Barra

[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?

[Graham W]

Other-worldly would be another way to describe Barra and its surrounding islands.  On Mingulay, there’s a beach on the leeward eastern side that fills up during the pupping season.  Grey seals are then apparently so densely packed that they’re four deep, like in an Attenborough documentary.  Last Thursday, a dead baby blue whale washed up on the Western side of Barra.  For me the most extraordinary wildlife sight was several hundred cormorants congregating just off a beach on Vatersay, washing salt from their feathers where a fresh water spring enters the sea.

On Friday, the car ferry to Oban and a flight from Glasgow were cancelled because of the weather.  And I’ve just noticed that the ferry that we were originally going to take today left two hours early at 5am, again because of high winds this afternoon.  We complain about late-running or strike-bound trains but there are usually alternatives for getting around.  Barra can be cut off from the mainland for several days at a time, and looking at next week’s forecast may shortly be so again.  This encourages a hardy self-reliance and strong  community spirit.  Plus the ownership of big deep freezes.

Matthew cautions about tricky coastlines and inter-island currents.  One of the benefits of having a feeble eProp electric outboard with a limited range is that my pre-sail planning and preparation is unusually thorough, to lower the odds against running into foul tides and being caught out.  I had thought of borrowing a 5hp stinkpot but I’m glad that I didn’t.  The satisfaction of taking calculated risks, getting quite wet and living to tell the tale enhances memories of the trip.

[garethrow]

Sounds fantastic Graham

For the past few years the UK seems to get an anticyclone system in late April with corresponding good weather. We went to NW Scotland this year for a week in late April and had every day blue skies, warm sun, cool nights, light breezes and no midges. Frustratingly, we had no boat in tow! No doubt next year will break the pattern, but if planning to invest that much time and £ then timing for late April might improve the odds?

Regards
Gareth Rowlands
BR20 Halen Y Mor