This was a weekend of fantastic sailing, breathtaking scenery, superb hospitality and a near grounding of the ship! The incident occurred in the early hours of Friday morning as the ship was making its way south of Mallaig. The wind had been good but had then died leaving the crew with a long row. The weather was alternating between dry spells (and even the occasional glimpse of sun) and torrential rain. This made rowing pretty unpleasant. If you wear all your rain gear you overheat and get soaked in sweat. If you don’t you get drenched and then freeze when you stop rowing. As if that wasn’t bad enough, gripping the wet oars is particularly painful and the next morning there were quite a few impressive blisters.
After 4-5 hours rowing, the wind picked up and the order was given for the oars to be taken in and the sail raised. It was now midnight and in the heavy rain it was pitch black. As the sail was being raised a rope got caught delaying the manoeuvre. Without oars or sail the ship was at the mercy of the currents and these were pushing it towards the shore. In the dark it was hard to tell how close they were, but when the steersman shone a torch you could see the rocks just a few tens of metres away. After a few tense minutes the ropes were untangled and the sail could be raised, but now the wind had died completely. The ship was still drifting towards the land and you could now hear the waves crashing on the rocks nearby. 'It was quite dramatic', says Louise. 'I don’t think I’ve ever been so close to rocks on the Sea Stallion before.' The only option was to get the oars out and row out of trouble. This is one of the great advantages of the Viking longship. With so many people on board and so many oars it can row itself out of most situations, where a pure sailing ship would be in great danger.
The Knoydart camp
The crew were able to sail the rest of the way to their destination, Inverie in the Knoydart peninsula, where they arrived at about 2am. Amazingly, despite the time and the weather, there was a crowd of local people there to welcome them. Waving pitchforks and axes in their hands they were quite a fearsome sight, though of course it was all in good humour. Unfortunately, the Sea Stallion crew – wet and exhausted – didn’t have the energy to join in the party and must have seemed like party-poopers. The crew set up their tents near a beach and fell into a very deep sleep.
Friday was a chance to rest from the previous night's exertions. Knoydart is an extraordinary place. It’s cut off from the UK road system and can only be reached by boat or a long hike. It’s a beautiful, unspoilt area with a unique character. Unfortunately the torrential rain continued putting a damper on any plans to explore the nearby mountains. More appealing was the local pub, which claimed to be the most remote on the UK mainland. The crew made up for their lack of spirit the night before and enjoyed the folk music jam session that started up that evening.
'Rain in Knoydart
The crew were able to sail the rest of the way to their destination, Inverie in the Knoydart peninsula, where they arrived at about 2am. Amazingly, despite the time and the weather, there was a crowd of local people there to welcome them. Waving pitchforks and axes in their hands they were quite a fearsome sight, though of course it was all in good humour. Unfortunately, the 'Sea Stallion' crew – wet and exhausted – didn’t have the energy to join in the party and must have seemed like party-poopers. The crew set up their tents near a beach and fell into a very deep sleep.
Saturday we were off again with a good westerly wind. The sailing and scenery were spectacular. As we moved south we left the shelter of Skye and hit larger swells coming off the Atlantic, but the ship handled them with ease. For Glenn this was as good as it gets. Passing places like Rhum and Eigg that have a strong link to his family history and doing it in longship was a dream come true for him.
The camp fire at Rahoy
That evenings destination was a sheltered inlet in Rahoy Here we were the guests of the local landowner who’d given permission to camp on his land. Apart from a pile of firewood he’d generously supplied, there was nothing here – real wild camping. The crew enjoyed a huge feast cooked on the fire and stayed up late in the night singing rowdy songs. The mood was exuberant – everyone had been energised by the great days sailing and by the perfect surroundings. A small tent was set up as a sauna using hot rocks from the fire. The braver crew members, with Dylan one of the first, built up a good sweat in the sauna test before diving naked into the sea. It was impossible to tell whether the yells coming from the water were of pleasure or pain.
Today, Sunday, has been another day of great sailing with a following wind. The ship reached almost 12 knots at one point. We’ve now arrived at Jura where we’re hoping to camp again. The sun was shining much of the day today and it’s a beautiful evening. It seems as though the Sea Stallion’s luck really has turned.
