Diaries

Friday September 29th 2000

Harvey phoned (as instructed) at 7.30am as we were expecting something special on the surf front... The surf had certainly arrived. Went surfing at the Golf Course Car Park, which was firing, with 6ft waves an light offshore breezes. It was a hard paddle out though (one that Harvey didn't make), with strong rips and some big set waves. Also went for a surf at the Lifeboat station later. It was smaller here and Dave, Adam, Harvey and Richard all had a successful surf in 3-4ft waves with offshore winds... Perfect. It doesn't get better than this, unfortunately in all the excitement I forgot to take any photos.

Thursday September 28th 2000

Surfed at the Lifeboat Station, Borth for a bit. Not too good. Andy was bobbling about on his New Move. Then went to the Golf Course Car Park, Borth and went windsurfing. I was on my Axxis 278 with a 6.5m sail. Also out were Adam, Andy and Simon who was on a 5m sail and a wave board. The sea was particularly rough, resulting in a mad session. I was overpowered and struggling to keep my board on the water. Did some good jumps though. Adam got 'trashed worse than ever before'.

Hebrides 2000.

Select this link for photos of the Outer Hebrides.

Outer Hebrides 2000

Tuesday September 19th 2000

Awoke to discover that all hell had broken loose. From our campsite on the hill I could see the tops of HUGE waves breaking around the headland at Port Nis, and the spray from monster swell along the East coast. We drove toEoropie to discover massive, messy waves.... Far too out of control for surfing. So, we headed south, with the odd glimpse of waves firing at 10-15 ft on the reefs and points of the west coast of Lewis... Far too big for me (and anyone else so it seemed).
We therefore headed to Stornoway and the protected beach Mealabost on the isthmus between Stornoway and the Eye peninsular. Even here the waves were 4 ft and smashing against the sea wall
So, still in search of suitable conditions we drove north along the east coast of lewis to Tolsta. The S-SE winds were pretty much onshore here, no no joy as far as surfing was concerned. I eventually went windsurfing at Traigh Chuil. Unfortunately the wind dropped as I rigged and despite rigging bigger sails and fitting larger fins, there was never really enough for a decent session... I did have a few good runs though. We then went for lunch in a nearby pottery and drove back across the island to Cliff where the surf was too big and messy.

Monday Septemebr 18th 2000

We had a 'cultural' day today. First we visited the>standing stones at Calanais, then the remains of the impressive broch at Dun Carloway. We then visited a few beaches on the NW coast of Lewis, including Dhail Mor and Dhail Beag, with lunch at the Copper Kettle in Dhail Beag. We also looked at the loch Mor Bharabhais which looked good for flat water blasting, but I was unsure of its depth. We then continued north to Eoropie where the surf was 3ft and blown out, so we walked along the beach before visiting the Butt of Lewis, Port Nis and camped at Sgiogoarstaigh.

Sunday September 17th 2000

The tide was too high to surf at Cliff in the morning, so we went for a walk along the beach at Traigh Na Bereigh and then to Uig sands for a wlk in the dunes. We then drove back to Cliff where I flew my 4.9m Blade whilst waiting for the tide to drop. I then surfed at cliff with some surfers from Newcastle (Gary, Gavin and Budgie). The surf was 4-5ft, clean, with offshore winds and some barelling right-handers.... Mmmm Nice!
In the evening we drove to the island of Great Bernera and the beach at Tolstadh where we visited the Iron Age Remains and reconstruction and watched a surreal sunset that looked more like a computer genrerated image. We camped at Bostadh

