The Return of the Vatersay Raiders
After Saturday night camping at the lovely Roseview site just outside Oban Ian, Clare, Dave T and Tim met up with David Grieve and Gordon at the ferry terminal for crossing around midday Sunday. Boats off roofs and loaded, cars parked and Sea Kayak Oban briefly visited to pick up a new deck, we boarded the ferry – at which point Ian’s trolley buckled, maintaining his 100% record of brand-new-trolley destruction on Hebridean trips. Whilst you might resent having to immediately carry his boat, you might also wish to stay close if you were running low on food later.
A lengthy but pleasant cruise along the dotted line between Oban and Barra, island-spotting as we went and anticipating views of the Outer Hebrides, ended when we disembarked at Castlebay, meeting Anne, and headed south with the wind towards the north coast of Vatersay to explore campsite options. Freshening winds meant we decided against an otherwise potentially great site on this coast, to skirt through the flooded beaches and head for the vast expanse of Vatersay Bay, finally camping on the machair above the dunes and remarkably close to the Vatersay Community Café, situated at the beginning of the Hebridean Way and possessing all-night toilets.
It was tough next morning; late rising and heading for the aforementioned Café. Coffee, vast amounts of outstanding cake and many conflicting weather forecasts later, we took the decision to head north to the eastern coast of Barra, but not before we’d taken a walk across the dunes to the western beach of Traigh Siar and its monument to the wreck of the Annie Jane in 1853 with the loss of 350 emigrant lives. The beach-based cattle herd – complete with himself – watched as we reloaded and paddled out between the islets of Uineasan and Snuasamul and across the sound to Rubha Charnain, following the coast to Orasaigh (Gaelic for ‘tidal island’ – a recurrent name in the area.)
After exploration of the small island and a snug night, we woke on Tuesday to changed winds (again) and made a late group decision to head south (again), rather than continue as planned to the islands and skerries around Caolas Healasaigh, which would have been testing given the conditions. We hugged the coast to return to Castlebay and hunted for a suitable campsite to no avail; once again we headed south, this time to the large beach beside Eilean Carragraich, which provided a fabulous base for the next three nights. Popular with both residents and sheep, the beach was never dull with walkers, swimmers, runners, dogs and consequently unhappy sheep who usually appeared round the tents early in the morning to noisily vent their displeasure, amongst other things.
Anne was up very early on Wednesday to walk round to Castlebay and collect her car, subsequently taking Ian and Gordon back there on what could be described as a ‘shopping spree’. While Anne and Ian booked evening meals in the Castlebay Hotel, Gordon sought a replacement for his no-longer-waterproof jacket. Vainly, Anne and Ian looked out for Gordon but could not identify him until he appeared, gloriously clad in a full-on reflective yellow jacket – quite possibly the only waterproof left on sale on Barra, but which could also double as a means of getting a paid shift on a CalMac ferry without further ID. Whilst less eminently kayak-stuffable, this item of clothing gave rise to many comments from all parties over the next period.
Thursday morning yet again disagreed with the forecast. What was supposed to be potentially the worst day of the week was benign, so we left the beach above with light boats and crossed Vatersay Bay (with a possible minke whale sighting) to land on Sandray at another superb beach at Bagh Ban. We rock-hopped the northern coast of Sandray and crossed Caolas Shanndraigh in increasing Atlantic swell to lunch at Bagh a’ Deas and then paddle past the ghost village of Eorasdail, which was still occupied until the 1970’s. Some great geos on the southern arm of Vatersay delayed us before we returned to our campsite and the welcoming sheep.
Anne left even earlier next morning to catch the ferry back to the mainland. For the rest of us, Friday was a (relatively) early start and decamp to paddle west, in easy weather, following the northern coast of Vatersay to the short causeway that has joined it to Barra since 1991. From there we headed into Castlebay, via the anchorage of Bagh Beag, to leave the boats at the ferry queue and set up camp on the foreshore. A beer in the pub and the booked meal in the hotel finished off the trip perfectly.
The earliest rise of the week 0600 allowed us to be at the ferry queue by 0700. Once on board, the full CalMac breakfast was enjoyed and Tim spent several hours discussing rudder profiles with Gordon as well as bending Ian’s trolley back into some kind of working shape. Always have an engineer with you on trips like these. Or take less food.
Thanks to David Grieve for organising and Anne, Clare, Dave, Gordon and Tim for being such good companions.
You can read about the original Vatersay Raiders here.