St Hilda Sea Adventures News

30/06/2020 17:04

St Kilda and the Outer Hebrides

This time last year St Hilda was setting off on an 11 night cruise to explore the Outer Hebrides and the archipelago of St Kilda. Here are some wonderful pictures taken by guests Andrew Bridges and Lesley Corina during their Scottish adventure aboard ex-tall ship St Hilda.

16/06/2020 18:34

Dried Pelvetia Canaliculata (Channel wrack) - pic 1
Plocamium lyngbyanum (Lyngbye's cock's comb) - pic 2
Fucus Serratus (Serrated wrack) - pic 3
Semi-dried Fucus Spiralis (Spiraled wrack) - pic 4
Saccharina Latissima (Sugar Kelp) - pic 5

Seaweed Quiz

Here are the answers you have all been waiting for!

Dried Pelvetia Canaliculata (Channel wrack) - pic 1
Plocamium lyngbyanum (Lyngbye’s cock’s comb) - pic 2
Fucus Serratus (Serrated wrack) - pic 3
Semi-dried Fucus Spiralis (Spiraled wrack) - pic 4
Saccharina Latissima (Sugar Kelp) - pic 5We are not sure about the ‘plocamium lyngbyanum’ (the red seaweed)…. Feel free to correct us if we are wrong!

09/06/2020 11:33

Seaweed Quiz!

Spring continues to bring sunshine and warm gentle winds on the west coast of Scotland. It is a pity we are not at sea enjoying this wonderful weather. To idle away some lockdown time, here is a little quiz for our St Hilda Sea Adventures followers: can you name and identify the five, following, common seaweeds found on our local beach. Extra marks for the scientific names! Answers will be forthcoming in a few days time.

27/05/2020 13:45

Scottish Wildlife

A wonderful small but impressive wildlife encounter on our local beach: a hermit crab moving home! 

19/05/2020 12:23

Scottish Cruises - Spring 2019

This time last year we were well in the 2019 cruising season and were really enjoying exploring the Inner Hebrides (Skye, the Small Isles and Mull).

Here are some pictures taken by guests Euan and Ruth Fraser, Barbara Fierek and Marie Drumgoole. Wonderful memories of their voyages around the Scottish islands aboard our small ships St Hilda and Seahorse II!

12/05/2020 10:13

Our ex-cruising lifeboat

Our small ship, Gemini Explorer, when she was still a cruising lifeboat and saving sailor’s lifes. The perfect vessel to take our passengers and her crew to the remote Outer and Inner Hebrides!

07/05/2020 15:22

Scottish Sunsets

A seascape to make us dream of the beauty and wilderness of the Hebrides and of future adventures. (Picture taken last night at 10pm!)

01/05/2020 10:35

Puffins - Inner Hebrides

This week would have been the first 2020 cruise aboard ex-tallship St Hilda and our FIRST Scottish Cruise aboard our newly converted ex-cruising lifeboat Gemini Explorer.

We would have visited the beautiful Treshnish Islands (Lunga) and it’s famous Puffin colony. They are back now and flying in and out of their burrows. A truly amazing sight!

Below are a few puffin pictures from our guest Richard Fray and St Hilda anchored off Lunga.

30/04/2020 10:10

The Scottish Spring 2020

The Scottish spring is bursting forth with blue cloudless skies, a warm sun and tranquil calm seas. The birds are nesting, the tadpoles are turning into frogs and we have seen otters swimming near the shore. It is usual for Scotland to have fine weather this time of the year as a result of the west Highland high pressure system. These are ideal conditions for travelling amongst the Inner and Outer Hebrides.

Last week would have been the first 2020 cruise aboard Seahorse II and what a wonderful time our guest’s would have had. Below are a few pictures from our guest Sandy and wildlife guide Julie who were onboard Seahorse II this time last year.

20/04/2020 15:07

2022 Scottish Cruise Calendar

We are pleased to announce that or 2022 (as well as our 2021) Scottish cruise calendar is now live.In addition, if you have any concerns regarding your 2020 cruise with us because of the Coronavirus pandemic, please contact us via e-mail (info@sthildaseaadventures.co.uk) or phone (01776 810 802). Due to the Government ‘lockdown’ announced by the Prime Minister on the 23rd March 2020 of the United Kingdom, we are rescheduling our April and May cruises to later in this year or to 2021.We hope that, like us in Scotland, you are enjoying this beautiful warm spring. 

