Adventure sail to Rockall

Quote found......"In Victorian times it was said that to have visited Rockall was the epitome of heroism and reflected well on the bravery and moral character of the traveller."

So roll up roll up!
 
Uricanejack said:
Just a silly question. What’s the point of going to Rockall? The chances to getting ashore are minimal and there is rock all there.
St Kilda?

Although going out there and planting a tri colour on it might creating an interesting fuss just after Brexit. :)
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Some one in a previous age was asked the same question of a vaguely similar objective and his answer seems apt

'Because its there'

Personally we do not like the idea of joining an 'organised' event , sailing is more about meeting ones own objectives and challenges- but go for it. Its encouraging to see some spirit of adventure. Anyone can visit a pub - few will know where Rockall is and much few ever seen it (and I will be envious of the latter)

Turn the dream into reality

Jonathan
 
In the Days of old when I was a lad my Family owned a 65 ft motor Sailor all wooden hulled and beatifully restored.
There was myself 2 brothers my 3 cousins Mum and Dad Aunt and Uncle , well both my Dad and uncle were old sea dogs and liked to browse over maps and take us out adventuring , sitting in Tobermory Harbour as those two dogs were browsing the Map and the rain was pelting down , they suddenly turned around and told us we were heading for Rockall for an adventure , then my Mum and Aunt said great , is there something for the kids to do , at this point they were shown the Map and all hell broke loose:D
That day we turned around and headed for the Isle of Man via Bangor , were the Sun was shinning and there was a beach for the kids ,
Me i Still dream of Rockall and one day :o
 
FlyingGoose said:
In the Days of old when I was a lad my Family owned a 65 ft motor Sailor all wooden hulled and beatifully restored.
There was myself 2 brothers my 3 cousins Mum and Dad Aunt and Uncle , well both my Dad and uncle were old sea dogs and liked to browse over maps and take us out adventuring , sitting in Tobermory Harbour as those two dogs were browsing the Map and the rain was pelting down , they suddenly turned around and told us we were heading for Rockall for an adventure , then my Mum and Aunt said great , is there something for the kids to do , at this point they were shown the Map and all hell broke loose:D
That day we turned around and headed for the Isle of Man via Bangor , were the Sun was shinning and there was a beach for the kids ,
Me i Still dream of Rockall and one day :o
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Brilliant.

We have the west coast of scotland chart up on the wall at home. I keep putting a wee picture of rockall way off to the left of the chart, at its geographically appropriate place. Swimbo keeps removing it ☺
 
OK, here's our reasoning from last year...
A few years back I did the Yachtmaster Ocean shorebased course. To complete that you should do a passage of something like >650 miles with various conditions. I thought a sail to Rockall would do that nicely, and started to think about it. Then I checked with the RYA to ensure it would qualify, and it does not. The main reason is that the start point and finish were not sufficiently separated, and that once you get there, a pint on a chart is of course fixed by sighting the rock. There needs to be enough distance covered out of sight of any fixed point of land or mark that could verify a position, and nominally with only the traditional sextant navigation used.
But by then I'd built up this thought that it would be a nice jaunt anyway. A group of sailors were in a pub near to Christmas in Edinburgh (Bluemoment forumites), and I mentioned this idea. One said, I'm up for that (Rival 34 "Hirta"), so we were now two. Lets fundraise too, people do that when undertaking silly adventures. So we did. I gathered a crew of able2sail volunteers (a charity that takes families with a disabled member out sailing in which I volunteer), and Hirt was to funraise for Ellen McArthur Trust (Cancer recoverers out sailing). Then it was also the 50th anniversary of the Rival as a design. So with the owners association, we asked who else wanted. As you'd expect a few more said yes, then went and looked at the chart, and decided against. But another R32 did say yes, singlehander who has an interesting blog, saying he'd go there, then on to Azores, where he'd arrange to meet up with some others.
So off we set. But part way, the wind was favourable for heading south, so Samsara turned left. (see https://www.oldmansailing.com/ )

We raised lots of money, had a lot of fun, and spent hours speculating what happened when the skipper accidently dropped a chrome plated bronze winch handle overboard in 2000m depth. How long did it take to reach bottom? What did one fish say to the other when it wizzed past them?

So that's why.
To answer the question about Hasselwood Rock. We didn't actually sail the north side. We sailed out past Rockall on the south side. Both boats had people aboard equipped to land and scale to the top, be we collectively decided that the swell was too great, and so abandoned that idea. We sailed back and forth taking pix and video of each other, then set sail for St Kilda. We were there perhaps an hour. There's water enough between Hasselwood and Rockall, but it is a harzard, and breaks. There's also another reef further away (Helen's) that also breaks. All rather dangerous for ships.

