Rowers complete 100-mile adventure from St Kilda to Skye

Eight adventurers from Skye are back on dry land after rowing 100 miles from St Kilda to Portree in an open wooden skiff built more than 100 years ago.

They had left the remote Atlantic archipelago at 04:00 on Friday morning.

The passage lasted just under 31 hours across 41 miles of the Atlantic, through the Sound of Harris and across the Minch.

They were welcomed home by a large crowd at Portree Harbour on Saturday morning.

The rowers, who were raising money for the RNLI and Skye and Lochalsh Young Carers, spent two years preparing for the venture.

Five of the eight crew were volunteers with Portree RNLI.

After the boat arrived at Portree, team leader Donnie Nicolson said: "We are delighted to have completed the row in such a brilliant time.

"We are tired, but sheer adrenaline and all the support we've been getting has kept us going."

He added: "As five of the rowers are crew members of the Portree Lifeboat, we are fully aware of the enormous costs that are needed to keep the RNLI running. Hopefully we can do our little bit to help.

"Skye and Lochalsh Young Carers is a charity most of us were not unaware of until the challenge.

"We hope we can not only raise some funds for them, but just as importantly raise their profile and let people know the extraordinary and important job they do in our local community."

Until last month, the last time the boat was in the sea was more than 100 years ago.

Named Aurora, the 20ft-long (6m) skiff had lain in a boat shed on Skye since before the outbreak of World War One.