The tiny islet which is the Dhu Heartach (also spelled Dubh Artach, pronounced "Doo Artacc") lies 15 miles southwest from the Isle of Mull, Scotland and is the furthest outcropping of a reef known as the Torren Rocks. Over the years, most mariners, knowing the danger of the Torren Reef and giving it a wide berth, found themselves snared by Dhu Heartach. A desolate group of rocks, Dhu Heartach lies 20 miles southeast of a similar rock called Skerryvore. The Dhu Heartach consists of the main rock, five detached tide-covered hummocks, and two small sunken rocks. The main rock is an isolated mass of trap, 240 feet in length and 130 feet in width, with a rounded top rising 35 feet above high water. It is surrounded on all sides by deep water. Even slight swells from the west, after breaking on the western slope, divide and sweep around the north and south sides of the rock as separate waves meeting at the eastern side, leaving no spot around the circumference to which a boat can, even with a moderate western swell, safely approach.
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