Maritime record 13678 - VARGAL: NORTH UIST, ATLANTIC

NF86NW 8008 unlocated

10 April 1862, rendering assistance to the crew of the boat VARGAL, of St Kilda, which, on a voyage from St Kilda to Harris was overtaken by thick weather, and after beating about for two days drifted into a dangerous position among the rocks off Aird, Balronald, N. Uist. The fishermen's boat sustained some damage. Awards granted out of the Mercantile Marine Fund: Alexander Mann and James Anderson, fishermen, £1 each and £1 10s for damage to boat.
Table 31: List of Persons to whom Rewards have been granted by the British Government for gallant Services in Saving Life from Shipwreck etc. during the Year 1862.
Source: PP Abstracts Returns of Wrecks and Casualties on Coasts of the UK [Record received incomplete].
NMRS, MS/829/68 (no. 2171).

The map sheet assigned to this record is arbitrary. Balronald cannot be identified from the available map evidence, and 'Aird' names are common across the island. The recorded route of the vessel suggests that the stranding occurred on western (Atlantic) rather than the eastern (Minch) shore of the island. This loss is not cited by I G Whittaker (1998), possibly indicating that the vessel was not in fact lost.
Information from RCAHMS (RJCM), 16 March 2004.

REPORT DATE: 16/03/2004