Recently the local Elgol, Isle of Skye boat operator running trips to Loch Coruisk was bought to our attention. Anne MacKinnon wife of the 'Misty Isle' boat skipper and owner, Seumus, has written an interesting account of their life in Elgol.

'Seumas MacKinnon (my husband) was born and raised in the village of Elgol and has been engaged with sea based activities from a very early age. He ran his first trip to Loch Coruisk in 1967 with his boat Apollo and over the years he has had several boats that doubled as fishing boats and tour boats. In 2005 he saw the Misty Isle advertised and knew that she was the perfect boat for the Coruisk Trip. She is slower and quieter than most modern high powered vessels and she uses much less fuel which makes her easier on the environment and friendlier to the wildlife. Seumas is a MacKinnon of Elgol, the chief of which ferried Bonnie Prince Charlie to safety on the mainland in 1746.. possibly the first recorded MacKinnon boat trip!?

The main aim of the trip is to ferry people to the world famous Loch Coruisk right in the very heart of the spectacular Cuillin mountains on the Isle of Skye. On the way we visit the resident seal colony and quite often we see porpoise and dolphins also the ocassional basking shark or whale. We also see a great variety of sea birds both on the way and at Loch Coruisk. We have had several famous people on board, including Alfred Hitchcock many many years ago, but generally they prefer to protect their privacy. Recently however we had Charles Kennedy on board interviewing Seumas during the filming of our trip for the ITV 1 programme 'Britain's Favourite View'.

People tend to come back more than once to visit Loch Coruisk which was originally made famous by early travel writers like Sir Walter Scott and before that John MacCulloch who wrote: 'The name of this extraordinary place is Coruisk, the water of the hollow, or the hollow of the water, I know not which. ... So suddenly and unexpectedly does this strange scene break on the view, so unlike is it to the sea-bay without, so dissimilar to all other scenery, and so little to be foreseen in a narrow insulated spot like Sky, that I felt as if transported by some magician into the enchanted wilds of an Arabian tale, carried to the habitation of Genii among the mysterious recesses of the Caucasus'. Wish I could write like that... The Loch was also painted by Turner but I think the painting is only on display for one month every year.

At present we have a grading of 5 stars from Scotfree and a 5 OUTSTANDING from the new lovetoescape web site. We are the only locally owned and run boat trip here in Elgol on the Isle of Skye.

Our web site www.mistyisleboattrips.co.uk is full of information and pictorial records which illustrate the splendour of the area.'

Anne MacKinnon.