Islay Festival by Tall Ship

Saturday, 25/Jul/2009

Islay Festival by Tall Ship

The next Feis Ile - Islay Festival of Malt and Music is still 300 days away as of writing this, yet quite a few people will have booked their holidays and their accommodation already. I don't know if there are still places available and if so how many, but I've recently come across one of the coolest places to stay in while visiting Islay and the distilleries:

Picture of a tall ship anchored outside a small coastal village

The first time I saw her was when I arrived on Islay for my recent visit in June. I'm talking about the tall ship Thalassa, who already went on two Whisky Tasting Voyages including visits to Islay this year. To my knowledge the visit in June was a rather short one, she had arrived that day and left the next morning. She certainly wasn't there any more at lunchtime the next day when I returned hoping to take more pictures.

However, she will return to Islay in May 2010: Wouter Wapenaar of Whisky Unlimited in the Netherlands has chartered her for WhiskySail - Discover Scotland’s coastal distilleries! Three journeys are available: The first one sails from Oban via Mull and Skye to Islay. The second one (and most important in the context of this entry) will sail around Islay during the festival. The third one then sails from Islay to Greenock via Mull, Campbeltown and Arran. All sailings sound very nice to me, I suspect they will sell fairly quickly.

I'll leave you with another picture of the Thalassa on Islay, quite fittingly with the Port Ellen Maltings and the Port Ellen distillery warehouses in the background: