Underneath the arches - paddling through an island

The weather forecast for the following day was good, but with a weather front approaching from the southwest in the evening.  We would certainly get a paddle, but would have to leave St Kilda before the front arrived.  The brief summer night was beautifully lit by an almost full moon.  This signalled that we'd also get lots of tidal energy around the islands and stacks.

After breakfast we got on the water straight away, Simon filming from the double, piloted by Ken.  The close in footage in the DVD will be mostly filmed in this way.  Ken is a very skillful paddler, he made manoeuvring and controlling the double whilst Simon filmed look easy, even with Simon having to lean out and get angles for filming. 

We paddled straight across Village Bay to the north side of  Dun.  The weather on our first evening paddle hadn't allowed us to get to this side, and what a great place it is.  Rafts of Puffins dived though green water as we approached.  The whole of Dun is riddled with caves, passages and arches.  Slots which look like one-way tunnels open up into huge caves and it's possible to get through underneath the island in a couple of places.  We entered such a slot whch led into a large cave, then exited back out the way we came, rather quickly on a large swell in my case! 

Continuing south east we came to the Great Arch.  This cuts through the island and can be seen clearly from many miles away.

There's a large submerged rock in the centre of the arch which creates quite a lot of confused water.  Gordon checked it out and called us through. 

The arch is huge underneath, a great passage to paddle.  The framed view back to Boreray is just superb.

All through, we turned north west up the coast of the island in warm sunshine and light winds. 

There's great rock architecture here and more caves.  The entrance to this one leads through to the slot we explored from the other side.

Soon we were passing the Dun Gap, but this time we headed past and on up the coast of Hirta.

Across Hirta

From the 430 metre summit of Conachair our walk would take us west to the rounded top of Mullach Mor with its crown of antennae and radomes, then south along the ridge dividing Village Bay from Gleann Mor (big glen) to Ruabhal overlooking Dun.

Right on the summit of Conachair, on the edge of 400 metre cliffs, we were surprised to see this Heath Spotted Orchid (Dactylorhiza maculata).  It's a common species in damp ground throughout Scotland but isn't normally associated with cliff edges, especially ones so exposed as here.

From Mullach Mor we had a view out to the northern arm of Hirta, An Campar, and beyond to Soay (Sheep Island).  The difficult nature of any landing in Glen Bay can also be seen in this picture.

Gleann Mor stretched out below us, facing north.  The oldest archeaological finds on Hirta have been made in this glen.  There are hut circles and a set of remains known as "The Amazon's House" which is probably a bronze age wheel-house.

We followed the vehicle access track from Mullach Mor to a dip, then left the track and followed a contouring path to Ruabhal (western hill) and the cliffs of Hirta's south coast.  The view was, as everywhere we looked, stunning.

To the north west were the dramatic cliffs we hoped to paddle along the following day.  The pointed summit in the distance is the 358 metre Mullach Bi which is about half way along to the northwest tip of Hirta.

After some searching, we found the Mistress Stone, a fallen block bridging an eroded dyke.  Apparently, the young men of St Kilda balanced on the very edge of this rock as a test of balance and nerve (the drop is very considerable) although it may equally have been a stunt for the benefit of Victorian tourists.... 

We went right to the edge of the 130 metre high cliff overlooking Dun Gap.  How calm and easy it looked compared to the previous evening! 

We'd had a great day ashore.  I think we were all grateful to have had the opportunity to explore the village and some of Hirta, and of course to a hillwalker Conachair is a rare "tick"!

The weather signs were encouraging; the calm conditions in the Dun gap was an indication that both wind and swell had dropped away. We headed back to the pier in Village Bay to rejoin Cuma for another of Murdani's super meals.  All ears were on the weather forecast for the following morning

Mind the Gap

We wanted to get an evening paddle to Dun, but with a forecast of NE Force 5 to 6 imminent, we'd be paddling in increasingly breezy conditions.  We change into paddling kit and began the first of several installments of "pass the boat" to get on the water.

Cuma seemed to have sprouted a shiny new bowsprit!  Simon and Ken embarked in the double kayak aka "The Battleship Potemkin" in order to do some filming - there was a possibility that this would be the only paddling we'd be able to do given the forecast.

We headed off tward the Dun Gap, a narrow channel separating Dun from Hirta.  The breeze was already funnelling through this gap and creating some nasty conditions.  One of the party took a brief unplanned swim, was quickly rescued and promptly interviewed on film for the DVD - no opportunities wasted on this trip!

Once through the gap we were in the lee of Dun in calm, sunny conditions, the contrast was quite startling.  The air was warmer in the sun but cold in the shadows and we got our first taste of paddling under the cliffs of St Kilda.

There's constant interest along this bit of coast with caves, arches and cliffs.  We ventured into a couple of caves which cut right through Dun, but conditions on the windy east side meant that there was no safe passage through for most of us, though Gordon made a spectacular return trip through one slot....

Almost at the southeast tip of Dun and we could feel the wind whipping around the point.  More pertinently, we could see the tidal race pouring around Giumachsgor against the wind.  It looked very, very imposing and a decision was quickly made that we'd not go that way.  The Great Arch of Dun was equally tricky looking with the wind howling through it.  So it was back to the Dun Gap for our return.

I took no pictures on the way back through - I was far too concerned with keeping upright in the conditions.  The gap was utterly transformed in the hour or so since we'd come through.  The rising wind was pushing breaking waves into the consticted gut, exposing large rocks in the channel.  The wind itself was pouring through.  We dodged from rock to rock gaining what shelter we could before an unavoidable sprint out of the gap through confused seas.

After we'd all managed through, there just remained the paddle across Village Bay to the jetty, where we left the kayaks secured for the night and were picked up by Cuma's inflatable for dinner.

The swell across Village Bay set the scene for a rock n' roll night onboard Cuma as she lay beam on to swells rounding Geodha Clann on the east side of the bay.  We did wonder whether we'd missed the weather window...