Regular readers will remember an earlier post about Islay Drone Photography. Earlier today I came across a new video by him I really liked. It’s only a short clip, but it brilliantly shows some of the impressive tidal currents at The Kettle just off Orsay with the Rhinns of Islay lighthouse:
I’m not sure what (if anything) came of it, but that illustrates why there was talk a while back of potentially creating tidal power generation off the south and west of Islay (in addition to the ones long planned in the Sound of Islay). There certainly is a lot of power out there!
This video was in a way seven years in the making. as I filmed the footage back in June 2015, edited a teaser in early 2016 and then … progress stalled. Not sure why, for some reason I didn’t edit the full version ‘director’s cut’. But now it’s finally done and I can share 7 minutes of great views around and over Port Ellen from the air with you. The flight starts at Carraig Fhada lighthouse, we then move over to the Port Ellen maltings and distillery warehouses before finishing off around the centre of Port Ellen. I hope you enjoy the views:
As the footage is from 2015 some things have changed in the meantime, one of the main changes I can think of will be Port Ellen distillery which is currently being rebuild. But of course there will be a few more. The character of the place as such won’t have changed though and the views are great in any case.
I’m hoping to continue the current run of a new video every week next week as well, but I can’t promise anything. If I do there’s a good chance of another visit to Saligo Bay in some form, possibly with a sunset in 360° or a sunny beach walk.
From my own new video of some beautiful waves at Saligo Bay to two Islay lighthouse videos by someone else: Steven Muir has taken a drone to two (there are four in total if you include two smaller ones on Islay and Jura) lighthouses at the Sound of Islay. Let’s start at the southern end:
From the south we move to the other end, to the north:
If the name and the second video ring a bell for you there might be a reason: I’ve blogged another video of Rhuvaal by Steven just over a year ago. I’m not sure if the footage is from the same visit or a different visit, either way I love seeing it again from this different perspective. Seeing it from up in the air just gives some more information you don’t necessarily get from the ground (I’ve walked to both lighthouses several times over the years).
From Peru in my previous post back to Scotland with this post, to the far north of Islay. A year ago I shared a view from the lighthouse, this time I’ve found a nice drone video of Rhuvaal lighthouse. Some nice views of the lighthouse, the surrounding coastline and down the Sound of Islay:
Some nice work by Steven Muir, who has a few more nice Islay videos on his channel. I’m sure I will come back to his channel and share a few more videos.
Quite tired tonight after an exhausting week, so no difficult posting tonight, just a simple video with a bunch of nice Islay views. There are plenty of drone videos out there now, I think this is one of the better ones. Nice and calm, allowing us to really enjoy the views of some of the famous sights of Islay:
I hope you enjoyed the views of the Rhinns of Islay lighthouse, Portnahaven, Bowmore (incl distillery and Round Church), Seal Bay on the south coast and the American Monument on the Oa
My first Islay 360° videos covered Lossit Bay and Kilchoman beach. But of course there are others recording those type of video as well: Sail Scotland has just published a whole series of 360° videos from a variety of coastal locations around Scotland. Of course there’s one of Islay as well, visiting distilleries and lighthouses, going kayaking and more:
While not in 360° there’s also an interesting video of a sailing yacht in the famous Corryvreckan whirlpool just north of Jura:
I hope you enjoyed both videos, I’m hoping to add another 360° video to my collection soon as well. Not entirely sure yet where it will take you, either to a popular beach or to one of Islay’s largest villages.
It’s quite short (only 25 seconds long), but as this is a view most of us won’t get I thought it is worth sharing. It’s a view from the top of Rhuvaal lighthouse in the far north of Islay, taking in Jura, the Sound of Islay, the Isle of Mull and some of Colonsay:
While it’s possible to walk to the lighthouse (from Bunnahabhain) and enjoy the views from the foot of the lighthouse for everyone fit enough the several hours walk, getting to the top isn’t that easy.
There are a number of lighthouses on and around Islay and Jura. Some are fairly easy to see and visit, others require quite a lot of effort, either a long walk or a trip with a boat. uklighthousetour is on a mission to visit lighthouses around the UK and recently visited Islay and Jura. Three blog entries describe what they found:
Looks like they had a great and successful time on Islay and Jura. Links found via the Facebook page of Islay Sea-Adventures, who provided the RIB for some of the visits.