Through the gates

The Sound of Soay is a very impressive place.  Three stacs stud the sound, Stac Dona, the tall and slender Stac Biorach and Stac Shoaigh which has a arch at the base of it.  The effect is of a giant set of gates, in fact they've been christened the "Gates of Hell" by some kayakers!

The Stacs are very Tolkienesque and an imposing sight even on a sunny day like this.  The horizon appears flat but there was a large swell running and although near to slack water there was still plenty of tidal movement around the stacs.

As we moved towards the "gates" the scale began to dawn on us; it took longer than we expected to get close.

Stac Biorach (the Pointed Stac) is the taller of the two gates at 73 metres, a spire of dark rock lancing from the water

Stac Soaigh isn't as tall (a mere 61 metres), but is deceptive as we'd seen it end on intially.  Seen side on it's massive and has an arch straight through.  We could have passed through between the two stacs, but we'd probably not get a better chance to try the arch. As we approached, the apparent calm began to be less calm!  Sets of Atlantic swells were approaching the arch from each side and when combined with the tidal movement was creating a mess of confused and energetic water.

One by one we powered through. The arch is much longer than it appears, it's almost a tunnel.  Conditions in the middle were best described as "a bit lively".  Almost through, I was surprised by a wave reflecting from the wall and required a quick and panicky brace to stay upright.  Our verdict?  That was fun!

Once we were all through there was a huge change in our surroundings.  We'd come from paddling alongside massive cliffs, then between towering stacs.  Ahead of us was a very wide expanse of the Atlantic Ocean

Choppy Soay for lunch!

We made a rendezvous with Cuma for lunch in the Sound of Soay.  Conditions at the entrance to the sound were choppy, and the tide was still running strongly through the sound.  A break would mean paddling through near to slack water.  There's no anchorage here, the cliffs of Soay and An Campar drop sheer into the sea.  The practice we'd had boarding and launching via Cuma's inflatable now paid off as we formed the strangest lunch queue any of us had experienced.

In another display of consummate seamanship, Murdani took Cuma close in to the cliffs of Soay.  He knew that there was an eddy which was almost slack and he positioned her to take advantage.  With the engine trickling ahead and the helm hard to port, Cuma described a tight circle in calm water.  We queued up and boarded, passing each kayak on a towline to the stern.

All safely aboard, we tucked into lunch and also took the opportunity for a comfort break.  This is another great advantage of using Cuma as a base; the coast of Hirta and the crossing to Boreray are both, individually, very committing paddles.  With Cuma in support is became possible to do both in a day.  For me, lunch was more nervous than for most - I'd tied the knot holding £25K of kayaks and kit to Cuma!

Our slowly revolving restaurant had one of the finest views imaginable.  Soay and An Campar loomed over us and ahead lay the stacs of the Sound of Soay, with Stac an Armin and the edge of Boreray just visible.

Hirta's south and west coasts

We turned north west and began our journey below the cliffs of Hirta's southwest coast.  This stretch is exposed to the full effect of the North Atlantic swell, we were lucky to experience it on a quiet day.

However, "quiet" is a relative term and there was still a considerable swell surging at the cliff bases.  We kept offshore a little to avoid the worst of the clapotis and to get a wider view of the cliffs.

Looking back to Mullach Bi, yet another dramatic skyline is revealed

The scale of the cliffs constantly caused us to have to adjust perspective - I couldn't get Morag and the top of this cliff near An Campar in the frame even at the widest angle my camera could manage!

Rounding An Campar, the northwest tip of Hirta, we got our first view into the Sound of Soay which separates Hirta from Soay (sheep island), where we'd arranged to meet Cuma for a lunch date with a difference