Inhabited west coast Scottish Islands - Kerrera
The island of Kerrera lies just off the coast, very close to Oban. The northern end of the island, in fact, nearly blocks the entrance to Oban Bay (or the ‘little bay’ as I understand the Gaelic name to mean) and the CalMac ferries, after leaving Oban, have to head north west round the northern tip to gain access to the Firth of Lorn and the islands beyond. The island is about four miles long and about one and a quarter miles wide at the widest point. It is separated from the mainland by the Sound of Kerrera which is only about a quarter of a mile wide. The highest point, at about 620 feet, is Carn Breugach. Most maps show the Colonsay ferry heading down the Sound of Kerrera but I have only seen one of the big ferries taking this route once. Maybe, on this occasion, it was a very high tide and this route would be shorter than sailing round the north tip of the island - but only possible at a very high tide? There are two ferry crossings to Kerrera; one just north of Gallanachbeg (known...