Extra Day in Sanda

[Kyle]We had intended to leave Sanda the next morning but one look at the weather forecast changed my mind. Sanda was pretty well protected. Our next intended anchorage at Carradale was not and would have been completely exposed so we decided to spend another day at the anchorage at Sanda.

Maryanne had a good book she was working on. I decided to take advantage of our extra time here by exploring the minor isles of the Sanda group. I set up the dinghy for sailing and set off to the various rocks to the East. Mostly, I just wanted to see what was there since that part of the island was not visible from our hike the day before. It turned out to be a lot of birds and rock. I turned and tacked back towards the main anchorage against a slight current in the strait between Sanda and the next biggest island, uninhabited Sheep Island. Well, not exactly uninhabited. There were lots of Kittiwakes and the shore was strewn with Cormorants and seals. I had about five seals watching me from the water everywhere I went. As I got close to the Sheep Island shore, the ones on land would get all vocal and fidgety. The ones in the water would start splashing around and breaching. Time to tack. I would go until the water was too shallow on the Sanda side and tack back. The poor seals. Because of the current, I was only getting about 100 feet further along the shore with every tack. Just as they thought they were safe, I would turn and come back.

I found a seal free spot on the rocky beach and landed on the island. The island is shaped roughly like a bowler hat, with a flattened dome of a center leading down a very steep slope to a shallow beach. After a bit of scary searching, I managed to find a route up to the top. Once I got up there, I found a pretty impenetrable mass of waist-high plants. As I searched back and forth for a way in, I must have come too close to some kittiwake nests because they started dive-bombing me. A couple of passes came close enough that I could hear the buzzing of the turbulence over their feathers. I never saw a nest and, fortunately, never stepped on an egg. I finally found what looked like goat path leading to the center and followed it in. In the middle of the island was a grassy meadow that was just littered with bird feathers. I walked further North toward a little dip in the grass when I saw a couple of goat heads pop up and look at me. I took another step and they all bolted into the ferns. I couldn’t see goats at all, just fern tops thrashing wildly. I went to the edge of the island and poked my head over the edge. As soon as I did, most of the Cormorants took off toward the sea. The seals regarded me very nervously and then decided not to take chances and headed into the water en masse. I have no idea why a bunch of 300lb seals would be afraid of a human 100 feet away up on a cliff but they were. Maryanne thinks it was probably more in response to the general agitation of the birds than anything else.


Kyle takes a tour of the uninhabited Sheep Island
By the time I scrambled back to the dinghy, almost all of several dozen seals had taken to the water. Once the ungainly creatures were in the water and were fast and graceful again, their fear turned into curiosity…or something else. They were all poking their heads out of the water in what I swear looked like disapproval. I felt like a guy who rooted for the wrong team in a bar and was being surrounded. The wind was completely gone so I stowed the sailing rig and rowed back to Footprint. About five of them followed me, apparently just to make sure I left, until I was among the other boats of the anchorage. Even though it was calm and beautiful, Maryanne and I spent the rest of the day preparing for the night’s predicted blow. We also did a bit of loafing as well.