St Kilda in a Day

When I first thought about going to St Kilda I didn't think about a day trip. In the absence of having my own yacht and not having the kayaking abilities to paddle my way out there (yes, some people do) I'd decided the only way to get to St Kilda would be to join a National Trust for Scotland working party and go for a week or two. However, in spite of these being quite expensive, they are still allegedly very popular and hence difficult to get on to. What makes it almost impossible for me though, is the time of year. The working parties are pretty much finished by the time English schools break up for the summer holidays.

Not wanting to let a simple thing like fixed holiday times get in the way of my ambitions I looked around for alternatives and after meeting someone in Unst last year who'd been for a day, decided that maybe a day trip wouldn't be such a bad idea after all.

During my time in the Hebrides I've been trying to get myself booked onto a tour with one particular company. It's always a bit touch and go whether the trips go ahead or not, because they are very weather dependent. If one trip is cancelled the people booked on to it get taken out the next day meaning no free spaces for other people. A spate of windy weather seemed determined to prevent me from going. But then another company said they had room and the chances of actually going were pretty good on the day they were offering me.

The night before I drove out to the small pier at Miavaig in the Uig area of Lewis. I set up camp beside the office which conveniently had a toilet and wash basin round the back. I got everything ready for the next morning and settled down to sleep. I'd not been asleep long when I woke feeling a bit headachey and queasy. Not the best feeling at any time, and certainly not before such a big day.

By morning the headache had gone but I still felt a bit sickly. Hmm, what to do for the best when feeling a bit sick? Stay in bed, rest and relax? Or get on a little boat and spend 4hrs being tossed and churned as you crash your way across the Atlantic? Of course the only choice I really had was the latter. If I didn't go today, I wouldn't be going at all. 

Before it got rough

The other passengers arrived, about a dozen of us in all, and after re-arranging cars on the pier we boarded The Lochlann. I strapped myself into a seat and prepared for the worst. Once out at sea the roller-coaster started in earnest. The boat felt as though it was being plucked up high and then being dropped from said great height. Each time this happened the 'BANG' as the boat hit the sea and the reverberations through my body lifted me out of my seat. If it wasn't for the seat belt I'd have repeatedly hit my head on the roof. I tried to sit with my eyes closed willing the horrible feeling in my stomach to go away. No chance. I've never been sea-sick before and I have been on some tiny boats on some pretty rough water. But then again, I've not got onto a tiny boat on pretty rough water whilst already feeling sick.


My guts had no chance of recovering and at one point I had to stagger to the deck to lean over and throw up. I wanted to rush, but it's a bit hard when you're getting thrown from side to side and have to plan each move to ensure at least 3 limbs are firmly planted at all times. If I didn't have sympathy for people who suffer with sea-sickness before, I certainly do now.

One highlight of the otherwise dismal trip was seeing a shoal of tuna leaping and swimming in front of the boat. Even I stood up to get a look and watch them for a while. The tuna were dolphin sized, and look nothing like they do in a tin. Having seen them, I can understand how the nets used to catch tuna also manage to snag dolphins. I don't understand how the dolphin friendly tuna nets work though - how do they manage to keep the dolphins out? As a veggie I don't buy tuna anyway, but have wondered why next to the 'dolphin friendly' label that can be seen on some tins of tuna, there isn't another label next to it saying 'tuna unfriendly'? Apparently it's quite unusual to see tuna so close like this so we were very lucky.

St Kilda slowly came into sight and we could make out people sitting around on the jetty. These turned out to be students who were on some kind of placement on the island. We decanted ourselves into a dinghy and travelled the last tiny bit to the pier. Once we were all on dry land we were met by the warden who gave us a chat about dos and don'ts and told us about what there was to do on the island.

This would have been someone's living room

I set off for a wander, still feeling queasy. I had hoped to walk up to at least one side of the cliffs but didn't really feel up to it. Instead I wandered round the derelict village, poking in and out of the old houses. They were mostly laid out in one main street and in between the derelict building were a few restored ones which were used for accommodation and a museum. I spent a while in the museum finding the exhibits and the information provided quite fascinating. 

The MOD, as part of a long-running arrangement, have workers based on the island and their accommodation and offices are in green painted buildings near the pier. Maybe these could be said to be an eyesore and spoil the antiquity and isolation of the island, but the MOD have played such an important role on the island I'd like to think that in future years these buildings and their role will be seen as just as relevant to the history of the island as the remains from the St Kildans are.

