A Wild Call

Suffocated by a lack of freedom in modern life, Martyn Murray sought an alternative.

Falling in love with an old ketch in Ireland, he bought and restored her enough to sail back to Scotland. Over the next two summers he cruised Scotland’s Western Isles, with one goal: to reach St Kilda – the remotest part of the British Isles, 40 miles from the Outer Hebrides.

During his cruising he considered the islanders and their sense of freedom – often restricted by absentee landlords and officialdom. He riled against the bureaucracy and commercial enterprise that restricts the yachtsman’s ability to roam free.

He attempted his long-awaited sail out to St Kilda through the teeth of a storm, believing that achieving this feat would bring him the freedom and clarity that he craved.