The Prisoner and the Village, St Kilda.

The morning dawned fair. We were all feeling a bit tired after our paddle to Dun the previous evening...

...so we decided to spend the morning exploring the village.

We waited to meet the National Trust for Scotland warden at the pier head and he introduced us to the island.

We started at the feather store...

...then moved to the gun that was installed after a German U boat had shelled the

Arrival at Hirta, St Kilda.

From Boreray and the Stacs, MV Cuma motored towards Hirta and Soay, which are the two largest islands in the St Kilda archipelago. The next two by size are Boreray and Dun. The cliffs falling from the summit of Connachair (at 430m, the high point on Hirta) are the highest sea cliffs in the British Isles.

As Cuma made her way round the east side of Hirta, we caught sight of the jagged outline of 

Evolution of the species on Boreray.

After sweeping round Stac an Armin we aproached Boreray from the NE. What a superlative sight! It was like a great stegosaurus rising up from the ocean. We half expected to see pterodactyls swooping round its rocky pinnacles...

...but they had all evolved into gannets!

Murdani now took the Cuma through the narrow gap between Boreray...

...and a pair of small unnamed stacs which lie between

Crossing to St Kilda, the islands at the edge of the World.

The morning of Sunday 12th June dawned fair and after an extensive Cuma breakfast, we took some air upon the deck to allow our stomachs to settle. Ken explained to the others how he had managed to hold on to the toast rack with the very last slice of toast!

Murdani listened intently to the weather forecast. It was not looking good at the end of the week and the wind this evening was forecast to

A UFO in the sky at night above Loch Tamnavay.

On arrival at the head of Loch Tamnavay several of us set off for a shakedown paddle on the loch.

Ian quickly entered full smug mode, as he had been allocated Gordon's new Valley Etain. It will be worthwhile following Ian's excellent blog of our trip. Then you will be able to enjoy our voyages in full St Kilda Stereovision (tm)!

Although it was 21:45 hours, the mid summer sun was still shining

Where ancient mountains crumble to the sea.

As we proceeded south along the mountainous coast of Lewis, a lone figure, with a carrier bag, appeared running along the rocks. The steady beat of Cuma's  trusty Gardner diesel slowed...

...and Murdani gently nosed her into the relatively calm waters of Tarla geo. Here the slopes of Taireabhal plunge straight into the sea.

It was Murdani's son in law on the rocks and Gary threw a well aimed

A gneiss time to find our feet and sea legs.

No sooner had secured the kayaks and set off from Miavaig in Loch Roag than Gordon demonstrated the berthing accommodation for those travelling steerage class. Fortunately we had all booked berths in the Cuma's cabins!

We soon left the great strand of Traigh na Beirigh in our wake...
...as we passed Bhacasaigh and...  ...in the distance Seana Chnoc. 
Simon started filming the trip in  the

A journey towards the edge of the World.

My journey north to St Kilda started at 17:30 after work last Friday. It was a slow drive due to the number of caravans and motor homes heading north. These vehicles carry such evocative names as  GT, Cheetah, Concorde (Mach 2 model), Monza, Le Mans etc. However, the road quietened after Fort William and by 21:30 I was watching the sun set behind Eilean Donan Castle.

I spent the night at Gordon

St Kilda preview!

Looking back to Stac Lee, Stac an Armin and Boreray while en route to Hirta.

Tony and I had planned a week to St Kilda with Murty and Murdani on the MV Cuma at the beginning of June. We were both well pissed off when the University changed the dates of the exam season and we couldn't go. I was then completely gobsmacked when Gordon Brown phoned up and asked if I would like to go on a trip to St

The Outer Hebrides seakayaking around the isles & St Kilda

The thud at the front door this morning could mean only one thing. The new Pesda Press volume "The Outer Hebrides, sea kayaking around the isles and St Kilda" by Mike Sullivan, Robert Emmott and Tim Pickering had arrived.You cannot possibly expect an unbiased and critical review from me on this beautiful book, which is well written and beautifully illustrated, mostly with the authors' own

Sea kayaking desktop wallpaper calendar, July 2010

July, sunset over the Outer Hebrides from Coll.The seakayakphoto.com July desktop calendar is available for download here.