The first kayakers to St Kilda

Hamish Gow and his wife Anne were the first people to kayak to St Kilda in 1965, a truly incredible venture. They reached the island in a kayak, made from plywood and canvas, a voyage so extreme that no one attempted it again for some sixteen years.

The Gows paddled from Morar on the mainland to St Kilda - via Harris and North Uist, despite poor visibility, a high swell and difficulty finding Hirta. They first landed on the wrong island, going to Boreray when they should have gone to Hirta, so took a rest on Boreray and by around 2am seeing the outline of Hirta, set off again.

Around twenty people have since paddled out to the archipelago, which sits around 40 miles off the coast of North Uist. When visibility is poor, some have ‘followed the birds’ as they could still see the gannets - St Kilda being home to the world’s largest gannet colony.

The Gows later separated with Hamish continuing his travels by kayak across the Hebrides and the west coast with his film and photos leaving a vivid historical record of the time. He captured busy fishing villages and their people, as well as landscapes from the vantage point of his kayak. A film is available on Youtube showing clips from a live show at An Lanntair of some of Hamish Gow's slides called ‘Kayaks in Kodachrome'.

Contributed by Kayaker Mike Sullivan, of the Isle of Lewis, who was left some of Mr Gow’s personal archive following his death in 2016, aged 87.

More information on visiting the area can be found here.