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Barra

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Graham W:
Just returned from a stay on Barra, one of the southerly islands of Scotland’s Outer Hebrides.  The boat came too and after launching on a very smart slipway, stayed in unaccustomed luxury in Castlebay Marina on a finger pontoon.  In fact, because of the weather, it spent quite a lot of time there.

Barra is stunning if you don’t mind a lack of trees.  It’s surrounded by dozens of smaller islands to explore by boat and Caribbean-style white sandy beaches to enjoy on foot.  I sailed as far as Mingulay (huge seal colony) to the south and Eriskay (‘Whisky Galore’, the wrecking of the SS Politician) to the north.

The Calmac ferry from Oban is eye-wateringly expensive (£435 return, £220 of which was for the trailer) but it’s a 75nm crossing of 4 1/2 hours.  There’s a remarkably well-stocked Coop on the island but the main foodie draw is the fresh seafood, either bought from the retail outlet of the fish factory or direct from a fisherman.  Big bags of crab claws, langoustine tails and monkfish tails cost around £10, while huge live lobsters are £20 each.

The 1,300 mainly catholic islanders are helpful and friendly and my BR20 attracted a lot of interest.  Possibly one reason for this is that we were only the third boat to visit  the marina in two weeks, no doubt because of the weather patterns at this time of year.  In fact we left Barra two days early as a storm force 11 was forecast for the end of our intended stay.  The ferry is frequently cancelled because of the weather, as is the Loganair flight from Glasgow, which lands on the beach.

Several Swallows have been there before.  I thought that there was a comprehensive write-up of at least one of the trips, complete with photos  of a mini Swallow fleet mingling with Basking Sharks, but haven’t managed to find it.  See also Rob Johnstone’s posting on the Western Isles https://www.swallowyachtsassociation.org/smf/index.php/topic,1355.msg9748.html#msg9748.

Matthew P:
Graham, we're glad you had a good time and returned safely.   

Barra and the neighbouring islands are indeed stunning.  In 2019 a small group of us camping-cruised the same area led by Rory, an experienced coastal skipper and his son Ben with local knowledge. 

It was a magical week with fair weather for a few days that allowed us to explore Mingulay and other small islands and wet weather at the end. We had many wonderful experiences including a basking shark that chose to accompany us, birds and other wildlife plus scenery that no photos can do justice to and, of course, good company.

The Outer Hebrides is a serious place to cruise with strong currents, complex shoreline and variable weather. We sailed together in three open BR20s and one BRe and operated a buddy system in pairs so, in theory (not always strictly followed) two buddy boats were always within shouting distance of one another.

Has anyone else experience of this area?

Matthew
ex BR20 Gladys
now BR17 Tarika
CLC Northeast[er] Hilda
Various other smaller boats 

garethrow:
Sounds brillant Graham / Matthew

It strikes me as quite a high risk destination in terms of investment in £ and time verses probablity of poor weather, but I am most impressed / envious of your commitment regardless of this. Were midges a problem - or too windy perhaps?

Gareth Rowlands
BR20 Halen Y Mor

Graham W:
Gareth,

I dreamed of weather good enough to bring the midges out!  I only managed three days of sailing out of the ten that we were there but even so, it was worth doing.  There’s plenty else to see and do when the winds are too strong.

We’ve been recommended to go earlier in the season if we do it again, when the machair flowers are out and the corncrakes are in full rasp, keeping everyone awake at night.

RogerLennard:
That sounds incredible. I've been waiting over a year for Swallow yachts to make my BR20. The expected date for completion has been  pushed further and further back. July? Mid August? Mid September? Now it looks like the start of November. Perhaps when I finally have my BR20 I can join you for some adventures?

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