St. Kilda?

[Dockhead]

After many summers in the Baltic -- since 2014, actually -- we're doing this one in the British Isles.

Tentative plan is to sail around Land's End up to the Isle of Man, from there to Islay, cruise the Outer Hebrides, then hit St. Kilda.

From there, to the Faroe Islands, then from there back down to the Orkneys, then back to the Solent via the North Sea and Channel.

Has anyone been to St. Kilda? One of my crew has had St. Kilda on his bucket list for ages, so I need to stop there, but it sounds interesting.

Is Village Bay a feasible anchorage?

 

[dunedin]

After many summers in the Baltic -- since 2014, actually -- we're doing this one in the British Isles.

Tentative plan is to sail around Land's End up to the Isle of Man, from there to Islay, cruise the Outer Hebrides, then hit St. Kilda.

From there, to the Faroe Islands, then from there back down to the Orkneys, then back to the Solent via the North Sea and Channel.

Has anyone been to St. Kilda? One of my crew has had St. Kilda on his bucket list for ages, so I need to stop there, but it sounds interesting.

Is Village Bay a feasible anchorage?

Yes. And it depends!

Lots of boats anchor every year in Village Bay, which is pretty much the only option. BUT it is open to the SE, so feasibility depends on the direction of swell and wind.
Great place to visit. But plan on taking your time and spending at least a month in the Outer Hebrides, as there are so many fantastic places to visit. And then hopefully you will be able to grab a weather window to get out to St Kilda.
General rule I have heard is if get there and OK to go ashore, do so immediately as soon as checked anchor holding, Don’t wait.
I applied the go ashore immediately rule and got amazing pictures in blue skies as walked towards the small summit. Just before I got there mist rolled in from the west and even though I ran the last 100m by the time I reached the mast had zero view to west - and village disappearing fast.
Allow time to go round the top and round the stacks. Amazing.

Also if heading for the Faroes perhaps head back via Shetland rather than just via Orkney. Very different island groups.

Happy voyage - but don’t try to work to a fixed time schedule. Choose a location OR choose a date, never both.

PS. Hugely ambitious schedule for one season - you will miss most of the best places. Forget the return south and winter in Scotland (for 2 or 3 years).

 

[AngusMcDoon]

After St Kilda if you need to wait for the weather to go to the Faeroes the new pontoon on Great Bernera is ideally placed. Or the many anchorages in the Loch Roags which I better mention before someone else does.

pontoons - Great Bernera

 

[NormanS]

Village Bay is a dodgy anchorage. It is absolutely open to the south east, and swell tends to curl in from other directions. Northwesterly winds, if strong, come hurtling downhill to the bay. You have to study the weather before going. If you choose a fine spell it's OK. It's a spectacular place, and well worth exploring, both on land, and by sailing round the islands and stacks.

 

[jamie N]

My plan is almost the reverse of yours @Dockhead! I'm hoping to be coming down from Faeroes to Kirkibost/Great Bernera then over to St.Kilda, in part driven by the 'bucket list' pressure of 'having to do it'.
However, I know that it's a very special and grand piece of rock, with a formidable countenance, but (and I ask this genuinely) is it really anything so much more special than many of the other huge cliffs with astonishing beauty that litter the horizon from Fortrose up? After this I'm down South and around through Leverburgh sound and up to Tarbert, which feels more important and challenging to me.

 

[dunedin]

St Kilda is indeed pretty special

 

[boomerangben]

I’ve not sailed there, but been a few times. It has an “otherworldly” feel to me. I’ve had the good fortune to see lots of Scotland and St Kilda is a definite must do by boat for me.

I get the impression it is a place to go when you have to use the engine to get there.

 

[NormanS]

Read "Atlantic Fury" by Hammond Innes. That'll give you an idea of how horrible it can be.

 

[jlavery]

I went there 2 years ago from Barra in 20-25kt W-SW.

Was concerned about swell "curling in". Was fine, no swell in Village bay. Holding is excellent in sand.

I agree that with other wind directions it could be uncomfortable or untenable.

 

[RunAgroundHard]

You can anchor in Glen Bay if Village Bay is unsuitable. You need to get right in where the stream runs into the bay. You can't leave the boat unattended but the rest of the crew can walk up to the saddle and over to the village. I did this some years ago, not the walk, I stayed with the boat, and the crew walked up. We anchored there becuase the swell was too much in village bay. It was quite calm, but there were downdrafts and the wind was variable. Holding was good enough and I remember worrying about getting the anchor stuck on rocks, boulders. At the end of the day there was no drama, the crew returned and we sailed up to The Flannan Isles, where we also anchored. I got ashore that time, but the swell at the landing was quite intimidating from the dinghy. You can't leave the vessel unattended at the Flannan Isles in any conditions.

 

[NormanS]

...The Flannan Isles, where we also anchored. I got ashore that time, but the swell at the landing was quite intimidating from the dinghy. You can't leave the vessel unattended at the Flannan Isles in any conditions.

We've been to the Flannans a few times, four or five, and have left the boat unattended while ashore. I was fine while I could see her at anchor, but when she was out of sight, I felt quite uncomfortable. The lighthouse landing places on Eilean Mor are now in very poor condition. We once landed on Eilean Tigh, which was quite challenging.

 

[ylop]

However, I know that it's a very special and grand piece of rock, with a formidable countenance, but (and I ask this genuinely) is it really anything so much more special than many of the other huge cliffs with astonishing beauty that litter the horizon from Fortrose up?

