park. Please check the village
notices for daily departure points.
My One-hour Seal Trip is unique because, unlike other
boat trip operators who may promise you will see seals
on every trip, we don’t, but we guarantee
that you will get the trip free if there are no seals.
As the longest established boat trip operator in Skye
& Lochalsh, I know there are times when the seals
will have simply disappeared. There could be many reasons
— high tide, canoes chasing them off or they have
just gone elsewhere; after all it is nature in the wild.
Do not believe anyone who says you’ll see seals
every trip.
Otters may be sighted on any part of the trip along
with many species of sea birds. Dolphins and porpoise
are becoming more regular visitors. Visit our wildlife
page for more information on everything we might see
on the trip.
What people tell us from the comments in the visitor’s
book is that they get a warm and friendly welcome from
a skipper and crew who enjoy what they are doing, as
well as a great commentary. Children especially love
the trip. Please visit our guestbook page. (Sorry, down
for maintenance.)
 No
two trips are exactly the same, but you will always
get unrivalled opportunities to photograph Duncraig
Castle from the sea. This is the castle now owned by
the Dobsons family from Nottingham who were filmed by
the BBC last year (‘The Dobsons of Duncraig’).
You will also hear a brief part of its history in our
commentary.
When the tide is high enough, we sail round Heron Island
(Eilean na Creag Duibhe), which is covered in Scots
Pine and is a heronry. Heron Island is said to have
inspired J M Barrie as the setting for the ‘Island
of the Lost Boys’ in Peter Pan. Barrie passed
by many times when he travelled on the train to Kyle
en-route to the Outer Hebrides for his holidays.
The railway
line from Inverness to Kyle runs along the shore
line — think about the effort that went into building
this line with all the huge rock cuttings. The trains
run daily and you might be lucky enough to see the ‘Royal
Scotsman’ train that comes regularly during
the summer. The passengers disembark at Plockton Station
where their own bus takes them down to the village,
from where they take a private trip on the Argus to
see the seals.
As we all know, the weather is very important. On a
good day, everywhere you look you will have stunning
views, but even on a bad day the scenery can be atmospheric,
from the magnificent Applecross Mountains and Bealach
Na Bo (Pass of the Cattle, the highest road in the shortest
distance in Britain), to the inspiring Cuillin Range
on the Isle of Skye and north to the Torridon Mountains.
 The
trip always finishes with a tour of the harbour, giving
you the chance to get some fantastic photographs of
Plockton from the sea. If you want to know anything
about Hamish Macbeth or ‘The
Wicker Man’, please ask. Maybe you saw me in Hamish
Macbeth . . . if you didn’t blink!
It's not every trip that the Argus takes
part in a dramatic rescue mission. Read here
the story of the saving of Crabby Bliss. |