 









A helicopter landed and took off whilst I watched. The unique St Kildan sheep roamed around, birds flew or skittered across the ground, the sun shone, a perfect day. If only I could have enjoyed it more.

We had a stay of a few hours on the island and this was plenty of time to have a really good look round the village and museum and would also have given me time to go for a bit of a walk had I felt so inclined. Just before the boat was due to leave, the warden opened the shop which sells souvenirs of St Kilda as well as a range of books. Next to the shop is the restored school (one classroom) and church and I had time to have a look round them. 

The Museum

The Church

The School

Once back on the boat we circled the island and went out to a couple of the stacks to look at the birds before heading back for Lewis. It was much later that evening before I started to feel alright again. 

I managed to enjoy my day on St Kilda even if I wasn't feeling great. It's such a special place and felt like such an achievement to get there, that even an upset stomach couldn't put too much of a dampner on things. I doubt I'll ever get back, so I'm glad I didn't decide to give it a miss, as I now have memories that will last me a life time. 


The Details

Company I travelled with: Seatrek
Cost: £180
Depart: 7.30am
Arrive back: 8pm
Time on Hirta: approx. 3.5hrs.


Here's a copy of the press release Seatrek issued regarding the tuna we saw. I've copied it in rather than just linking to it, in case it later disappears off their website.

Shoal of Tuna off Lewis

Press Release 30th Aug, Seatrek Tuna Sighting West of Lewis On one of our regular day trips to St Kilda on the 24th of August 2012, our Seatrek vessel, the  motor cruiser Lochlann, sighted an unusually large and concentrated flock of diving gannets. We decided to go over and investigate, fully expecting to find the usual dolphins feeding on a shoal of herring.  We told the passengers to get their cameras ready for the spectacle of diving birds and jumping dolphins and possibly minke whales. We very often see diving gannets in a feeding frenzy as they can spot the fish from a great height. The gannets are helped by dolphins, which herd the fish to the surface. The leading edge of the diving gannets was unusually fast moving at 5 knots, and as we closed in we could see the fast moving splashes among them. We were amazed to see the characteristic upright, thin forked tails of tuna darting through the water. Some were coming to within 10m of us and you could see they were about 6/7 ft long, maybe more. The sight was amazing. The furiously diving gannets were accompanied by fulmars, skuas, manx shearwaters, sooty shearwaters, black backed gulls and herring gulls, all looking for a piece of the action. We watched them enthralled for some time and thought they were possibly Bluefin Tuna;  such an unusual wildlife sighting we had never experienced before so close at hand. The next shoal was moving much faster, say 10 knots to the SW and zigzagging with birds showing their whereabouts when near the surface. The tuna were about the same size. Earlier in the day we had seen a handful of smaller Bonito type, 2ft long, just East of Gallan Head, Uig, Lewis. These were fast moving along the surface just beside the boat but were unaccompanied by birds. The rare sighting of tuna so far north of their normal habitat was a memorable experience. Unusual also was the distinctive spectacle of the exceptionally large number of gannets that were following the shoal of fish. We have never seen such a large flock in such a small area; they could be seen from many miles away.

Mingulay

I made it to Mingulay. Last night I rang the boatman but I was only the third person to book onto the trip to this deserted island and he needed five as a minimum to make it worth his while. He told me that there was still time to get two more recruits and so I agreed to turn up this morning in the hope that he would be going.

As I drove past the Isle of Barra Hotel this morning I pulled into the car park as this seems to be the only place I can get a mobile signal on the island. His wife informed me that the trip was going ahead and so for the second day running I parked in the small car park in Castlebay, put my boots on, made a packed lunch and stuffed my waterproofs into my bag.

There were exactly five passengers waiting to board the small Boy James. With three crew we had an almost one-to-one ratio. The boat left 2 minutes early and almost immediately we were offered coffee and biscuits. The boat took its time and we circumnavigated several islands and stacks looking at seabirds and the wonderful rock formations and sea caves.

There was a shout. Someone had spotted basking sharks. Our captain slowed the boat right down and took us close to them. They came to investigate us circling the boat, fins slicing through the water Jaws style.