I have a friend who spent a couple of years planning a trip to get the weather window right for the entire trip. He said it was good but so much effort and time had been put into the planning and build up that the final result was a bit of an anticlimax - and the trip all the way up the west coast and back down was actually better than the “destination”. He’d go again - but only if he was “in the area anyway” and the weather worked out. His trip involved lots of changed dates, reshuffling work diaries. I think he’d maybe overhyped it his own head.

 

[Dockhead]

I have a friend who spent a couple of years planning a trip to get the weather window right for the entire trip. He said it was good but so much effort and time had been put into the planning and build up that the final result was a bit of an anticlimax - and the trip all the way up the west coast and back down was actually better than the “destination”. He’d go again - but only if he was “in the area anyway” and the weather worked out. His trip involved lots of changed dates, reshuffling work diaries. I think he’d maybe overhyped it his own head.

How do you plan a weather window a couple years out? Scratching my head over that one.

 

[Neeves]

Geoff Crowley, of Knox Anchor, sailed to St Kilda a couple of years ago. I think it was a yacht club rally - but might have that wrong. Geoff is editor of an edition of Scots cruising guides.

He has with drawn from being active on YBW - as he has commercial interests in things marine, so he might not read the thread title.

I assume he can be contacted through Knox Anchor,

Jonathan

 

[Dockhead]

PS. Hugely ambitious schedule for one season - you will miss most of the best places. Forget the return south and winter in Scotland (for 2 or 3 years).

Of course impossible to see or do everything, but that is generally impossible.

I have friends who spent 3 years in the Hebrides, including winters, and complained they didn't see everything when they left.

I'd just like to get a taste of that area this year on the way to the Faroes.

I've been in the Faroes (twice) and in the Orkneys and Shetlands and want to experience these areas more closely, especially the Faroes. I was in the Faroes on the way to and back from Greenland before, and the point of these year's cruise is to make them the destination this time, instead of a layover.

Overwintering in Scotland is an interesting idea. My friends thought the Hebrides were one of the most enchanting places they had ever sailed.

 

[Mark-1]

St Kilda is indeed pretty special
View attachment 208202

Any idea what the landing ship type vessel in the foreground is unloading? I thought St Kilda was uninhabited, yet it seems to be getting a delivery and and the houses on the left look in good order.

(Yes I could google, but I’m feeling conversational.)

 

[dunedin]

Any idea what the landing ship type vessel in the foreground is unloading? I thought St Kilda was uninhabited, yet it seems to be getting a delivery and and the houses on the left look in good order.

(Yes I could google, but I’m feeling conversational.)

Building materials were being landed - and i think that landing craft is a regular visitor.

St Kilda is not "uninhabited" in the true sense. There are people on the island all year round - National Trust for Scotland and when we were there plenty of workmen. Just "no permanent residents" as in different people rotated through at different times, not a person having this defined as their permanent address.
Not an issue - and plenty of truly uninhabited islands nearby in Scotland.

 

[MM5AHO]

I have been to St Kilda 4 or 5 times if I remember right. Once was on a return from Rockall. Not many land at St Kilda arriving from the west! Village bay is the only reasonable anchorage but as others have said, very susceptible to SE winds and swell, but its mostly clean sand and good holding, and the clarity means you can see your anchor in 10m easily.
Its not uninhabited in that people work there. A contractor services the military installation and its various radar and radio systems, and Scottish Natural Heritage people are there during the summer. They arrive and leave by helicopters, and some days there can be several flights. It can be a busy airport, though the terminal is tiny!. The landing craft mentioned above supplies them from Leverburgh. One trip I woke in the morning to a rumbling large diesel. The landing craft asked us to move, we were blocking his line to the landing ramp. On board was a sewage tanker come to empty the septic tank, he'd driven from Stirling to Ullapool, ferry to Stornoway, then driven to Leverburgh, and landing craft to Village Bay. Arriving at 0600, it had been a long trip. SNH request that you radio or otherwise contact the warden on arrival. Coastguard radio are not reachable from Village Bay due to the high hills blocking signals. You have to row ashore, a practical as well as byelaw rule, there's a stone pier to land dinghies. For many decades a series of old buildings tied down with wire ropes were the military accommodation, and the pub (Puff Inn) was once open to the public, until someone came out and walked over the stone wall breaking a leg and requiring evacuation. Now there are new buildings that look less out of place. Some of the original houses are restored and the SNH people use those. The Sound of Harris is a common departure point, from where its 42M due west to Village Bay. If there's any SE wind predicted, don't go. Its a long sail back in a gale! There are leading lights into Village Bay, only visible the last few miles, but a useful guide. As said above Glen Bay is a last resort alternative anchorage, but its deep quickly and exposed to the N. Tying a rope ashore is a common practice, with anchor out in the deep, allowing the boat to lie closer inshore. Circumnavigation is good, though there are some poorly charted parts. Its possible but tricky to go between Soay and Hirta. A diversion to Boreray and the stacs is a great experience. There are places where you can sail less than a boats length off shore while being bombed by the thousands of Gannets nesting there. The CCC sailing Directions book "Outer Hebrides" (3rd edition) devotes 2 pages to going to St Kilda.

 

[new tom]

Eric the Viking was on St. Kilda—a beautiful video

 

[The Q]

Read "Atlantic Fury" by Hammond Innes. That'll give you an idea of how horrible it can be.

Oh i know all about Atlantic fury, 40 miles to the east living in a 3 story, concrete panelled and steel framed barrack block during a storm , the building was swaying so much the water was sloshing in the toilets.

The Radar I worked on was secured to the ground by concreted in steel hawsers an inch and a half thick... It moved and broke the waveguide from transmitter to aerial.