Midsummer adventure to St Kilda

FULL VOYAGE DESCRIPTION

Midsummer Voyage

Midsummer passage to St Kilda – discovering the beautiful Outer Hebrides on the way!

The unofficial capital of the West Highlands, Oban’s transport links make travel planning nice and straightforward, and there are some glorious landscapes to travel through en route to join the ship. We’d recommend arriving early to explore the town, perhaps visiting McCaig’s Folly with its stunning views across the bay, or nip into the distillery for a bottle to share with your fellow sailors.

Once on board you’ll enjoy a familiarisation from the crew before setting sail. It is only a few miles of open water before you are sailing in the Sound of Mull which has high mountains on either side and mostly flat water. 

Your destination, St Kilda, is an extraordinary island and inhabited until 29th August 1930 when the 36 islanders were evacuated to the mainland.

Any sailing voyage aiming to reach St Kilda will have to reach the Outer Hebrides first, so you have an island chain of staggering wild beauty to explore en route. These sailing voyages are adventurous expeditions leading to uninhabited islands, sparsely inhabited islands, tiny fishing villages, deep lochs and rugged cliffs that will be appealing to nature lovers and sailors alike.

St Kilda is a wonderful archipelago of islands and one of Scotland’s remotest treasures. It is a world heritage site 35 nautical miles west of Uist. Clues to the St Kilda way of life still remain, carefully maintained by the National Trust for Scotland.
There is a huge gannet colony and even more puffins. St Kilda is remote, you can feel the sense of isolation the past inhabitants lived with all their lives.

Why we love St Kilda

St Kilda as a Sailing Destination

Originally settled by humans between four and five thousand years ago, St Kilda’s distance from the rest of the Outer Hebrides allowed for the development of a unique style of self-sufficient island life, that remained much preserved until the archipelago’s eventual abandonment in 1930.

Tens of thousands of birds were caught every year, especially Auks, Northern Fulmars and Northern Gannets. For food they would make dangerous climbing expeditions to catch the birds and their eggs on the incredibly steep cliffs; especially on the island sea stacks of Boreray, Stack and Stack Armin.

One hundred and eighty people lived on the islands towards the end of the 17th century but they only had 16ft boats as transport. There was not enough timber to build their own larger craft so these tiny boats regularly crossed to the Outer Hebrides and on to the mainland – a passage of the eighty miles in an open boat.

In midsummer it barely gets dark in June and given clear skies and a soft breeze a night time sail to St Kilda is utterly magical.

Living History

100 year old Provident is a Brixham Sailing Trawler and spent the majority of her working life fishing out of her home port of Brixham. Brixham has been an important fishing port for hundreds of years, and it continues to be so today. 

Provident’s story is even older than she is – the Provident you see today is in fact a copy of an earlier trawler of the same name. The original Provident was stuck and sunk by a U Boat in 1915. Today’s Provident was one of the last sailing trawlers to be built (1924). By the mid 1920’s, the heyday of trawling under sail was quickly fading out in favour of more modern motor vessels. In contrast, 50 years prior (in the 1880’s) there were  over 3,000 sailing trawlers registered around the UK.

After her life as a sailing trawler came to an end, Provident became a private yacht in America for some years. More recently she was a she returned to Brixham to work as a Sail Training vessel with Trinity Sailing Trust. 

WINDS, WAVES & WEATHER

Mostly flat seas between the islands with some more exposed dashes or longer sails in open water to St Kilda and to the Outer Hebrides. Expect a real mixture of conditions, as things can change quickly, but the crew are incredibly knowledgeable and familiar with all the sheltered anchorages and hiding places around the islands. The itinerary is kept loose to make the most of the conditions at the time, and the focus is on enjoyment, rather than ticking off any particular destinations. 

A NOTE ON VOYAGE DESCRIPTIONS

On a sailing voyage we never use the word itinerary, as skippers will always be aiming for the best and safest sailing routes for the forecast. They are as keen as you to include some of the highlights described above, but when it comes to sailing, you have to go with Mother Nature, not fight her. The description provided is based on what we think might be possible, based on past trips, or prior experience, but nothing is guaranteed on a sailing voyage. As such, the scheduled joining ports, routes, activities and/or destinations may be altered. Due to the complexities of weather systems, this may be at very short notice. 

HANDS ON HOLIDAYS

Whether you are an experienced sailor or a complete beginner, the professional crew will train you to be guest crew from the moment you arrive, with the intention that everybody works together to sail the ship. The common thread to all Classic Sailing holidays is ‘Hands on’ participation on ships that use ropes, blocks and tackles and ‘people power’ to set sail. Handling cargo adds an extra dimension – building teamwork and communication skills and leaving you with a great sense of achievement.

SAILING STYLE & LIFE ON BOARD

We cater for a wide range of ages and physical abilities and how much you are expected to do varies a bit between vessels. See the vessel tab above which explains all about the ‘sailing style’ and what to expect in terms of hands on participation. There is a lot of information about day to day life, the ships facilities and accommodation on the vessel pages.

What to pack for a sailing holiday on Provident

What is Included:

• Bedding
• All meals and soft drinks aboard.
• All safety equipment, including lifejackets
• Fantastic sailing

What is Not Included:

• Travel to and from your voyage
• Personal travel insurance.
• Alcohol (although reasonably priced wine, beer and whisky will be available to purchase on board). Consumption of alcohol is always at the discretion of the skipper
• Waterproofs - If this is your first voyage good walking waterproofs will be fine. We only recommend buying sailing waterproofs if you are frequent sailors.
  • You will find exploring ashore in walking gear much better than struggling around in sailing kit!

What to Bring

• Enthusiasm!
• Waterproofs - see above.
• Your own towel.
• Hats for sun and cold weather.
• At least two sets of warm clothes - layers e.g. tracksuit bottoms, shirts, fleece jacket, wool jumpers, thick socks, and neck scarf. It can get cold at sea even in mid summer.
• Swim suit, towel, and suntan lotion.
• Flat shoes with a good grip e.g. trainers or sailing deck shoes. Sailing boots or wellies are also helpful.
• (An alterative to boots in summer is to bring another pair of flat shoes with a good grip in case the first pair get wet).
• All terrain type Sandals are great for dinghy trips ashore – but you do need shoes which protect your toes for sailing.
• Camera, binoculars, sketchbook, a relaxing read.
• Any medication, spare spectacles. Seasickness tablets or pressure-point wrist bands (talk to your pharmacist)
• Your own logbook if you'd like to keep track of your sea miles
• Tech chargers (USB sockets are available in all the cabins) and waterproof cases for anything valuable

N.B. BOATS HAVE LIMITED STORAGE SPACE SO PLEASE LIMIT YOURSELF TO ONE SOFT BAG OR RUCKSACK  (NOT SUITCASES)