Mr Blue Skye: Take a boat trip around the Scottish isles

It’s a spacious boat – big enough for 12 guests – but our group of six is lucky enough to have it to ourselves. We quickly set sail and Tilly offers us refreshments. It’s slightly too early for wine so I take a coca cola, while others stick to water (which is the gloriously pure Scottish tap water, what else do you need?)

We have hopes of maybe seeing a sea eagle – a bird that was reintroduced to the Scottish isles after they were shot to extinction for their habit of killing lambs. But otherwise it’ll be a fresh seafood lunch, a walk round Rona, and a water tour of isles of untouched natural beauty.

Another boat is ahead of us, Ewan’s brother’s fishing vessel it turns out. He’s catching langoustines, putting them into boxes with their own individual compartments. They’re bigger than any langoustines I’ve ever seen in London. And it’s this boat’s catch from this morning that is top of the menu for our meal.

Once we get to the Isle of Rona, we’re released for 10 minutes while lunch is prepared. We see seals playing in the calm water, poking their curious heads out to take a peek at us before diving below the surface.

Once we’re back on board, stacks of langoustines have appeared on the table, alongside bowls of sweetly-dressed salad, oatcakes and bread, and salmon both smoked and hot smoked. It’s a friend of the crew who hot smokes the salmon, and he does it simply as a hobby, so being able to eat it is a rare treat.

Tilly gives us a demonstration on how to eat langoustines – the meat is unbelievably fresh and sweet, having received only the simplest of preparations, being boiled, so you can enjoy the pure taste of Scotland.

A walk is in order once we’ve filled ourselves to the brim. There are three treks you can do, explained to us on a map by Tilly – we choose the easiest of the three with our full bellies, with the option of fitting in an extra climb to a high point if we have time.

The paths are well-trodden and easy to navigate, though the inclines and declines have our hearts pumping. Regular breaks are taken, if only to turn around and look at the stunning view across the harbour.

We get to a fork in the road with a handmade sign pointing to a museum – Bill Cowie who has lived on the island since 2002 has created his own collection of artifacts detailing the history of the island. Further along the path we come to the ruin of an old house. A moment of quiet reflection is taken by the group as we stand between the four stone walls. There’s still the remains of an old fireplace, and stones have been stacked up in the centre like a table.

Near the ruin there are holiday cottages – every Saturday the Seaflower acts as a ferry to bring visitors to and from the island who are looking for a holiday to get away from it all.

Our return to the boat is tinted with sadness as we realise it marks the end of a wonderful day. Surely nothing can be as good as the silence and beauty of the island.

But I’m not sad for long.

Ten minutes after we depart, wine glasses back in our hands, Tilly excitedly hurries to the front of the boat. She’s seen something in the water. We climb up to the top deck to find dolphins in the distance, and quickly heading towards us. Kyle switches off the engines and they come right up to the boat, jumping out of the water like they’re giving us a show.

Then one of our group points to something in the distance. Tilly’s even more excited – it’s a humpback whale. We see a black shape quickly disappear and Kyle motors the boat closer to where we think it is. It’s so still and quiet that when the whale returns to the surface, we can hear it take a few breaths before flicking it’s tail up to dive down deep. We watch it repeat the process three times – none of us want to leave this unbelievable sight.

You can feel the reluctance as Kyle turns the engine back on as we need to head back to the harbour. While the rest of the group stays on the top deck, I go back downstairs to sit at the table, enjoy a Tunnocks teacake and watch the world go by. The dolphins follow us halfway back to port.

Book it: The trip to Rona with a seafood lunch costs £145pp, with other tour options ranging from £70 to £180pp. The Seaflower can be chartered privately, with prices available on request.

seaflowerskye.com