Saturday September 16th 2000

First we drove to Scarasta, where there was a swell, but the tide was too high for it to be surfable. We walked along the long sandy beach anyway, before driving back across the hills of South Harris, through Tarbert and on across the impressive hills of North Harris, past the highest hill 'Clisham' and the large Loch Seaforth. We then drove towards the west of Lewis to theabsolutely gorgeous beach of Traigh Na Bereigh. Unfortunately there was no surf or wind, just rain. Despite the weather, this was the nicest part of harris and Lewis so far, but as these islands are so much larger than the Uists, this area is miles from anywhere. In my opinion, the Uists are nicer and due to their smaller size have that 'island' feel, and of course the ability to check all the areas of the island for suitable surf/wind conditions every day. Lewis and Harris are just too big to be able to do this.
We then drove on the the huge tidal inlet of Uig Sands. After walking acrros the sands and lazing around onthe dunes, we drive back towards Valtos and Traigh Na Bereigh, stopping at Cliff where the surf was 4 ft on the sets with a cross-offshore wind. I went surfing... Nice steep, well formed powerful waves, but it was kind of spooky on my own, surrounded by the high cliffs in grey misty conditions, miles from anywhere. I caught some nice right-handers off the rocks at the North end of the bay though... We then camped at Cliff that night.

Friday September 15th 2000

We stayed on Berneray for the morning. It was a hot and sunny day so we extened our camp with a washing line to dry all the clothes we washed yesterday. We had a visit from a cat that tried to stowaway on the van... We also had an incident with a bumblebee!!. A lovely chilled, relaxed morning pottering around on a gorgeous island in lovely weather overlooking the Sound of Harris.
We then drove to Loch Bhrusda and walked from there to the beach on the NW coast of the island. We walked along the beach and then up Beinn Shleibhe for some lovely views of the whole island of Berneray and its neighbours.
We then caught the ferry (Loch Bhrusda) to Harris, from Otterhish to Leverburgh. Its a cool crossing, with the ferry weaving in and out of the islands in the Sound of Harris. We saw lots of gannets, lapwings, cormorants, shags and other seabirds, along with seals. Once on Harris we drove from Leverurgh to Tarbert, stopping briefly to look at the 'Castaways' on Taransay, the surf at Scarasta and the beaches of Horgabost and Seilebost. We had dinner at the Harris Hotel and then drove back over the hills of South Harris to camp at the beach of Horgabost. Although there were toilets at this beach, they weren't quite up to the standard of those on Berneray and the overall feel of the island wasn't as welcoming as the Uists.

Thursday September 14th 2000

Awoke to rain, no surf and little wind, so we drove across the causeway from Port Nan Long to the island of Berneray (which became our favourite island in the chain). The short drive to Berneray from Hosta along the B893 provided beautiful views over the beach of Traigh Lingeigh to the islands of Lingeigh and Boreray. We then drove through Berneray to the beach at Beasdaire and then to Loch Bhrusda and across to the long white sandy beach on the west coast. We parked miles from anywhere behind the west coast dunes near a burial ground and walked in the pouring rain to the beach and around the SW tip of Berneray. Despite the weather, there were still stunning views across to the beaches of North Uist. I also found a plastic box on one of the steep dunes and tried with little success to slide down the dune in it.... Despite my lack of success, the spectacle of me sitting in a little box in the pouring rain in the middle of nowhere with all my waterproof gear on seemed to amuse Anna!
We then found some lovely luxurious shower and toilet facilities at the harbour in Loch A Bhaigh... Facilites in such pristine condition wouldn't last two minutes anywhere else.
We camped up at the beach at Beasdaire on the east coast of Berneray. The rain stopped provided perfect views out across the Sound of Harris with the islands of North Uist, Harris, Killegray and Skye all visible, along with numerous smaller islands/rocks within the Sound itself.... Berneray really is a lovely little island. The evening was topped of with a spectacular sunset.

