Ten days on Zuza to St Kilda - 8th June - we go aboard in Oban

 

We have never booked a holiday a year in advance before so the anticipation leading up to our sea trip on yacht Zuza was immense. We had arrived in Oban the night before and at the appointed hour (2.00pm) we wheeled all our luggage, far too much with cameras, a laptop, walking boots and Alan's, new to him, yachting trousers and jacket recently purchased from eBay, down the jetty and onto the boat.

The good ship Zuza is a Bermudan cutter rig ship built in 1998 as an expedition boat for the Royal Geographical Society. She is 22m long and weighs a  goodly 42 tonnes. When we were on her there were 3 crew and 8 guests who occupied two twin bunk cabins and two double en suite ones. I was too late to get a double cabin so we were in a twin. With a saloon and a covered wheel house she was perfect to take us all the way to St Kilda and then around some of the Hebrides.

Bear with me while I introduce everyone. Neil was the Captain, Erin the First Mate, and Grosia the chef. Neil was very laid back and Erin very enthusiastic and helpful. Grosia produced fantastic food as well as helping out on deck and we ended up coming home considerably fatter than when we had set out.

The guests were Giles and Coll, Rob and Jen, Caroline and Laura and Alan and myself.

The aim of the journey was to get to St Kilda where we were going to spend 3 nights anchored offshore. St Kilda is a group of rocky islands around 100 miles west into the Atlantic from Oban. It was continually inhabited until 1930 when the remaining population was evacuated to mainland Scotland due to their depleted numbers and the difficulty of living there. Now it is looked after by The National Trust for Scotland who have a few people staying there to warden the place and also to conduct scientific research. The military also have a presence and there are communication towers on the hill. There is no accommodation on the island for tourists. You can camp but it is very expensive and there are fast day boats that come in to bring tourists for a few hours. So to spend anytime there at all  you really need to be able to anchor offshore.

It is obviously too far in a sail boat to reach in one day so the plan was to first sail to Tobermory on Mull and then the next day to Lochmaddy on North Uist. From there we would make the final sail to St Kilda on the third day.

I said sail but this is an exaggeration. Scotland was having a mini heat wave and the sea sat like lead. The clouds were cirrus and the weather was was set to continue. In order to get to Tobermory any time soon we were going to have to motor.

After introductions and safety rules we set off, taking up the anchor and bringing the fenders on board. We were told we could help sail the ship if we wanted but it was not obligatory. As there were so many keen to try I tended to stick to photography. We passed big ships, small ships, fish farms and endless hills looking blue in the heat haze until we finally saw the pretty coloured houses of Tobermory coming closer.

We pulled up to the jetty, not easy with 75ft of boat, and tied up. Grosia did a good job of jumping on land to take the ropes to secure us, although usually the harbour master was on hand to help out.

As soon as the Zuza was secure we all went into the town in search of a beer. We found a hotel selling exceedingly expensive ales, it was the same all over the islands. Some of the locals seemed to have washed up there in the 70's!

We had a wonderful meal in the saloon and then went out again for a quick walk as the sun was going down and the midges were coming out. My first night on board Zuza was rather sleeples,s but I made up for it as subsequentially I slept like a dog every night.

The Captain's plan for the day's sail