Sea kayaking the north end of Boreray and the Stacs.

 We emerged from the cave on the west coast of Boreray. A freshening SW wind blew us north towards Stac an Armin. Our planned route was to go between it and the two small stacs in the foreground then loop back to the north of Boreray and down its east side.

Boreray rose sheer out of the sea and rose to dizzying heights in the great horns of rock which form the summit ridge.

In Geodha na Tarnanach  Gordon found a buoy circulating in the current. It was a St Kilda mail boat of the type used by the St Kildans in the winter when there were few visiting steamers. Some got washed up on the Hebrides, one even got washed up on Norway and the finder forwarded it to the addressee:  the landlord, MacLeod of Dunvegan on Skye. In those days an inflated sheep's stomach replaced the fishing buoy.

We later opened it and discovered it had been released by a member of one of the National Trust for Scotland work parties 6 weeks before. Simon phoned and asked what to do with it. The owner asked that it be released at sea again.

From near Stac an Armin we looked SW to this amazing view of the archipelago. Boreray is on the left. In the middle distance are a small unnamed stac and Stac an Armin. In the distance Dun, Hirta and Soay stretch across the horizon.

We paddled between the two small stacs and Stac an Armin while the Cuma made her way through the gap between these small stacs and Boreray. The Cuma then made her way down the east coast of Boreray

After we rounded the two small stacs we crossed back to Boreray just as the Orca 11 tour boat from Harris made her way through the narrow channel. We could just imagine skipper Angus telling telling his awe struck passengers about these dangerous, wild and uncharted waters when, all of a sudden, a bunch of sea kayakers bobbed up and down from behind a stack.

Words can't describe the north end of Boreray.

 The swell round the east coast was huge and...

...the gusting wind was increasing all the time.

It was rather difficult taking photos in these conditions but Ian has another great selection of photos which capture the bits I have missed out!

Murdani knows these waters so well that he had picked the perfect spot for our rendezvous with the MV Cuma. It was sheltered from the wind, the swell and the tide and soon we were safely aboard. We had completed the most amazing crossing from Hirta to Boreray and the stacs.

The skies had clouded over and the wind was continuing to increase. It was now time to scarper to the shelter of Scarp!

A pair of superlative transits!

 We now started the 8.2km open crossing from Hirta to Boreray. The Cuma soon left us behind...

 ...and we were left in the silence of the open Atlantic. To the south, the cliffs of Conachair rose above us for 430m, to the summit of the island of Hirta.

 As we paddled steadily onwards....

...the cliffs of Hirta and...

...Soay  gradually receded....

 ...to be replaced by the open expanse of the Atlantic.

After slack water in Soay Sound, the tide had now changed and was running right to left. We had THE most amazing pair of transits for the crossing...the top of Stac Lee and the summit of Boreray!

 As we approached the Stacs and Boreray, the air filled with wheeling gannets. All our senses were being assailed by the wonder of this archipelago of superlatives.

A quick check with Murdani on the Cuma resulted in a change of plan. The wind was now picking up quickly from the SW so the plan to circumnavigate Boreray was abandoned. The Cuma would now pick us up off the east coast of  Boreray after we explored the north coast of the island..

Sea kayaking through the "Gates of Hell", St Kilda!

 After lunch on MV Cuma, we entered Soay Sound at slack water and passed to the east of Stac Dona.

Ian and I could not help but stop to take photos. The horizon looked very flat but the scale of the stacs dwarfed the...

 ...size of the swell at their bases and...

 ...we were paddling right through Soay Stac from east to west... Yikes! It would be fair to describe the conditions in the arch as somewhat lively!

It was with some relief that we all got through safely and were able to look back at these great stacs, which are known in Scottish sea kayaking circles as the Gates of Hell!

We were now on the west side of Soay Stac and were about to leave the coastal waters of...

...Hirta and Soay  to paddle across the open Atlantic, some 168km west of the Scottish mainland. We were now truly kayaking at the edge of the World!  St Johns in Newfoundland was a mere 3128km away to the WSW.

Let's do lunch, in Soay Sound, St Kilda!

 The Cuma was lying waiting for us in the shelter of Soay and...

 ...we boarded her for a first class lunch break.

 It is difficult to imagine a more impressive spot for lunch.

This view shows Stac Dona in the foreground with the tall slender Stac Biorach and Soay Stac behind. Boreray can just be seen in the distance between Soay Stac and the headland of An Campar on Hirta to the right. After lunch our route would take us to Boreray, right through the heart of Soay Stac!

 Soon it was time to get back in the kayaks and...

...bid farewell to Cuma, just as a pod of six dolphins cruised by.

Sea kayaking the SW and W coasts of Hirta, St Kilda

The SW coast of Hirta falls sheer into the sea. Despite the sea level being unchanged for about 6,000 years and being exposed to one of the greatest average wave energies in the British Isles, there is no wave cut platform though there are many geos, arches and caves.

We were paddling NW towards the gap between Soay and Hirta, where we had arranged a rendezvous with the MV Cuma.

It was too rough for even Gordon to paddle through the arch at the foot of Mullach Bi (which we had looked down upon the previous day). However, Gordon and Callum went through a gap in the skerries, which had monstrous swells breaking through.

This wasn't enough for Gordon so he found an offshore skerry with a gap...

...that had jagged teeth at the bottom. After studying it for a while, he nipped round the outside...

...then successfully powered through before...

...the swell receded revealing those teeth.

Turning a corner, we now paddled below the equally dramatic west coast of Hirta.

Ken was doing a lot of paddling in the double as Simon, up front, shouted directions as he filmed our progress.

We now approached Soay Sound and we could see Murdani in the Cuma scouting the conditions beyond the stacs.

We had arrived early because the swell had precluded detailed exploration of all the arches and caves.

Murdani had judged that the tide race through the gaps between Soay, Stac Biorach 73m, Soay Stac 61m and An Campar 270m on Hirta was not still not conducive to safe sea kayaking. So he motored over to the SE coast of Soay and prepared a lunch for us while we waited for slack water by the stacs. One by one, we paddled across Soay Sound towards the Cuma.

Ian enjoys paddling the Etain in front of Soay Stac, on the way to a luncheon stop with a difference!.

Does your radar pick up UFOs? "No Comment"

From Conachair we made our way over to the neighbouring summit of Mullach Mor which is festooned with masts and...

 ...radar domes. They track test missiles fired from the South Uist rocket range. The range and the tracking station were built in 1957. I am sure they track other things as well...

 ..but when I asked the friendly QinetiQ employee if they they had tracked a UFO early on Sunday morning, he replied with a firm "No comment.". A case of "We didn't see no UFO's" then!

From the Radar Station we looked down on Glen Bay and...

...An Campar which stretches away to...

...Soay in the distance. What a location to work in!

And the morning commute isn't too bad either, though they do need to check the wind speed before setting off, in case the LandRover gets blown away into the sea!

Simon Willis has published his latest video diary including the St Kilda trip. See it here.