Once out of the shelter of Eilean Flodigarry, it was clear that the swell still had plenty of power in it.
I gave the reefs of Sgeir na Eireann a wide berth.
The cliffs are particularly fine along the stretch from Eilean Flodigarry to Port Gobhlaig.
I really like this formation where the lower strata seems to burst out from beneath the more chaotic rocks above before dropping into the sea like a waterfall.
This whole stretch is riddled with caves but on this occasion the rolling swell made it just a little too hazardous to explore them.
A previous visit with light westerly winds was ideal for cave exploration. Some of them are very deep. I reversed some distance into one narrow slot but ‘bottled it’ well before the end. I could hear waves breaking on rocks a long, long way behind me in the total darkness.
Looking back south towards Staffin.
There is a fine little arch near Stac Buidhe but the larger swells were doing very unpleasant things when they met in the middle so I saved it for the return journey. I always enjoy ‘there and back’ trips on the sea. They save the hassle of arranging car shuttles and the weather and tide are likely to be different on the return so you get two trips for the price of one.
Beyond Port Gobhlaig the views behind open out to include the dramatic Quiraing at the north end of the Trotternish hills.
Once round Rubha na h-Aiseig there are more cliffs and stacks to admire. There were many gannets fishing close inshore here.
I planned to paddle just round the headland of Rubha Hunish at Skye’s northern tip and on as far as Loch Hunish before turning round and heading out to Eilean Trodday for lunch. This worked well enough on a mid sized tide using eddies and the slower moving water immediately off the headland although there was a little clapotis close inshore. This is approaching the race from the east.
A little further out things looked a bit more lively for those who enjoy that sort of thing.
If it’s too rough for paddling, there is a nice little walk from near Duntulm Castle out to the headland which has fine views towards the Western Isles and a good chance of seeing whales. On this occasion a few years ago I watched two minke whales and a basking shark feeding in the race.
After some hard work across the tidal flow west of Eilean Trodday I landed on the rocky south shore for lunch.
My lunch spot wasn’t lacking in views. This picture looking back across to the Skye ‘mainland’ sort of sums up the north of the island for me; a scattering of whitewashed houses dwarfed by the scale of a landscape which constantly changes in appearance as the cloud shadows race across the land.
Looking west towards the little cluster of islands around Lord Macdonald’s Table.
The north and east sides of Eilean Trodday are smaller in scale than the nearby Skye coast, but are well worth a look.
On my return to Staffin the swell had dropped off somewhat and I was able to paddle through the arch I’d passed earlier.
I had a long look at the cave entrances watching the swell running in. This cave is my favourite, with multiple tunnels and exits. I had almost made up my mind to go in when a particularly large set of swells rolled in. The resultant explosion of white water reached the roof of the cave; hard to believe given how calm it looks in the picture. I decided to wait till another day.
The weather played a last cruel trick on me. After a couple of weeks on northerly winds, a stiff southerly breeze sprang up for the final few kilometres back south to Staffin.
Andrea Collins
