By Sinclair Molloy

Photos: Andy McManus

Last October, Castle Craigs Canoe Club in North Ayrshire, attracted two new members to our winter pool sessions. Eric Holden from Canada and Katherine Knight from Weymouth in Dorset, owners of Narwhal Expeditions and their 57-foot steel hulled expedition yacht, Narwhal, were holed up in Clyde Marina, Ardrossan for the winter. Their winter project was to get the Narwhal expedition ready in time for their first expedition season, to explore Scotland’s hillwalking and skiing opportunities and to improve their sea kayaking skills over the winter.

An irresistible opportunity to visit the St Kilda archipelago

Eric and Katherine worked hard at the kayaking and even harder on their yacht Narwhal, throughout a long cold and wet Ayrshire winter. Modest and reserved, we had to ‘Google’ them to find out that both are lifelong keen sailors, adventurers and ‘Cape Horners’ who have competed successfully at international level. Eric is also a professional meteorologist who supported the Canadian Olympic sailing team in 2012. He is currently under contract to the Norwegian Olympic sailing team and Katherine is a physiotherapist who supports the Swedish Olympic sailing team. Eric’s background includes skippering the winning Henri Lloyd Clipper in the 2013/14 Round the world Yacht Race. Katherine is a published writer, qualified Yachtmaster Ocean, ocean yacht racer and winner of the European Women’s Moth foiling speed championship.

Castle Craigs Canoe Club rarely offers club trips far from home. However, Narwhal Expeditions offered an irresistible opportunity to visit the St. Kilda archipelago, some 40 miles west of the Outer Hebrides. ‘Mates rates’ and dates were quickly agreed and we found ourselves Narwhal’s guests on their first expedition of 2018.

The weather gods don’t offer a guarantee when it comes to getting out to St Kilda. Even after a long settled spell, the Atlantic swell can make it difficult to anchor in Village Bay. The only promise was that we would find somewhere new to paddle. An extra day was offered to improve our chances of catching a weather window, as Scotland had already enjoyed almost five weeks of sunshine and settled weather by the time we wheeled our kayaks onto the Barra ferry at Oban. The longer the good weather lasted, the less likely it was that we would reach our goal. However, sighting a whale, dolphins, basking shark and an eagle en route to Barra, boded well and when we joined Narwhal at Castlebay, Eric confirmed that the forecast was still, “Good to go.”

We were quickly introduced to the intricacies of onboard plumbing, water conservation, fire prevention, deck safety and bunk beds with lee boards. After securing our kayaks on board we had time for a booze run to the Castlebay Co-Op and an excellent curry at Cafe Kisimul, overlooking the Castlebay RNLI station.

Monach Isles

The first, mostly foggy, leg of our journey saw us motoring to a lonely overnight anchorage at the Monach Isles, home to a huge number of Atlantic Grey Seals that mournfully ‘sang’ us to sleep.

We set sail early the following morning for this extraordinary World Heritage location with its amazing geology, seascapes and bird life, taking turns at the helm. A five-hour mostly misty crossing saw puffins, shearwaters a lost racing pigeon and a playful Great Skua providing most of the entertainment until Stac Levenish loomed through the fog. Followed a short time later by Dun and Village Bay on Hirta. Conachair and the other peaks remained obscured by rolling mist throughout our stay.

Initially shocked that none of the many Village Bay photographs we had previously seen, showed the industrial scale of the military presence on the island, which includes a power station on the foreshore, we soon turned our attention to the island of Dun and its massive arch. Within 30 minutes of Narwhal being brought to anchor in Village Bay, we had launched the kayaks and set off to explore Dun. Soon the geology, the sheer cliffs rising into the fog, the caves, arches, gullies, kelp beds, Atlantic swell, the clear water and the overwhelming bird life had us all completely enthralled.

The unique atmosphere of this incredible place was breathtaking. So anxious were we not to miss out on any part of the adventure that without sustenance or briefing we set out for a clockwise circumnavigation of Hirta, promising to be back for our tea within three hours. Given how much there was to see and how many features there were to explore on Dun alone, three hours was wildly optimistic. We had to sprint past the last half dozen caves and bays on the way back, for fear that Narwhal might report the loss of their first expeditionaries of the season.

The debrief and reflections over supper that night recognised the need for a stronger focus on group and individual safety, with special regard to tidal streams, erratic Atlantic swell running through features, the total absence of get outs or VHF comms with the Coastguard, mother ship or indeed any other vessel. If there happened to be a walker on the top of a cliff, the fog would ensure that they would not spot kayakers in trouble. We planned a more leisurely anti- clockwise circumnavigation of Hirta and Soay the following morning and went to our bunks feeling lucky, privileged, blessed, satisfied and very happy, but yearning for more of the same.

There were some big swells overnight, big enough to dislodge one of Narwhal’s kayaks, (quickly recovered by the skipper) and to stir some vivid dreams. One of our number snored deeply and couldn’t be wakened.

In the morning he swore that his cabin companion kept calling out in his sleep, “Presumably to warn me about the next big swell coming through.”

We woke next morning feeling a mix of privilege and trepidation. After another circumnavigation and an afternoon ashore, we found it even more difficult to express how we felt about our extraordinary experience.

Soay

Day two’s circumnavigation was even more exciting. We landed on Soay to do some backrest repairs, but kept being swept off our perch by the growing swell. It would have been very good to get round Soay and out to Stac Levenish, Boreray, Stac Lee and Stac Armin but a rising wind and swell affecting the anchorage in Village Bay put paid to that. There was just time for a couple of hours walking and reflection on Hirta before we set off in excellent sailing conditions, back to safe anchorage off Vatersay, with a chance of paddling to Sandray, Pabay and Mingulay and then back to Barra still supported by another overnight aboard Narwhal.

Incredibly, the weather held out and we had time to explore Mingulay and the other islands too. Mingulay exceeded all our expectations and felt every bit as remote and special as Hirta. A must-see island for all serious sea kayakers, but to really enjoy all it has to offer, you should wait for a period of settled weather and a calm sea state, even if you have the benefit of a support vessel.

Narwhal Expeditions aims to inspire adventures and support expeditions to remote destinations (see more at https://www.narwhalexpeditions.com)