Sandwood Bay and sea fishing on Monday

With a fierce forecast at summit level on Monday we turned our sights from the mountains to a coastal hike along the wild and remote cliffs to Sandwood Bay. The teams set off from Sheigra, the most northerly settlement on the west coast of mainland Scotland. A stunning yomp to the remote beach at Sandwood Bay. Its name is derived from the Viking ‘Sandvatn’ or ‘sandwater’ and it is widely thought that longboats were hauled up on the beach and over the freshwater loch beyond. One of the first Viking incursions on the mainland.

The shifting dunes as Sandwood hold the wreck of a spitfire that crashed there in 1941, occasionally exposed by the movement of sand, but more often obscured.

It is always a shame (and rare) for us not to have the weather window for a mountain summit but the rise and fall of the clifftops provides a good challenge in lieu of better conditions in the hills.

The final two teams went sea fishing on Monday evening to catch mackerel for survival island. The Reds and Blues were out fishing on Sunday and Monday was the turn of the Greens and Yellows. There is a real bounty from the sea at this time of year and we didn’t have to wait long for the girls and boys to start reeling in their catch.