The sea area know as the ‘Minch’ seperates the Outer Hebrides from the Northwest Highlands and is used a sneaky ’short cut’ for large vessels transiting around the West Coast of Scotland, especially in rough weather.
So sea kayaker’s making the crossing of the Minch from Skye to Harris can expect to find vessels like the one above bearing down on them from time to time. A scary thought and I’ve certainly had a ‘close shave’ when making a crossing out to the Shiant Islands many years ago with a Russian vessel.
The Minch is considered a ‘high risk’ in terms of the likely impact of one of these large tankers going aground so the Coastguard have a large powerful tug stationed year round to escort vessels and respond in the event of any incidents.
I will be including in the guidebook a trip detailing the crossing from Northern Skye to Harris and also the crossing from Reiff in Assynt to the Isle of Lewis.
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