sula sgeir

bikedaft

bikedaft

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the guga hunters of ness

bbc2 scotland tomorrow night (thursday) 9pm, looks good.

anyone been/pics/tales etc? or n rona?

(50nm N of butt of lewis)
 
Thanks

Sounds interesting, but not so sure of looking good, guga must be an aquired taste? Watching the trailer as they slid down the chute to the boat didn't stimulate my appetite much. It seems that on Lewis they are concerned that with dwindling numbers of hunters the tradition will die out.
Definitely on my must watch list as N. Rona is one of those places I suspect I will never get to now.
 
As a friend said to me:
"Once you've tasted Guga, you'll know what it's like to lick the car deck on the ferry"

I have only tried it once, and I was prepared for the worst so was quite pleasantly surprised. Had quite a nice texture, a little like duck (not at all like chicken as people often say). Nearly as salty as salt cod. Once the salt hit subsides you get a slight fishy/oily after-taste.
I didn't go back for seconds though.

Last year some friends of mine sailed an open lugsail boat, SY233 Jubilee, to Sula Sgeir. She was built in 1935 and originally was used to take the Guga hunters there and back. In 1947 she was the last boat to do the trip using solely sail power. It was quite symbolic to have the boat, in her 75th year, return to the rock.
 
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What's the anchorage on Sula Sgeir like? Reading Hamish Haswell-Smith it sounds as though it is very much a calm weather anchorage only. I'm still hoping to get Fairwinds to SS and North Rona some time before I'm too old for that sort of carry-on.

- W
 
webcraft said:
.
What's the anchorage on Sula Sgeir like? Reading Hamish Haswell-Smith it sounds as though it is very much a calm weather anchorage only. I'm still hoping to get Fairwinds to SS and North Rona some time before I'm too old for that sort of carry-on.

- W
Click to expand...

My understanding of it is that Sula geir has no actual anchorage. The guga hunters are dropped there by a trawler and picked up again two weeks later.
Historically, they would have landed using a small open boat which could be dragged up onto the rocks.

North Rona is supposed to have a reasonable occasional anchorage though.

Let me know if you're passing through this neck of the woods- would be nice to meet up with another Vega owner, there are only two of us up here.
 
lenseman said:
Both Sula Skerry and North Rona are on my list of places to see this year on my circumnavigation of the UK along with Sule Skerry, St Kilda and hopefully Rockall! :eek:

"I am a man upon the land,
I am a silkie on the sea,
And when I'm far and far frae land,
My home it is in Sule Skerrie."

:)
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I was talking to a Coastguard watch leader last night, mentioned that some time ago the safety of the guga hunters was in doubt so the RN sent out a helicopter- but they went to Sule Skerry instead of Sula Sgeir. Sure enough, they found a small rock in the sea, and no sign of any people, so they told the people of Ness that all the men had been lost.

Rockall is in just a different league. Even from Stornoway it's 275 miles away. That's a fair bit further than Shetland or even Faero. It's only a hundred miles short of the distance to Norway. So whilst I admire the ambition and the determination it would take to get there, I think I'd rather put the miles into going somewhere a little more interesting!

I admire the ambition, but to be honest I have no real desire to go out there myself. Even though I must live in one of the closest places in Britain to Rockall, it's still further away than Shetland or Faeroe. If I'm putting in that sort of milage I'd rather go somewhere a little more rewarding.
 
We watched with great interest with some of the 1950's footage showing my wife's grandparents and a very young aunt. It shows how different a culture the Western Isles has to the mainland and to a certain extent, some will find the subject matter unpalatable. It does show how hard a life people used to live. Maybe guga is no longer an essential part of the diet as it once was, but it is a tradition that should be allowed to continue. The gannet population certainly doesn't seem to be suffering as a result of the hunt and given its longevity, it is sustainable.

From a sailing point of view, Sula Sgeir doesn't look terribly attractive as a destination given the fantastic anchorages available else where in the Hebrides. However you would have to go and have a look as part of a trip to N Rona. Definitely on the list.
 
boomerangben said:
We watched with great interest with some of the 1950's footage showing my wife's grandparents and a very young aunt. It shows how different a culture the Western Isles has to the mainland and to a certain extent, some will find the subject matter unpalatable. It does show how hard a life people used to live.
Click to expand...

One of my favourite films is Michael Powell's 1937 The Edge of the World, filmed on Foula, but based on the evacuation of St Kilda. The BFI DVD includes the BBC's footage of Powell, John Laurie, and other members of the crew and cast revisiting the island in 1978.
 
Sgeir said:
One of my favourite films is Michael Powell's 1937 The Edge of the World, filmed on Foula, but based on the evacuation of St Kilda. The BFI DVD includes the BBC's footage of Powell, John Laurie, and other members of the crew and cast revisiting the island in 1978.
Click to expand...

great film! there is a book about the making of the film also. i read it while reading around st kilda, not expecting much of it, but was excellent; "Edge of the World: The Making of a Film" by michael powell. its great to see all the outside scenes (ie almost all of them!) as they detailed in the book what a difficult time they had to film them.
 
webcraft said:
.
What's the anchorage on Sula Sgeir like? Reading Hamish Haswell-Smith it sounds as though it is very much a calm weather anchorage only. I'm still hoping to get Fairwinds to SS and North Rona some time before I'm too old for that sort of carry-on.

- W
Click to expand...

as per rob whelton.

the filmakers chartered a yacht, and overnighted at n rona, getting up early to get to sula sgeir for first light. they mentioned an old mooring that they picked up at n rona, tho they kept a permanent anchor watch... good spell of good weather required
 
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