Misty Inner Farne

This morning Richard took a day of rest and Ron and I made the trip to Inner Farne from Seahouses. We initially intended to use the harbour slipway but upon enquiring with the harbourmaster found the combined cost of £14 for launching 2 kayaks and parking one car quite prohibitive. There was poor visibility and such swell that the harbourmaster had declared the harbour closed. We launched for free through some exciting surf at St. Aidans Dunes less than 1 km up the coast.

The crossing into the 'Inner Sound' or 'Wide Open Gut', took less than an hour via the Shoreston buoy. Our landing upon the slabs on the island was easier than I expected leaving us free explore the island having paid the entrance fees to the National Trust Warden.

We were a little too early to see terns but there were plenty of puffins, Shags and Kittiwakes willing to pose for photographs.

Recently, there has been a great deal of money and ingenuity poured into a project aimed at increasing the amount of Roseate Terns nesting on Inner Farne. Ledges with nesting shelters have been provided but there had been few takers. The latest idea was to feed the birds with Marijuana. Some success has been reported due to no tern being left unstoned.

Our return from Tern Island was uneventful and the pounding surf at St Aidans left us to land intact.