On an island with or without ewes
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OUT AND ABOUT WITH RALPH: Getting to remote parts is all part of the attraction of taking to the water
Perhaps the best thing about having some experience at sea-kayaking is the ability to reach places like Eilean nan Ron and the neighbouring small islands.
These places are completely inaccessible to most people, there are no organised boat trips and landing is difficult.
All you need is a good day, with little wind and swell. Too often I’ve been out there in tougher conditions on some training course, too often there has been a big swell and I have memories of giving it everything I’d got to make progress against a force six or seven.
But the short crossing from Skerray to Eilean nan Ron is easy on a calm day, then it’s also easy to carry on round the north of the island under the cliffs, exploring some spectacular natural arches and caves with just a gentle rolling swell washing in.
The low island to the west, Eilean Iosal, is rarely visited, separated from the main island by a deep channel which only clears at low tide.
A long inlet from the north with a stony beach gives a landing spot, or at low tide you can pull the boat up onto barnacle-covered rocks to the south. A small flock of wild sheep roams free, they keep the grass short and supplement their diet with seaweed.
Headlands give dramatic views of deep geos and high cliffs with views south down the Kyle of Tongue to the mountains, and across to the even more inaccessible islet of Meall Thailm. This has a tantalising grassy summit above high cliffs and is reachable, possibly, by a difficult landing then a scramble over two rock bridges and a deep gully.
I’ve never attempted it. A colony of cormorants can be seen nesting on rocky slopes below the summit.
There’s a fine bay of rock stacks to the south-west of Eilean nan Ron, you carry on round the south of the island in the sunshine to a narrow channel which then leads through a natural rock arch to the old harbour.
It’s a steep awkward scramble up from here, former steps have been destroyed by storms, so it’s better to land on a shingle beach just to the south or to the north, where broken slopes give slightly easier access. You need to be reasonably fit and agile to get onto the island.
Two hours is nowhere near enough time to explore but I peeped in a few of the ruined houses which were abandoned in the 1930s. Windows and doors have gone but the fine stonework and slate roofs are mostly still in good shape. On a fine day with the little mottled sheep grazing around the old houses the island is an idyllic place.
I always climb to the summit for the 360-degree views of sea, loch, island and mountain and never miss looking down into a strange deep cleft just east of the old village.
In a cliff-rimmed basin lies the little freshwater Am Mol Lochan and a bigger sea-inlet you can reach from the sea via a fine arch – which the wind can really funnel though. There seems to be no way down, but a cave leads through from the inlet just to the south, and there are even stepping stones to help if the loch is high.
Back on the sea it was just 20 minutes across to Neave Island, a place of dramatic cliffs, deep inlets, arches and a wonderful sandy beach. Many times I’ve found it too rough to get round the north of the island and even this time quite a big swell washed up the rocks.
I followed otter tracks across the beach and climbed up towards the highest point. There are no sheep on this island and the wild flowers are exceptional, especially later in the year. Already though there was pink and red thrift, white and red campion, yellow kidney vetch, blue squill, pink ragged robin and purple orchid.
The clifftops are very airy with crumbling edges but give the most dramatic views. It is strange to be in such a wild and unvisited spot so close to civilisation – long may this island remain off the tourist trail!
It is certainly a case of “so near but so far” for the tourists who look across from their campervans, indeed little more than five minutes' paddle from the beach through the narrow Caol Beag back to Skerray. I landed on the stones just a few yards from the car.
