Crews sailing the Atlantic Coast of the Western Isles can explore a selection of the less well known, remote Atlantic islands lying off the west and north coast of Lewis.
SAILING TO NORTH RONA
The Isle of North Rona sits 44 miles north of the Butt of Lewis and 11 miles east of Sula Sgeir and is the closest neighbour to the Faroe Islands. More isolated even than St Kilda, North Rona is the most remote island in the British Isles to have ever been inhabited on a long term basis and is not included on many maps.
There is an 8th Century Celtic ruin, St Ronan's Chapel, named for another voyaging monk following St Columba. Together with Sula Sgeir, Rona forms the most remote and least visited National Nature Reserve in Britain with its breeding populations of grey seals and seabirds.
THE ISLAND OF SULA SGEIR
The traditional guga hunt takes place here each year. It is a tradition that was first recorded in the 16th century and still continues today. Lewismen from Ness traditionally have rowed or sailed out to Sula Sgeir in small craft, setting up a temporary home in stone bothies for about two weeks each year, to hunt the young gannets.
Ony 2000 are licenced annually and queues form on the harbour to buy the newly salted gannets. It is an aquired taste, and served with new potatoes and a glass of milk.
ROCKALL
A sailing icon, whose name is known to all seafarers, from as one of the sea areas in the shipping forecast, Rockall is a 60 foot high granite rock that has (in spite of its small size) a long history of ownership disputes, involving landings and flag raisings. Recent surveys by Marine Scotland recently discovered four new species of animals in the seas around Rockall.
ATLANTIC ISLAND WILDLIFE
The islands off the west and north of the main archipelago of the Outer Hebrides are a great place to enjoy some Western Isles wildlife watching. There are large nesting populations of Atlantic puffins, petrels, shags and kittiwakes and gannetries on these islands. Sailing off the Atlantic coast of the Outer Hebrides offers opportunities to spot Minke and pilot whales, as well as dolphins, which are commonly seen in the area.
