Look back - Shiant Islands 18 June 2005

Set off on the 1020 bus to Balallan and from there to Lemreway. There is a trip to the Shiant Islands leaving from there, as from 1130. Have a look on www.shiantisles.net. At frist the islands' proprietor, Adam Nicolson, gives a talk. Unfortunately, my bus doesn't arrive until 1125, just in time to catch the end of the lecture. Pay £15 for the boattrip, for which 153 people are booked in. I'm number 130 on the list, so I'm in for a bit of a wait. Come to chat to various people, including a lady from Isle of Wight who complains bitterly about incomers and a local man who has been across several times. Two fast boats are in operation, although three were booked to do the work. The third has developed a fault, and a replacement was seemingly unavailable. Each boat can only carry 11 or 12 people, and the return trip takes 45 to 60 minutes. One boat is a RIB (rigid inflatable boat), which covers the 8 miles to the Shiants in 20 minutes. The other is the slightly slower Eishken estate boat. I don't leave until 4 pm, which means I have to wait for 4½ hours. By that time, the mist has come right down to sealevel, the tide has come in and it's raining steadily. The Eishken boat takes its time, flapping about in the seas off South Park, in thick fog. There is no swell at all. We finally arrive at the Shiants at 4.50 pm. The anchorage is on the eastern bay between Eilean Taighe and Eilean Garbh. These two are joined by a narrow isthmus. Eilean Mhuire lies a mile to the east. The islands all rise steeply out of the Minch, 400 to 500 feet. Eilean Garbh (Rough Isle) can only be accessed if you're prepared to climb 450 feet up a very steep incline. Once over the awkward access ridge to Eilean Taighe, lush meadows roll towards the one solitary house, appropriately named Shiant Isles. A party of Czech archeologists have taken up residence there for a month. Facilities basic, one person expressed a yearning for a bathroom with four walls. Food is available, but the expiry dates should be checked. Coffee was found there which should have been discarded in 2001. Nice views - once the fog lifts. I chat to a group of men who have arrived here in a yacht. They had a mishap, in that the towline for their dinghy fouled the propellor as they came in to anchor in the bay. On Monday, I heard that the Stornoway lifeboat had to go and tow them to safety because the batteries on their boat had given up the ghost. Carry on south across House Island, with the 400 ft highest point shrouded in thick fog. It's clearer on the western seaboard, but I can still hear the deep boom of a foghorn out in the distance. The biggest islands of the Galtanach, which stretch out west from Eilean Garbh, slowly materialize out of the fog. I presently stand on the top of a 250 ft high cliff and veer south southwest towards Mianish. The gulls do not appreciate my presence, and hover over me. I see no nests on the ground, though. I speak to an American lady who has been camping out at Lemreway over the last few days, in anticipation of this trip. She is a nanny to the filthy rich, which means she also earns a nice dollar or two. On return from the south point, the fog starts to lift. By the turn I return to the strand, half an hour later, Eilean Garbh is clear. Scalpay looms up, 17 miles to the west, the hills of Park (to the north) unwrap their foggy cloaks and Skye is clearly visible, 12 miles to the south. The Ascrib Islands are dotted in front. The boat leaves Eilean Taighe at 7.30, to arrive in Lemreway at 8.10. The fog has lifted off sealevel, but bits and pieces of cloud hover low on the hills. Carol from Bayble, Point, runs me back to SY and while I go on a trip down memory lane during the 14 miles trip up the B8060 (where I stayed between last November and February) we have a bit of a natter. Carol is a field archaeologist, and as such walks about as much as I do, at least until recently. Return to Stornoway at 9 pm, me very hungry.

Postscript: Taighe = House; Garbh = Rough;