Scottish Sea Kayaking Photo GalleryScottish Sea Kayaking Photo Gallery
Prior to our arrival on North Uist on 13/07/2006 the west wind had been strong for several days. We found huge surf on the west coast of the islands. Gale force winds were forecast within 36 hours. We decided to play it safe and stay in the west end of the Sound of Harris. The wind did not arrive until the morning of the 16th. That night gale force winds and rain lashed our tents. We got up at 05:30am to catch the 07:20 ferry to Harris and the rest of our adventure on Lewis.
GPS
track of route 33 km.
GPS
track overlaid on chart.
GPS
track overlaid on Google Earth.
Conditions on the day: Wind W force 3.
You would be a very bold paddler to come to the Outer Hebrides with a fixed itinerary. There is usually a wind and swell and all too easily, conditions can escalate above a group's ability. As we were travelling in the height of the summer season, we booked our ferry in advance and chose the Uig in Skye to Lochmaddy in North Uist route. This has a number of advantages as it is the middle of the chain of islands that form the 220 kilometre chain of the Outer Hebrides.
If the weather is bad on arrival, Loch Maddy itself would keep you interested for a few days. There is also easy access to the east and west ends of the Sound of Harris with its many islands. You can drive all the way south through North Uist, Benbecula, South Uist to Eriskay on a series of causeways and there is a short hop on a ferry from there to Barra and a further causeway to Vatersay. North from North Uist, a causeway takes you to wonderful Berneray from where another short ferry takes you to Harris and Lewis. From the mainland, alternative ferries sail from Ullapool to Stornoway on Lewis and from Oban to Castlebay on Barra and Lochboisdale on South Uist.
We left
Waiting
for the ferry to Lochmaddy at Uig, Skye.
We set off from the North Uist end of the causeway to Berneray. It was early evening and the white sands of Boreray were inviting us to the west. Even in the lee of the offshore islands, the swell was considerable and we had to be careful of the breakers on the shallow sand bars of Oitir Mhor. On landing, we had to negotiate huge piles of seaweed that had been deposited by the surf. Fulmars wheeled above and the others set up camp on the machair while I went to reacquaint myself with Gerry. He is the sole resident on Boreray.
We
set off from the south end of the causeway from North Uist to Berneray.
Approaching
Boreray.
That night we watched the giant surf pound the rocks of the west coast and knew that our ambitious plan to paddle up the west coasts of Harris and Lewis would need to wait. Above the surf, we found bleached bones marking the resting place of the dead orca, which Billy and I had discovered the year before. We strained to hear the VHF radio above the noise of great cobbles clattering up and down the steep beach in the waves. The forecast from Stornoway coastguard was not good. The next day was to have force 3 winds but afterwards there were to be several days of force 6 to 7 winds.
A
straight necked whooper swan shelters on Loch Beag, Boreray.
Boreray
west coast. The size of the surf can be gauged from Jennifer in the foreground.
Boulders
which have been tossed onto the cliff top by the winter storms.
Loch
Mor, Boreray.
Silver
weed.
A
dead orca's skull. Billy and I found the decaying
carcass a year previously.
Orca vertebrae.
Vertebral
mascot.
Inshore Forecast: 24 hrs from 05:00: wind SSE 3-4 increasing 5-6 then 7 overnight, sea state becoming rough.
Conditions on the day: Wind SW to S force 4.
Our first full day dawned with bright sunshine and we circumnavigated the great bay of shell sands formed by Boreray, North Uist and Berneray. Gannets dived for fish in the shallow turquoise seas around us and we were dazzled by the brightness of the huge beaches.
Fulmar
chicks were in each corner of the ruined houses...
and
also on the sand dunes.
Alan
sorts breakfast.
Pabbay
from Boreray. Photo J.Wilcox
Landing in the shelter of Aird Mhorain, we climbed over
the dunes and down onto the exposed Atlantic shore
of
Traigh
Hornais from Aird Mhorain
Machair
Leathann, North Uist.
Billy.
Photo J.Wilcox
Traigh
Udal
Alan.
Photo
J.Wilcox
Back in the kayaks, we paddled along the beaches and machair of North Uist looking for the perfect campsite. Many would have been ideal but would have been too exposed to the forecast wind.
