One popular destination with crews sailing round the Outer Hebrides is the outlying islands of The Shiants (Na H-Eileanan Mora).
Consisting of two islands, islets and outlying rocks and known for their wild coast, fine arches and spectacular basalt formations with pillars or stacks of over 150m tall, surrounded by tide rips, the Shiants attract visitors from across the world.
Known as the Enchanted Isles, the Shiants consist of the isthmus-linked islands Garbh Eilean (Rough Island) and Eilean an Tagh (House Island) with Eilean Mhuire (Mary’s Island) to the east.
Sheep are brought over from Scalpay to graze but the area is usually uninhabited and as such no facilities are available here. Wild anchorage is available weather dependent,
Wildlife on the Shiants
Many visitors choose to sail to these uninhabited Scottish islands when visiting the Outer Hebrides in order to view the wonderful wildlife.
The precipitous cliffs on the Shiant islands provide nesting for seabirds including guillemots, razorbills, gulls and one of the biggest puffin nesting colonies in Britain – making this a favourite spot for bird watching in the Western Isles. In summer there are hundreds of thousands of seabirds.
Common seals breed on the Shiants, basking shark, dolphin, porpoise, blue shark and Minke whale can also be seen. The Shiants are also home to the descendents of a number ships rats that swam ashore here after a wreck, which now form a rare and protected colony of black rats.
Shiants’ Myths and Traditional Stories
Crews sailing to the Shiants may wish to take heed of traditional tales that tell of the menacing Blue Men of the Minch. Said to live in underwater caves in the Sound of the Shiants, these mermen prey on sailors and test them with tricky questions.
Ian Stephen, sailor, storyteller and poet, from Lewis recounts the haunting story of Ailein Duinn, of two lovers meeting on the pebbly beach on the Shiants.
Sailing Advice: Eddies and Overfalls of the Shiant Isles
With a haunting history of shipwrecks and the myths of the Blue Men of the Minch, visitors are wise to choose settled weather and be aware of the eddies and heavy overfalls that can occur around the islands.
The streams are strongly affected by the wind especially at neaps and particularly when strong NE winds interact with NE going tidal stream.