Passing the now uninhabited island of Pabbay we could see a derelict house above the sandy beach. The house, obviously made with stone from the island, blended into the rocky hill and was difficult to see; the island reabsorbing its stone.

Before landing on Mingulay we sailed round the island and up close to the soaring Eagle Cliff. Looking at more sea caves and a gannet colony we then chugged through a narrow sea cave open at both ends, but too long to be called a natural arch.

As we came close to the white beach on which we were to land we could see what looked like a pile of rocks. Closer investigation showed that these were all in fact seals. As we pulled closer they left the beach and flopped into the water, not disappearing, but staying around to watch us.

The boat was unable to land on the beach and instead pulled up to a much smaller boat attached to a buoy. We climbed into this boat and, motor started, moved up close to the rocks at the right hand side of the beach. Here we piled out of the boat onto mollusc-encrusted rocks and then had a short but steep scramble up the rocks and then down to the beach below.

Crossing the beach we then had to find a way up at the other side. We each found our own way that best suited and assembled at the top for the short walk to the old school. This was built in 1894, but abandoned in 1912 when the last residents left the island. Until now it's been left for nature to do what it will. However, this year the National Trust for Scotland, who are responsible for the island, have decided to carry out renovations. Once finished, NTS staff and volunteers will have a base to use when they are staying on the island.

Currently there are two men working on the building and they have been here for a week. They are both local and have a tent to sleep in pitched just outside the building. Work is coming along well with the inside of the building already looking much better than the outside.

Leaving the schoolhouse a track was visible leading to the abandoned village remains. The school is quite a way from the village as the Lady of the island in bygone times didn't want it building too close to the houses as she didn't like the noise of children. The track had been well-made and was defined with a line of stones to the seaward side.

The village itself was fascinating to look round. The houses have all long since lost their roofs and any timber has rotted away. Many walls have fallen down, but those remaining or part-remaining looked very picturesque against a backdrop of wild flowers and rocks. The beach is slowly taking over the houses and some were filled with sand almost to the height of their remaining walls. It will probably take a long time for them to completely disappear but I wondered if one day in the distant future they could be uncovered by a storm Skara Brae style and astound archaeologists.

I walked uphill slightly to the church (also the priest's house) with two of the passengers. Both men are from Kent and are on a sea-kayaking holiday staying at the local hostel which is also the sea-kayaking centre. The other two passengers, a young local couple, who no longer lived on Barra but were back for a wedding, had come over to visit a cousin who was one of the men working on the school. They had not walked with us and we didn't see them again until it was time to return to the boat. The three of us who were still together sat by the church and ate our lunch.

Then the men headed uphill and to the left (west) to the tops of the high sea cliffs (Eagle Cliff) that we had sailed beneath earlier. I didn't go this way as both this and the hill to the north were shrouded in mist and I didn't think I'd see much. Instead I headed to a slightly lower part of the ridge between the two high points. This was slightly below the mist and I though I'd get better views.

The walk climbed steeply over peaty ground and expanses of flat rock. It never got too boggy which surprised me. Levelling out at the top, I walked a bit further across a small moorland plateau to reach the western edge of the island from which I had wonderful views of the surrounding cliffs and stacks. Skuas were soaring overhead but showed no interest in me and didn't swoop down to attack me.

I stayed for a short while before heading back down, picking my way through the springy ground and feeling very glad of my walking poles. Near the church a couple of kayakers we'd seen landing on the beach earlier were setting up camp. Camping is allowed on the island but the NTS request that you inform them first.

Making my way back to the rocks I came across the two Kentish men. None of us could quite remember the way down to the pick-up point. The local couple joined us, but they didn't know either. It wasn't a problem as once we were all gathered the boatman set out in his small boat and once we could see which direction he was heading in we were able to make our way down the rock face to meet him.

Once back on the main boat we were again offered coffee and biscuits. The boat headed straight back for Castlebay and picked up speed so the homeward journey was much quicker than the outward bound one had been.

All in all, the trip last just under six hours with about three hours on Mingulay. Although the weather wasn't the greatest in Barra, it was fine on Mingulay apart from the mist on the high cliffs. There was no wind apart from at the highest points on the island. The boat trip as well as the time on the island all made this a very enjoyable day and well worth the £50 it had cost.