Wednesday September 13th 2000

Awoke to a strengthening SE wind, but a rapidly falling tide at Vallay Strand. After breakfast drove over C83 to Benbecula. Stopped for supplies including diesel. There were no shortages of fuel here, despite the 'fuel crisis' elsewhere in Britain. The went to Loch Bee on South Uist. The wind was SSE at about 20 knots, so I went windsurfing all day on my F2 Axxis with a 5.4m sail. Loch Bee is an excellent location for flat water blasting and gybe practice. It's plenty large enough for some good reaches, but is nowhere deeper than chest depth and in most places only waist deep. It also has a nice smooth, flat hard packed sandy bottom... none of the mud that you would expect from a shallow lake.
Anna made soup for lunch, which was much needed to warm me up as I sat sheltering from the wind and rain. I continued sailing after lunch in a session which uncharacteristically for me I made 90% of my gybes, exciting about 50% of them on the plane.... Cool!! We then had crispy vegetable burgers and savoury rice for dinner... Mmm Mmmm Mmm.
All in a successful day. We went to the Wesford Inn on North Uist in the evening and met Stan and Donald (thats a story all to itself). Also found out some interesting bits of gossip about the locals I met on the islands during my last visit... I won't repeat them here though.
We then parked up in the dunes at Hosta.

Tuesday September 12th 2000

Breakfast at Baleshare, nice peaceful morning. Then decided to find some surf, so drove to Hosta on North Uist. Surf here was about 3ft. Wore my 5/3 suit with no boots, gloves etc., and wasn't at all cold. Surfed dropped a little as the tide went out. The seals seemed quite interested in my antics. Following the surf we drove to Lochmaddy for lunch, stopping briefly at Scolpaig tower, then drove the east coast of Vallay Strand and walked to the beach at Traigh Lar. No surf there, so stayed parked up at Vallay Strand and played with my 4.9m Blade whilst watching the tide come in. Hot humid day with sunshine later and a gorgeous evening watching the sunset over high tide at Vallay Strand.

Monday September 11th 2000

No surf at Tobha Mor, so drove first to Loch Ainort, then to Loch Bee. Not enough wind for windsurfing so went to Culla on Benbecula. Still no surf so went for a walk along the coast instead. Then went swimming in Lionceleat swimming pool and drove to Ceardach Ruadh on Baleshare. Cool campsite right on the beach with a lovely sunset looking out towards the Monarch Islands. Would have been perfect with a few feet of surf.

Sunday September 10th 2000

Cycled to Polchar standing stone and Inn and sat overlooking the sea to Barra. Hot and sunny. The drove to Tobha Mor, played with my 4.9m Blade on the grass and just 'chilled' in the evening sunshine.

Saturday September 9th 2000

Drove to Eologarry. Walked along beach at Saltainis, looking out to Fuday, Eriskay and South Uist. Then parked up at Traigh Mhor airfield waiting for the plane to land. Walked to Traigh Eais and back. A plane eventually arrived, but it wasn't really worth the wait. Drove to Castlebay and then to Vatersay. Went to Bagh Siar where the surf was 4ft but blown out. Also walked along the beautiful beach at Vatersay Bay. Dead flat water, sheltered bay with crystal clear waters and white sands... cool. Wind 18-20 knots WSW all day, mainly sunny.
Caught ferry from Castlebay to Lochboisdale. Nice easy crossing with a shower!. Camped west of Lochboisdale on the west coast of South Uist.

Friday September 8th 2000

Wandered around Oban, caught ferry to Castlebay, Barra via Lochboisdale. Rough crossing, but nice in the Sound of Mull. Left Oban at 14.50, arrived in Barra at 22.00. Camped at Baile Na Creige

Thursday September 7th 2000

Left Aberystwyth (via MacDonalds) at 1pm towards Oban. Journey OK. Got a bit 'lost' in Glasgow, which wasn't helped by major roadworks in the Clyde Tunnel. Stopped for an hour at Tarbet on the shore of Loch Lomond. Arrived in Oban at about 10pm.. Just in time to watch Big Brother.

Sunday September 3rd 2000

No wind, no surf, but a hot sunny day, so we (me, Anna, Janey and Steven) went snorkeling at Llanrhystud.

Saturday September 2nd 2000

Spent the afternoon at the Golf Course Car Park, Borth. Winds were very light, but there was a little bit of surf, so we played around in that. Janey and Steven were visiting, so they enjoyed the day on the beach too.

Friday September 1st 2000

Went windsurfing at the Golf Course Car Park, Borth. but there wasn't enough wind.