An Irish fishing boat was fishing nearby. Called us on the radio and asked what we were doing there. "I get paid to be here, but why are you here?".

So where to this summer? Faroes for me (late May for 3 weeks), Hirta might be limited by commitments on another boat elsewhere, and for Samsard, read his blog!
 
Hi MM5

Thanks for all the info and encouragement. I had already found the website for the Charity able2sail and guess that was your boat which was featured. On the website is a link to your AIS website which I have been admiring. It looks like you left the Clyde then went through the Sound of Islay, then to Barra, then out to Rockall and back again via St Kilda and the Sound of Harris . Quite a trip well done! And exactly what we would hope to do in July if there are not too many 7’s in the forecast. I am just reading Nick Hancock’s book which is full of info. He stayed on Rockall in a water bowser for 45 days in 2014!

Good luck for your Faroes trip, we might have a go at that next year!

Bikedaft, I am glad to hear you might be up for Rockall and will send you a PM. There is another guy in NI who has expressed interest too.
 
brainstorm said:
Hi MM5

Thanks for all the info and encouragement. I had already found the website for the Charity able2sail and guess that was your boat which was featured. On the website is a link to your AIS website which I have been admiring. It looks like you left the Clyde then went through the Sound of Islay, then to Barra, then out to Rockall and back again via St Kilda and the Sound of Harris . Quite a trip well done! And exactly what we would hope to do in July if there are not too many 7’s in the forecast. I am just reading Nick Hancock’s book which is full of info. He stayed on Rockall in a water bowser for 45 days in 2014!

Good luck for your Faroes trip, we might have a go at that next year!

Bikedaft, I am glad to hear you might be up for Rockall and will send you a PM. There is another guy in NI who has expressed interest too.
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Hope your trip goes well and We expect a full report on return:encouragement:
 
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I sailed to Rockall last year as part of the Round Rockall Rival Rally: the best ideas come out of Edinburgh pubs!

It's not much of a destination but it was a wonderful voyage. Out of Castlebay, Barra, southabout Barra Head, itself not a place visited by many and then off westwards.

Rockall itself I thought an awful place, desolate and lonely but horribly impressive in its isolation. Unfortunately there was far too much swell for our assault team to even consider it, a relief really. I was surprised to see seals in the water around the rock, hundreds of miles from anywhere they could haul out. We spent a couple of hours sailing slowly around it waiting for another boat to turn up ("R32 Contender") . I was relieved to finally turn east.

The weather was not too bad, close hauled with two reefs in the main on the way out, a bit bumpy at times but then as the wind died on the return we sailed slowly back with just a cruising chute. Lots of sleeping and a pod of Pilot Whales .

As Geoff has said above approaching St Kilda from the west felt very special. Most of the iconic views of St Kilda are from the east. It also seemed appropriate that "R34 Hirta" should be anchored in Village Bay.

St Kilda back to Lochmaddy on N Uist was an easy passage. The Sound of Harris has a bad reputation, shallow by west coast standards, twisty, poor landmarks, and often strong tides against the prevailing winds, a place to be respected. We were lucky, a gentle wind and a gentle tide, both with us. Lochmaddy is one of my favorite places in the Outer Islands so it was great to meet up with "Contender" and her crew for a few pints there.

After that it was back to Loch Sunart with one overnight stop in Canna. (great cafe)

The voyage has raised a couple of technical concerns, both electronic. Over the entire passage, about 400 nms, we were probably never more that 15nms from "Contender" (They were about two hours, 10nms behind us at Rockall and they got to St Kilda about three hours before us). Despite this we often lost VHF contact and for most of the time our AIS receiver did not pick up their AIS transmissions. I'm fairly confident that both the VHF and AIS installations on both boats are more than satisfactory. Bit of a puzzle.

I think what made the voyage so special was my superb crew, great company and great sailors. And of course a truly great boat. Sailing in company was also a bonus. Overtaking "Contender" to windward in the pitch dark 100nms from land was memorable, not that it was a race you know.

The Faroes, this year? Possible, the crew want to do it but time is a bit limited. But I do fancy Sula Sgeir and North Rona.

"R34 Hirta"
 
Fascadale said:
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The Faroes, this year? Possible, the crew want to do it but time is a bit limited. But I do fancy Sula Sgeir and North Rona.

"R34 Hirta"
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I went up to the Faroes a few years ago - a great trip. One of my regrets is that we did not visit North Rona on the return trip, we were only a couple of miles off.
 
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