Final days in the Outer Hebrides

With a somewhat epic round of trains and ferries complete, and having collected Hektor from Bristol, we arrived back to Lochboisdale to find Contour in good shape, plenty of wind (as always!) and the weather looking good to continue our Southerly exploration towards Eriskay, Barra, and Vatersay. The first short passage took us to Acairsaid Mhor on Eriskay; a very sheltered harbour which Hazel and I had visited in May. With fair weather, we walked the short distance to the village, stocked up on some essentials, and went to explore the white sandy beaches which we had previously seen only in the rain. After a momentary wave of enthusiasm on seeing the crystal clear water, Hektor could not be persuaded to join Hazel for a swim after his feet had made contact with the 12 degree water - a good lesson that appearances can be deceptive! Whilst the population of Eriskay is now increasing (especially since the causeway was constructed), in the recent past the opposite has been true. The island is dotted with abandoned and ruined houses, some of which are rather sombre when you think of their remote and isolated locations. Hektor was extremely keen to explore one near our anchorage, but his initial enthusiasm was quickly overcome by the spookiness of all as his active imagination started to run riot!

Wildflowers and sunshine on Eriskay

Abandoned house

White sand beaches

Eriskay ponies

Eriskay cemetery overlooking the sea

Hektor ready to repel borders!

From Eriskay we made a further short hop South to anchor for a tide in the pool between Gighay and Helisay; yet another narrow tidal entrance rewarded a tranquil anchorage with ample exploring to be done on the neighboring islands. Having overcome a somewhat tricky seaweed landing (even more fun when we returned to the dinghy at low tide!), we made for the summit of Gighay to enjoy an amazing view and test out the replacement drone a safe distance from the water! We departed on the next tide to head yet further South towards Vatersay.

The pool between Gighay and Hellisay from the summit of Gighay ('interesting' entrance visible on the left)

Dinghies, Tides, Seaweed!

Vatersay, and specifically it's beaches, lived up to their reputation as being some if the best in Scotland (if not the world!). The timing of our visit was perfect as the wind dropped and the sun came out properly for the first time in a good few days/weeks - June and July have not been kind to the residents of the outer islands this year! Hektor's approach to dams, walls, pools, castles and beach constructions in general is to decide on a broad (usually highly ambitious) plan, sketch out an impressive perimeter, dig a bit, then quickly delegate the heavy lifting to a nearby adult whilst providing lots of helpful encouragement and instruction... still we all enjoy digging on the beach! The water here was even beautiful enough to tempt everyone in for a swim, albeit very briefly in some cases.

Enjoying a very sunny day on Vatersay

Contour anchored off the beach at Vatersay

The forecast was unusually offering no prospect of wind for a few days, so we slightly altered our plans; initially the idea had been for our friend Dan and his son Henry to take a ferry to the Hebrides and we would then sail back in with them. Given the prospect of a long, tedious motor-sail we agreed to meet them in Tobermory on Mull. As we set off Hektor attempted to connect to the internet for the first time only to discover this was not possible "what, you mean there's no internet at all????!!! I could NEVER live here!".

Keeping the crew happy on the slightly slow passage to Mull

The passage to Mull was slow and tedious, although we had a little wind occasionally which gave respite from our somewhat noisy diesel engine. However, this was the most we've used the engine this trip as too much wind has been a far more common problem than too little so we can't complain. We were sailing overnight and Hektor was keen to stay up to keep Hazel company on her watch until midnight. The main reason for this being the last time he stayed up for a night watch we were bringing the boat from Southampton to Portishead and he got to see bioluminescent dolphins leaping around the boat somewhere near Lands End. This was possibly one of the most incredible sights any of us had ever seen, but we tried to manage expectations by explaining that glowing dolphins are probably a one in a lifetime occurrence and not to be expected on every night sail. However, Hektor does appear to have some dolphin whispering skills and, about 5 minutes after Hazel told him to summon some dolphins to keep us company, we heard the familiar squeaking and splashing which announced the arrival of a large pod of common dolphins jumping around the boat (sadly no bioluminescence though).

With the rendezvous successful, we made the most of the good food supplies available in Tobermorey, as well as (rather to our relief as it is a bit scarce) getting some more cooking gas. Hektor has unfortunately developed a strong affinity for the Tobermory chocolate shop - priced for the many visiting American tourists that frequent Mull!

Marcus had to go aloft to change (again!) our anemometer - somewhat of a saga. Hektor never misses an opportunity to get hoisted up the mast but he's remarkably useful these days (and very light!) so this is something we positively encourage. This time he was able to help with calibration of the anemometer, somewhat to the bemusement of neighbouring boats who may not have entirely approved of our approach to child labour and were certainly surprised that both the children on board had such a good head for heights! Henry was still settling in to life onboard but he's quite accustomed to climbing and also made it up far enough to inspect Tobermorey from the vantage point of the foremast crosstrees and pose for photos.

Getting a good view of Tobermory

Follow our progress here.

Outer Hebrides; the Shiant Isles to South Uist

Having very much enjoyed the wild and unpredictable Loch Torridon, the end of June saw us making our way West for a second attempt at exploring the Outer Hebrides.  Luck was with us and we enjoyed a fast, close reach from Torridon past the Northern tip of Skye in 15-17 knots from the South West - Contour's best point of sail.  This made the passage an absolute pleasure; fast and comfortable in a gentle swell, with bright sunshine. We arrived at North Harbour on the island of Scalpay, just inside Loch Tarbert which divides North and South Harris. We ambled ashore having found space on the luxurious new community pontoon and were very lucky to get a seat in the most extraordinary bistro on the harbour side serving fresh locally caught fish and seafood.

