wild off Barra
For many a year I've poured over a map of Barra - the southernmost island of the Outer Hebrides archipelago with the idea of joining up the archipelago by swimming between each of the islands. This summer, with a few friends, I swam some if it.
Once on Barra, after a long trip north, we phoned Donald, our boatman, and met him aboard the next morning headed and to Berneray Sound for our first crossing.
Donald brought us up close to Berneray to be greeted by the local seals. Tom checked the temperature at 10 degrees C - warmer than we expected - and we all decided to go skin. Tom wore his flowery pants, which put him off his stroke; and we quickly realised that even swimming on a slack tide (on a neap tide cycle) doesn't prevent you from having to work against the current. But the exhilaration of that first swim set us up for the rest - Mingulay to Pabbay, Sandray to Vatersay and on to Barra; Eriskay to Gighay, to Hellisay, to Lingay, to Fhada and back to Barra.