12/03/2020 22:54

Spring is in the air!

We are almost ready to start our 2020 season and the feeling of spring is in the air. Gemini Explorer, our ex-cruising lifeboat, is joining us for her first season to explore the remote Scottish islands of the Hebrides. We have been working hard preparing our three small ships and the conversion on Gemini Explorer is looking splendid.

We are looking forward to meeting all of our guests this coming season. If you have not yet booked a cruise with us, we still have some availability for the 2020 season.

Visit www.sthildaseaadventures.co.uk or contact us via phone on 01776810802 or e-mail info@sthildaseaadventures.co.uk

04/03/2020 12:49

First cruise for Gemini Explorer - April 2020

Our first Mull Odyssey cruise of the season aboard our NEW ex-cruising lifeboat Gemini Explorer departs on the 28th April 2020. We are look forward to showing our guests the new cabins.

During the six night cruise, which makes a circumnavigation of the Isle of Mull, we visit the famous islands of Staffa (Fingal’s cave) and Iona and also the puffin colony on Lunga where guests really enjoy watching the puffins from close up.

25/02/2020 20:23

Winter in Scotland

A chilly but beautiful journey from Oban to Mallaig boatyard for St Hilda’s hull to be painted afresh. She will be beautiful for the start of the season in April!

17/02/2020 16:25

St Hilda’s First Cruise of 2020

Our first cruise of the season aboard our traditional wooden ketch St Hilda departs on the 27th April 2020. The six night Hebridean Cruise explores the Sounds of Mull, Luing, Shuna and Jura.

St Hilda is a classic wooden ketch. On St Hilda guests can help work the sails and have fun with our inflatable sea kayak that she carries. Of course, guests can choose to just relax and watch the wonderful world of the Scottish islands and highlands go sailing by.

Have a look at the below pictures to see what awaits you!

05/02/2020 21:18

Scottish Cruises 2020!

We are looking forward to the start of the season! First cruise ‘Mull Odyssey: Staffa, Iona & the Ross of Mull’ departs on the 18th April 2020 aboard small ship Seahorse II. On this cruise we will have a photogoraphy tutor on board at no extra cost to our guests. See below pictures for a glimpse of what you will see during this wonderful six night cruise.

21/01/2020 18:57

NEW 10 night cruise: ‘The Outer Hebrides Wildlife Explorer: Lewis and Harris’

First departure date 24th May 2020 aobard our NEW ex-cruising lifeboat Gemini Explorer.

This Scottish cruise wanders through the Northern Outer Hebrides on the outer edge of the Atlantic Ocean. We visit the remote and stunning isles of Lewis and Harris which, despite being usually referred to as two separate islands, are in fact connected. 

See below link to take a look at the itinerary: https://www.sthildaseaadventures.co.uk/scottish-cruise/the-outer-hebrides-wildlife-explorer-lewis-and-harris?fbclid=IwAR0CPjVLaIJVON-h4YPdYDoSV-lfEM-mTrELbNvNykmv2_EitrOB8gQWC2E

20/12/2019 14:56

Merry Christmas from the St Hilda Sea Adventures team: Christophe, Colette, Julie and Michael. We wish you all a great festive season!

14/12/2019 14:41

NEW LAND & SEA CRUISE - 13th August 2020:

Visiting Scotland by both land and sea allows the visitor to truly appreciate the multi-faceted depth of this wonderful country. FIRST departure date 13th August 2020 for 11 nights. 6 nights on land and 5 nights aboard our wee ship Seahorse II.

See below link for more details of the itinerary: https://www.sthildaseaadventures.co.uk/scottish-cruise/discover-scotland-by-land-and-sea/seahorse-ii/13-aug-20

06/12/2019 14:16

2020 Specialist Scottish Cruises

Our SPECIALIST cruises with photography tutors, art tutors and wildlife guides were a great sucess this year so we will be repeating these in 2020 all at NO extra cost to our guests.

Departure dates can be found on our 2020 calendar: https://www.sthildaseaadventures.co.uk/scottish-cruises/calendar/2020

26/11/2019 16:30

Marine Conservation Society

We are pleased to announce we are now a Gold Company Member of the Marine Conservation Society. This will mean we won’t be serving any fish which are ‘red rated’ on the MCS Good Fish Guide list. For more information take a look at the below link: https://www.mcsuk.org/goodfishguide/search