We turned north to Berneray, its white beaches contrasted with the dark grey hills of Harris beyond. Soon we had found the most perfect spot on the sweet scented machair and we used double tent pegs in preparation for the storm. That evening, the sun set the Atlantic on fire and it was difficult to imagine that a storm was on its way.
Berneray.
Sunset
behind Spuir.
Inshore Forecast: 24 hrs from 05:00: wind SW 4-5occ 6 increasing 5-6 then backing S 5-7 sea state moderate to rough.
Conditions on the day: Wind S W to S force 4.
The next day the wind had still not arrived and we decided to paddle round Berneray. On the west coast, the swell was still considerable and we enjoyed wonderful surfing up the length of the great beach. In the shelter of the sound of Harris to the east we stopped, sunbathed and swam again before paddling back through the tidal gap in the reef by the hostel. This is a restored thatched black house which is confusingly painted white.
The
swell on the west coast of Berneray
Seatrek
with the hills of Harris behind.
East
coast dunes of Berneray
Photo
J.Wilcox
Berneray
youth hostel
Mair
and Alan
A
decaying fishing boat
Douglas.
Harris
across the Sound of Harris from the east coast of Berneray.
Berneray
youth hostel.
Machair
Berneray.
West
coast of Berneray photo J.Wilcox.
Inshore Forecast: Gale warnings in force for sea areas Rockall and Hebrides. 24 hrs from 05:00: wind SSW 5-6 increasing 7 sea state rough.
Conditions on the day: Wind SSW 6 increasing 7 then 4-5 overnight.
That night, the weather broke. Sunday morning dawned with a force 6 wind from the south and a sky which promised more. A unanimous call for a rest day saw us in CalMac's Lochmaddy office booking return passenger tickets for Barra from Eriskay for that Sunday afternoon. Outside we met Murdy and some of the others from Stornoway Canoe Club. The previous day they had paddled from North Uist to Harris carrying one of the four batons for the John Muir Trust "Journey for the Wild". The JMT are currently campaigning to protect the wildness of Lewis from one of the biggest wind farm developments in the world.
Lewisean
gneiss on south of Berneray. This is some of the oldest rock on earth.
Perfect
campsite on Berneray machair.
After our long drive south to Eriskay the crossing to Barra was extremely refreshing. Waves were breaking right over the top of the ferry. In Barra we hired a six-seat taxi and the driver gave us a guided tour of the island before dropping us off on Vatersay.
Coilleag
a' Phrionnsa, Eriskay
MV
Loch Bhrusda at the Eriskay ferry terminal with Lingeigh behind.
We walked across the machair to the south bay. As we looked out over the Sound, the steady grating of the once common corncrake was a wonderful confirmation that we were now in another land. We gazed at rugged Sandray, Pabbay and Mingulay. The overfalls confirmed or decision to have a land day. Returning by the east and west bays, we lost all track of time in the sand dunes. Mike and I lost sight of the others and we realised we would never get back to Castlebay in time for the taxi to make the last ferry. We hitched a lift from an old crofter who dropped us right outside the Castlebay Hotel. Being in the Catholic south of the Hebrides, the public bar was open on the Sabbath and it seemed churlish not to make use of its facilities. After an excellent Guinness, we caught the taxi and drove back to Vatersay to pick up the others.
Sandray
from Bagh a' Deas, Vatersay.
Sandray
Bagh
Bhatarsaigh
Bagh
Siar
This stone stands high on the dunes above Bagh Siar. "On 28th September
1853 the ship Annie Jane with emigrants from Liverpool to Quebec was totally
wrecked in this bay and threefourths of the crew and passengers numbering about
350 men women and children were drowned and their bodies interred here."
Imagine the effort required of the few residents of Vatersay who dragged the
hundreds of bodies up here, to be buried out of the reach of the waves.
Otter
sculpture outside the Aird Mhor ferry terminal building in the north east of
Barra.
We eventually arrived back in Lochmaddy in torrential rain. The Tigh Dearg Hotel provided an excellent alternative to camp cooking. We started with a sauna and shower and followed with local scallops and rack of machair fed lamb…Hebridean Heaven!
That night, a force 8 wind howled and shrieked though the camp, driving rain through the stitching of the tent walls. It was almost a relief to get up at 05:30 to start loading for the 07:20 ferry to Harris. We slowly dried out in the warmth of the cabin as the ferry wound its way through the skerries. The next stage of our Hebridean adventure had begun.
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