There are some photos you just have to have: anchored in Cooks Bay, Moorea, with coconut palms and those famous spires in the background; the boat framed by a hole in a giant iceberg, and a haunted castle for background in the British Isles. OK, we are now three for three and can retire (just kidding).

The anchorage to the east of Castle Tioram is deep in its center (40 feet/12m at high tide) with very little swinging room. Using 2.5 to one scope we barely have clearance off the stern.

Here is a look with the sonar set on 200 foot (60m) range and in horizontal scan mode. It is low tide, and depth shows as 30 feet (9m) under the bow. The transducer for the sonar is about 15 feet (4.5m) aft of the bow, so there is close to 68 feet (21m) from it to the stern, something we need to keep in mind in situations like this.

Switching to vertical mode now, with the sonar pointing astern.The shallow spot is 11 feet (3.3m) deep and 133 feet (40m) aft of the sonar transducer, so 45 feet (14m) aft of the rudders.

Low tide calls for a workout – we are collecting mussels (note the Kevlar gloves borrowed from the engine room).

Which results in this tasty bowl of seafood augmented with lots of garlic.

Castle Tioram looks like a really tough bastion to storm if you are afoot with swords and bows. Not much room for siege machines either. It has a long and somewhat bloody history, with a couple of particularly nasty rulers in its history.

But while the history may be violent, the present day wildflowers are particularly charming.

Perhaps these flowers are payback for the wet Scottish weather?

There are fields of heather everywhere you walk.

And winged wonders as well.

We’ve been surprised at how few cruising yachts we have seen. Today there are four in the Moidart area, pretty low density considering the quantity of protected anchorages within this Loch.

One of our neighbors is this brand new Halberg Rassey cutter, on her delivery cruise from the factory in Sweden. Note the short ends. Looks like the HR management has decided to kiss off the long overhangs and optimize waterline. Smart move.

One of the stories we’ve read about Castle Tioram deals with a young women accused of helping to steal the Lord’s silver. Her two male companions were hanged while she was tied by her hair at low water, and left to drown. So when we saw this image on the nearby rocks we were not sure if it was of this world, or perhaps a ghostly apparition…