I was working for the Salvesson’s at the Lary Estate when I took a call from Mike at Majestic. “Molly where are you?†It turned out that on the first cruise of the year chef Will had missed his footing, fallen and broken his leg in a few places. It was Wednesday and, luckily for all of us, my contract finished on Friday so I said yes and began planning my journey from Balmoral to Oban. I left Ballater at 7am on Friday arriving in Oban at 8pm by the last train. I found the galley full to the brim of dry goods, vivid and varied fresh vegetables, smoked meats, pates, wonderful cheeses and a box of lobster. Usually chefs order supplies after some very precise menu planning but we had no time. I asked head chef Gordon to repeat the previous chefs orders and I decided to go with a ready steady cook approach. This isn’t as daunting as it sounds when you have a fully stocked floating delicatessen. There was nothing I was short of and a few things that I had more than enough of. Passengers from that week will remember the pansies! Somehow in the ordering someone had not realised that decorative flowers came in packs of four and so had ordered 24 boxes instead of six. It became a standing joke amongst crew and passengers as the pansies featured in and on everything but, I do hate waste especially onboard.
I had met Captain Neil briefly in 2019 when working for another Hebridean cruising company. A storm had pinned us all to the pier in Casteltown Bay and so we had two days sat alongside waiting for a gap in the weather. Neil had invited myself and skipper Tim aboard the Glen Shiel, Majestics newest and most luxurious vessel. We were keen to have a look around and I remember being incredibly envious of the galley, which was palatial in terms of little ships. It was well equipped and sparklingly clean with a porthole above the sink. I imagined myself peeling vegetables whilst gazing at gannets and herring gulls following us around the islands. We were both extremely envious of the wheelhouse, crew dining area and crew accommodation which all felt luxurious. I had applied to work for Majestic later that year but had been given a job working for Belmond in France so it was a wonderful stroke of luck for me to have a few weeks aboard after what had been a crazy year.
Glen Shiel usually accommodates 12 passengers but because of covid restrictions we had eight. I quickly did the maths and this worked out at three boxes of pansies per passenger!. On Saturday with everyone aboard, socially distanced and having been fully briefed on covid awareness we set off around Mull. The forecast wasn’t looking too bad and Neil decided to head straight out to the west and clockwise around Mull. The idea being to first stop at Iona and hopefully land at Fingal’s cave on Staffa. As we pootled past Carsaig I chatted to passengers. I like to get a feel of what sort of food people are hoping to enjoy on the trip and confirm any special dietary requirements. These are sent to me beforehand but things change so I like to make sure. I discovered that one of our passengers was a geologist so I tried to pick his brains about the stunning geology of the south coast of Mull.
It’s lovely when you step aboard and settle straight in with a crew and even better when the guests do the same thing. I think that from the first night we all felt that we had been aboard for years. I had been slightly concerned that we  had acclaimed cruising aficionado Dave “Shipmonk†Monk onboard. Usually when journalists are aboard I would have menu planned for weeks in advance but the ‘font of knowledge for all things that float’ could not have been more lovely. We spent the week chatting about ships and the world of cruising. Dave is always up to date and seems to have a good deal of insider information. I was delighted to learn, from him, that Swan Hellenic, who I had worked for many years ago, was set to build a new ship.
As we came in to the sound of Iona dolphins left where they had been playing with the CalMac ferry and escorted us to our anchorage. It was a beautiful blue day and I took the opportunity to head ashore with the passengers as it was years since I’d had been to this gorgeous Island. I walked out to the Abbey and lay down in the grounds to sketch. After a while I noticed a white tailed sea eagle circling above me. This majestic raptor was the reason I first came to the west coast of Scotland (although my grandmother’s family are Tait’s from Aberdeen) I had read William Horwood’s The Stonor Eagles when I was 14 years old and I was obsessed by the birds from there on in. In Scots Gaelic they have many names including Iolaire Ghlas, Iolaire Chladaich and my favourite Iolaire suil na greine; the eagle with the sunlit eye. The Anglo Saxon name for them is Erne which means soarer and that is just what it was doing directly above my head. Dolphins and the largest bird in the United Kingdom on the first day!.
I decided to learn a smattering of Gaelic on the trip. Shortly before coming up to Scotland in August I had been accepted to read English at Aberystwyth University and I wanted to incorporate my interest in the six Celtic languages in to my degree. My first words were blasta meaning tasty and snog meaning nice. This seemed quite easy!.
I possibly shouldn’t say this just in case Majestic don’t want to pay me in the future but the cruise did not feel like work. It was more like having friends to stay and having a marvellous time being a top host. Yes there are a great many stresses to cooking, the hours are long and budgets can be tight but, as a chef, when you are allowed to buy the best ingredients and you have a team who supports you then it can be one of the most rewarding vocations that there is. I quickly got used to the idiosyncrasies of the boats movements and had room to spread out in the galley. Glen Shiel is an amazingly sturdy little boat and rolled very little in the recalcitrant Island swell. Nothing got smashed which is a testament to myself Jaimie and Dave’s forward thinking and stowage of all things that roll and wander. I even found the perfect place to prove my bread; Dave’s battery room. If it needed, I get it a little extra burst of heat from the engine room. Don’t knock it back ‘til you’ve tried it.
We pootled around Mull mostly in good weather though it became a bit murky near Calgary. It was such a splendid week Neil made me laugh with his turns of phrase and unique wit. Dave recited poetry in the galley when the stress of the pansies got to me. Jamie kept me in tea which, arguably, is the most important job aboard and along the lines of naval standing orders. The passengers were such an affable and erudite lot and two couples booked for 2021 before leaving the cruise.
The following week was a change of crew and lots of singles which made for a very different cruise. Skipper Peter’s wheelhouse was full of solo travellers who wanted to learn as much as possible about flora, fauna and seascapes. My right hand on this trip was Jill; Peter’s partner. Jill added colour and artistry to everything she touched. She had taught cookery and it was lovely to try out her ideas as she is, obviously, a very accomplished cook in her own right. She introduced me to avocado cheesecake and a whole new world of cake decoration that I did not know existed. It still brings tears to my eyes thinking about it. Dave my poetic engineer was replaced by Chris, one of the most upbeat people I have ever met so, although the weather looked filthy for most of the week and there seemed little chance that we would get around Skye the atmosphere onboard was sunny. We managed to get to Muck, which was a first for me, I had anchored off many times but had never managed to get ashore. Other highlights were Canna, one of my favourite places on the planet, and seeing three White tailed Sea Eagles on an islet in the sound of Mull. On the final day I was lucky enough to get to Lismore and meet the owners of the Lighthouse. Lismore lighthouse was built in 1833 by Robert Stevenson, it is situated on Eilean Musdile which is attached to Lismore island by a tiny bridge. I have sailed past it possibly hundreds of times so it was a real treat to set foot ashore and to stand still and watch the vessels go by for a change. The next morning we headed back to Oban and were all on the bridge to witness the most stunning sunrise behind the lighthouse.
A big thank you to the crew and all at Majestic for a sporsail fortnight and thanks to all the passengers who so appreciated being cooked for after nearly six months of lock down. Many of you have kept in touch and I do hope that we will meet again in 2021.
Thank you for some of the best memories of 2020. Those few weeks made it all worth while.
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