Shillay and the Seals

An island I've not yet been able to get to is little Shillay in the Sound of Harris. I wanted to go there after reading Robert Atkinson's amazing book Shillay and the Seals (1980).  

Shillay and the Seals is a great book, especially for those, like myself, who like to visit, and camp on, Scottish islands. Along with his puppy Shilly (named after the island), Atkinson spent about a month on Shillay. His struggles against the elements, while watching the seals, makes for some absorbing reading. In addition to Shillay, the book describes trips to the Monachs, Heisker, and many of the smaller islands at the east end of the Sound of Harris. The closest I've been to Shillay is the island of Pabbay, and someday I hope to set foot (and camp) on little Shillay of the Seals.

Shillay seen from Pabbay

Shillay

Shillay of the Monach Isles

I have a vivid memory of small Shillay of the Monach Isles. During a sailing trip to St Kilda in 1999, we had to make a quick escape from Kilda due to an incoming gale. And so we left Kilda in the late afternoon, and then flew with the wind to the Monachs. It was getting dark when we arrived, and I watched as the skipper, Donald Wilke, used two marker cairns on a small skerry near Shillay to navigate to a safe anchorage between Shillay and Ceann Iar. It was my first time sailing in the twilight, and I was amazed by Donald's skilled seamanship, as he kept the cairns aligned against the darkening horizon while we sailed through a skerry-studded sea, After dropping anchor he could finally relax, and made us big steaming cups of hot chocolate. It was a sail, and a night, to remember, and we stayed on deck until the tall tower of the lighthouse on Shillay was no longer visible in the darkness to the west.

I promised myself then that someday I'd return to see the lighthouse on Shillay, and touch the navigation cairns that had guided us to safety. It took 14 years, but I did make good on that promise. Below are a few photos from a visit to Shillay made on Hjalmar Bjorge in 2013. The tide was low, and so I was able to wade from Shillay over to the skerry to touch the navigation cairns I'd seen so long ago (last photo).

Approaching Shillay (2013) - the nav-cairns can be seen to the left

The landing place on Shillay - ship's dog Seven (aka Fatty) leading the way

Looking back to the lighthouse from the skerry of the cairns

The lighthouse and the temporary light that operated until 2008

One of the navigation cairns - Hjalmar Bjorge in the background