Scalpay community pontoon

The following day we ran (stumbled through bog) around the island and out to Eilean Glas lighthouse, which marks the Eastern extent of the island. This was the first lighthouse in the Outer Hebrides constructed by Robert Stevenson in 1824; it is still painted exactly how a lighthouse should be with bright red and white stripes!  The buildings and engineering of the place hark back to a time when public works were expected to last forever. Unfortunately, although the light is well preserved with a fresh coat of paint, the keepers house and peripheral buildings have suffered over the years with a small community charity trying hard to maintain and improve them.  Not an easy task when the only access is on foot or by sea on a calm day.

Eilean Glas Lighthouse

Despite being entirely in the wrong direction, we decided to make a diversion to the Shiant islands before heading further south. They're known for abundant wildlife but, being somewhat exposed out in the middle of The Minch, visits are only enjoyable in calm conditions. We sailed North East from Scalpay and were pleased to find the anchorage reassuringly benign.  It is hard to describe a visit to this magical place, which fully lives up to the etymology of the name ("charmed", "holy" or "enchanted isles"); hopefully the photos which follow will give some sense of the magic we were privileged to enjoy. These pictures are the product of the passage to, on shore, and afloat around the islands during our visit. The density of sea birds made it feel a little like being surrounded by a swarm of bees at times with black dots constantly filling the sky above us. The sea was just as busy, with flocks of sea birds covering the surface and black and white shapes rocketing about below the dinghy diving for fish.

Hazel's aged mini-SLR is still remarkable, despite it's many adventures over the years, including a slightly emotional trip in a rigid raider (Byron!) 

Razorbills

Guillemot

Somewhat overwhelmed by the Shiant experience, which had included torrential rain, driving the dinghy through a large natural arch in a cliff face, and many, many puffins, we reluctantly got back underway.  The conditions which enabled the visit also made the subsequent passage to Lochmaddy on North Uist somewhat dull as we motored across the uncharacteristically flat and glassy Little Minch. However, an extended visit from a pod of common dolphins playing around the bow easily made up for the lack of wind.  

We anchored off Lochmaddy in the early hours of the morning then moved to the small village pontoon the following day. Here we benefited from excellent local knowledge; our friend Byron had suggested we visit Langass Lodge, a shooting and sporting lodge close by. Given that Marcus was about to lose the right to describe himself as in his 'early forties' we booked a table and enjoyed another stellar meal - the Outer Hebrides turning out to be something of an unexpected gastronomic destination.  With Scalpay having blown us away with seafood, Langass lodge served up a steak which left Marcus speechless for some time; a very memorable birthday!  The only challenge to the whole affair had been finding transport to get from Lochmaddy to the restaurant as there is no taxi service on North Uist and we were already dragging a taxi driver over from Benbecula to pick us up after the meal. However, the team of volunteers running the marina displayed boundless Hebridean generosity in organising a lift for us (in the form of a kind daughter and her new car). In our limited experience of life in the outer Hebrides, it seems people are extremely adept at finding ways to fix problems by whatever means available. 

The next fixed point on our calendar was the plan to leave Contour for a few days on South Uist, to enable us to visit family, progress some 'life admin' and collect Hektor who would be joining us on breaking up from school. This left us with a couple of days to work our way South from Lochmaddy to explore the extraordinarily varied coast of North and South Uist, a landscape where the sea, loch, hill and dale are so intermingled that it would take months to properly explore. Our first stop was Haunaray Sound, a huge expanse of enclosed water between North Uist and Benbecula, dotted with islands, and accessible through a pair of minute channels, barely 20m wide at points. These require some care, however the pilotage pays off, and we were rewarded by sheltered, serene anchorages surrounded by spectacular landscape.  Inevitably we felt the urge to tuck Contour into the smallest possible crevice, ('Eagles Pool'), accessed via a 10m-wide, S-shaped channel with some associated double-anchor / kedge faffing required to keep us off the rocks on arrival.  As ever, it paid to be adventurous and we landed and climbed to the highest peak in North Uist (Eaval) to look around.

Eagle's Pool

Contour just visible in Eagle's Pool from Eaval

Muddy disaster area after retrieval of the kedge - Marcus looking very pleased with the mayhem of his creation!

The appealing rock-strewn exit from Eagle's Pool

We had a somewhat muddy time weighing anchor, then worked our way slowly South East through the Sound and out through Flodday Sound to continue our exploration.  Time sadly prevented a visit to Benbecular, so after a short lunch stop at 'Wizard's Pool' we picked our way into another of the South Hebridean loch systems - Loch Eynort on South Uist, for the evening. 

The final leg took us South to Lochboisdale, arriving as planned to throw ourselves into a minor logistic frenzy to prepare the boat for our (brief) absence and our return Eastwards.  Fuelling by means of 10 litre cans was somewhat backbreaking, however with some kind help from neighbouring boats we left early on the morning of the 4th July to commence the long journey South.  Ferry to Mallaig, Bus to Fort William, Sleeper to Euston, train to West Sussex.....

Follow our progress here.