On the Shiants

As is the case with most people, the first time I saw the Shiants was a tempting, long distance view of them from the Uig to Tarbert ferry. The islands lie a dozen mile north of the ferry route, and their profile from the ferry is nearly as dramatic as St Kilda's.

My first vision of the Shiants from the ferry was in 1990. At the time I thought there was no way I'd ever set foot on them. But, as it turned out, the Shiants are a regular stop on cruises around the Outer Hebrides. And so I was finally able to go there in 2002. I thought, at the time, I'd never return. And so I did the most exciting thing I could think of, and made the steep climb to the top of Garbh Eilean from the isthmus between it and Eilean Tighe. When time came to leave I made the scary descent back to the isthmus, and with only 10 minutes left paid a quick visit to the house on Eilean Tighe. 

Although I'd explored much of Garbh Eilean, I regretted not having spent much time on Eilean Tighe. But that regret is now long forgotten. Nearly every cruise I've taken since 2002 has paid a visit to the Shiants, and so I've had many leisurely strolls around Eilean Tighe. Here are a few photos from a visit in 2006 that I took aboard MV Chalice.

The isthmus between Eilean Tighe and Garbh Eilean

Iron Age farmstead at left

Carna - Loch Sunart - and the Lord of the Isles

Let me introduce you to the island of Carna, in Loch Sunart, with the following passage from Haswell-Smith's The Scottish Islands:

...the west side of Carna is steep and unwelcoming. Wet, slippery and boggy with abrupt rocky slopes covered in a profusion of flag irises, tufts of spagnum moss, bracken, grass and scrub birch.

How I wish I'd read this before my first visit to Carna. It was back in the spring of 2006, and I was on the boat Chalice. After anchoring in Loch Sunart, between Carna and Oronsay, most of the passengers were set ashore on Oronsay, but I asked to be dropped on Carna. And so the skipper, Chris Jackson, set me ashore on the west side of the island.

It was indeed unwelcoming terrain; steep, and covered with thick vegetation that hid treacherous holes in the ground. It was a tiring and slow slog to reach the high ground above the shore. But it was worth it. From up top I had panoramic views over Loch Sunart, Morvern, and Ardnamurchan. 

That was my first and, to date, only visit to Carna; however, my first 'encounter' with the island was in the early 90s, when I read Nigel Tranter's The Lord of the Isles (1983). The novel starts with a battle in Loch Sunart between Somerled (the Lord of the Isles), with his fleet of boats manned by army of Irish Gallowglasses (mercenaries), and Norsemen, who were occupying the nearby mainland. 

Somerled takes his fleet into the lagoon called Loch na Droma Buide, between Oronsay and the mainland (still a popular anchorage), and beaches his ships on the tidal island of Oronsay. At low tide his army marches across to the mainland and, with Carna dominating the skyline to the west, they proceed to Kinlochaline via the shores of Loch Teacuis, Loch Doire nan Mart and Loch Arienas. Somerled then proceeds to slaughter the Norsemen living in the Kinlochaline area, capturing some of their longships, and using those ships to make a raid into the Firth of Lorne to rout out more of the Norsemen.   

It was the memory of that exciting opening to Tranter's wonderful book, a book that tells the story of how the Lord of the Isles solidified his hold over the west of Scotland, that led me to ask to be set ashore on Carna. And I wanted to climb to the top to obtain a view over the terrain described in the opening sequence of Lord of the Isles.

From the highlands of Carna I could see down to Dailachreagain, Carna's main settlement area. Aside from not having much time, I was also too tired to walk down there and back. So I found a place to sit, enjoyed the view for a while, and then made my way slowly back down to the western shore.

Someday I hope to stay on Carna, as there is a holiday cottage for let (you can just see its roof to the left in the second photo). If you ever visit learn from my mistake, and go ashore on the east side. Below are a few photos from that all-too-short visit to Carna.

Looking north from the Carna highlands

Settlement site (Dailachreagain) - Carna

Atop Carna looking west up Loch Sunart - Eilean nan Eildean to the left, Oronsay to the right

Looking west up Loch Sunart - 2

MV Chalice

I have only sailed once on MV Chalice. She was the ship that Northern Light Charters started operating with in 1995 (see this link).  Something I did not know when I sailed on her in 2006 was that her hull was concrete, or more correctly "ferocrete'. I first saw her in 2002 during a trip on MV Poplar Diver to North Rona. I vividly recall that event. Our paths crossed at a point in the Minch, and I saw the skipper (and owner) of Chalice, Mark Henrys, standing high atop the Chalice wheelhouse on the lookout for a minke whale as the ship rolled in the  heavy sea.

Four years later, in 2006, I booked myself on a Chalice cruise with skipper Chris Jackson. Below are a few photos from that trip. I last saw Chalice in 2008 when she was sold off. The 'Chalice Experience' attracted many followers, and there was much disappointment when she was sold. Every evening on a Chalice trip the skipper would recap the day's events, and the course that had been sailed, on a large nautical chart of the Hebrides. You can see an example of this in photo 6 where the course of the cruise is marked in red on the chart (British Isles , Scotland West Coast, Number 2635).  Good memories.

In fact, when I left the boat in Oban after that cruise in 2006, I went into Nancy Black chandlers in Oban and bought chart 2635. I rolled it up and hand carried it to the airport, where I carefully stowed it in the overhead bin of the 747 that took me home from the UK. Once home I had the chart framed and covered with a clear plastic sheet just as they'd done on Chalice, where I can write on it using dry-erase markers. I've used that chart to plan every Hebridean trip I've made since then, and I also used it to lay out the chapter sequences in the two books.

Chalice anchored at the Shiants - 2006

Chalice anchored in Ardtornish Bay - 2006

Ardtornish Castle - visited on Chalice cruise in 2006

The only window seat  - Ardtornish Castle

A regular on Chalice, and my room mate in 2006 - magician Archie Smith at Ardtornish

Nautical chart 2635 of the Hebrides showing the route of the cruise

Chalice motoring into Oban - 2008

Skipper Chris Jackson on Chalice the last time I saw her in 2008 

On Chalice in 2006 - taken by Chris Jackson

UPDATE OCTOBER 23, 2021: In October of 2020 Chris Hillman spotted Chalice moored near Dartmouth, 400 miles from where I last saw her in Oban. She looks a bit neglected, but it's good to see she's still afloat. (Photo courtesy of Chris Hillman.)

UPDATE MARCH 18, 2022: I was recently sent this photo of Chalice under restoration. It's good to see her getting some much-needed love.

Drochaid Scalpaigh - Scalpay Bridge

This is the 1000-foot-long Scalpay Bridge, which opened in 1997. The first photo was taken from MV Chalice on a Hebridean cruise I took in 2006. We motored under the bridge on our way to find an anchorage south of Tarbert (Harris).

As we passed under the bridge I noticed this group of young people fishing off the base of the Scalpay end of the bridge. I promised myself that someday I'd visit that spot.

It took me seven years to make good on that promise. In June of 2013 I spent five nights on Scalpay. On the evening of one of those days I put a can of beer and a bag of crisps in my pack, wandered over to the north end of the island, and then descended the grassy hillside below the bridge. 

At the base of the bridge I took a seat on the spot where I had seen those folks fishing seven years before. I cracked open the beer, ripped open the bag of crisps, and then enjoyed them as I listened to the bridge sing. It was windy, and the bridge acted like the string of a bass; a low frequency groan that came and went with the wind. I sat there for an hour, and then made my way back to the B&B (Dail na Mara). I tend to overuse the term 'memorable', but it was indeed a memorable evening.