A life on the Uig waves – best job in the world

​In that time his company, Seatrek working out of Miavaig, has become one of the best known names in island tourism as well as a significant feature of the local economy. Last summer, they took more than 2000 visitors into every nook and cranny of Loch Roag and beyond.

“Most people are blown away with it”, he says. “Some of them have never been on a boat in their lives. They don’t know what to expect. It’s such a different experience – particularly when you speed up the Rib!

“We are used to the scenery and all the wildlife but to many of the people who come here for the first time, it’s something new and for many, these trips are the highlights of their holiday.

“There’s a huge percentage of repeat business. Some of them come back years later and can remember every detail of the first visit. We had one recently who said I’d taken him out 30 years ago. It’s an experience that stays with people because it is so different to what they are used to”.

Serving the needs of thousands of tourists is demanding work, whether on land or at sea. Over the years, the Seatrek business has expanded in other directions and Murray is now planning to draw a personal line under Seatrek (Hebrides) which provides the tours. The business has just gone up for sale.

Murray grew up in Uig where his dad was the Church of Scotland minister and his mother was a much-loved teacher in the local school. Both parents, still going strong, are natives of Barvas. Murray actually spent the first nine months of his life in Benbecula which was Rev. William Macleod’s previous charge before he was inducted to Ceann Langabhat in Uig, 60 years ago this month.

After a Stornoway apprenticeship as a joiner, by 1984 Murray was working at the hatchery in Carnish and had his first boat – “a wee, aluminium ex-landing craft”.

“People used to ask me if I would take them out and I would take them to Pabbay in the summer evenings and at weekends. I had no clue what to charge them and was making a loss on it. But there was enough demand to give me the idea that there was a business in it.

“I started doing more of these trips and got my first small, open Rib in 1987. I went to see the Local Enterprise Company with the idea of bigger boats doing trips but I didn’t get much encouragement. Even by then, I don’t think the value of tourism was appreciated”.

After that knock-back, Murray followed the well-trodden path off the island, going to work for Delta Power Services, a company which designs and builds high performance craft including Ribs in Stockport.

He stayed there for three enjoyable years before impending marriage to Janet brought him back to Uig and to Seatrek. The relationship with Delta has also continued – all the boats he has bought since have come from that source.

Murray recalls: “It was well into the ‘90s before I approached the LEC again. They gave me £350 to help with my marketing”. It was only in 2008 when he was buying a bigger boat, the Lochlann, that he found “HIE’s attitude towards tourism businesses had dramatically changed. They agreed to assist with part-funding and I was able to buy ‘Lochlann’.”

By then, Seatrek was a well-established business, employing people locally and starting to do commercial work as well as the local excursions. Looking back on these experiences, he says: “It’s when you’re starting out, you really need help. That is the hard bit”.

For the first 20 years, there was no internet so all the Seatrek marketing was by leaflets and word of mouth - a completely different environment from today when everything can be advertised and booked on-line. Before that, Murray paid young folk in Ullapool to distribute fliers to drivers waiting for the Stornoway ferry.

However, he says an even bigger boost to business came from the introduction of RET on ferries, bringing in far more people who were looking for something to do once they reached their destination. “The numbers went through the roof”, he recalls. “They are talking now about scrapping RET for visitors but I think that would make a massive difference to tourist numbers, in the other direction”.

While he had done some trips to St Kilda by request in the earlier days, these were very weather dependent and it was only when he acquired the ‘Lochlann’, which also had the benefits of toilet and galley, that scheduled trips to St Kilda became regular features which he maintained for a few years.

Murray says about St Kilda: “No matter how often you go there, it blows your mind. It is such a special, awe-inspiring place. I’ve set foot on all the islands over the years and I’ve climbed to the top of Boreray to overlook the stacs – Stac Li and Stac an Armainn. There are not many people who get the chance to do that”.

Sometimes during this period, the Ribs worked out of Uist. He recalls: “I used to stay with ‘Splash’ (Mackillop) in Berneray. Many’s the laugh we had down there!” Increasingly, Seatrek also started to do commercial work in Uist, which has continued.

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Some of the more unusual charters

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Operating boats brings varieties of engagements. Seatrek has been involved over the years in TV and film projects including Castaway 2000, Katie Morag, Rocket Post, The Road Dance and, more recently, Silent Roar.

An unexpected situation arose in 2016 when the oil rig Transocean Winner broke its tow line off the west coast of Uig and came ashore near Dalbeg. As part of a team, Seatrek helped to refloat her and then supported the salvage operation by providing boats for crew transfer and safety.

Ten years ago, as the commercial side of the business increased, Murray split it in two – Seatrek (Hebrides) doing the trips and Seatrek (Marine) doing the rest. There are now eight boats in the fleet, based between Miavaig and Uist. Murray will continue to run the commercial business which extends around the west coast of Scotland.

There is a third business run out of Miavaig as part of the Seatrek family – the training company Breacan which has operated since 1995 and offers courses and qualifications in both sea- and land-based safety to companies throughout the islands and beyond. This business will continue as before.

Seatrek has had plenty of interesting private charters over the years and a few have involved burial of remains at sea. One followed the death of the actor, Burt Kwouk, who was best known for playing Inspector Clouseau’s manservant in the Pink Panther movies.

“It was a really rough day and we could only go as far as Pabbay”, Murray recalls. “The remains were in a special basket which tilted when it entered the water and then disintegrated. I think the belief was that in a million years, the spirit of the deceased would drift back to the place of his ancestors”. Burt Kwouk himself had been born in Warrington.

Seatrek, with intimate knowledge of local waters, have also worked closely with the Coastguard service on rescue operations where sea-users have got into difficulties – “about two a season”, says Murray. “We check in with the Coastguard every morning and then in the evening, to say no more scheduled runs. If there are any problems, they know they can rely on us”.

Over the years, Murray says that “95 per cent” of the staff have been recruited from Uig which has made it a highly-valued employer in a small community, for both full-time and seasonal workers some of whom have gone on to maritime careers, having got their taste of the sea with Seatrek.

He hopes that whoever buys the Seatrek (Hebrides) business will retain its Uig base but the reality is that it could operate from anywhere in the islands. Murray believes there is “huge potential to expand, particularly for a hands-on operator” but 40 years is long enough for him to be doing the heavy lifting!

“I lost count of the number of times we’ve been sitting in the Pabbay lagoon and someone has said to me ‘this must be the best job in the world’ and it is, though maybe not in the middle of winter! Every day is different and you never know what you are going to see or experience.

“But it’s also hard work. By the end of the third trip of the day, it can be pretty tiring particularly as you get older. Skippering the boat might look easy but it requires constant concentration. But basically they’re right – it is the best job in the world!”.

Seatrek (Hebrides) is being marketed through Knightsbridge Business Sales which says it includes “Passenger Ribs, trailers, website, booking system, all passenger waterproofs and lifejackets” as well as benefiting from “high ratings” with “an experienced and dedicated workforce in place”.

Murray will continue to operate the business this summer with a high level of bookings up to the end of September. By then, he hopes that a new owner will be in place – and that Seatrek will continue to provide thousands of visitors to the Hebrides with these experiences of a lifetime.