Showing posts with label Colonsay. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Colonsay. Show all posts

Sunday, January 21, 2018

In the wake of the dead: a sea kayaking pilgrimage to Oronsay and Colonsay via Jura.

For those who would like to follow the thread of this great trip to Oronsay and Colonsay via Jura from start to finish, I hope this index will be useful. We launched from Carsaig Bay NR735877. We paddled 136km over four days. On the outward trip we portaged the 2km over the Jura isthmus from Tarbert Bay in the east to Loch Tarbert in the west. We returned through the Corryvreckan.

Read Ian's trip summary here.

Day 1 Carsaig Bay, Argyll mainland to Glenbatrick Bay, Jura: 26km



Blog 1 Paddling and portaging in the wake of the dead.




Blog 2 Enchanted again by the remote west coast of Jura.





Day 2 Glenbatrick Bay, Jura to Kiloran Bay, Colonsay: 41km.







Blog 4 Landfall in an Oronsay midden.




Blog 5 Why sea kayakers should consider carrying a PLB, unless they are full sibling to an ostrich.




Blog 6 Our sea kayaking pilgrimage comes to a peaceful end in Oronsay Priory.















Day 3 Kiloran Bay, Colondsay to Shian Bay Jura: 30km.






























Day 4 Shian Bay, Jura to Carsaig Bay, Argyll mainland: 40km.

























Postscript

If you would prefer not to paddle the Corryvreckan in the conditions in this photo, you can time your traverse for slack water:

The west going flood begins +0430 HW Oban (-0100 HW Dover)  at 7 to 8 knots at springs and +0515 HW Oban (-0015 HW Dover) at neaps.

The east going ebb begins -0145 HW Oban (+0515 HW Dover) up to 8 knots at springs and -0100 HW Oban (+0600 HW Dover) at neaps.

The time changes by 6.5 minutes each day between springs and neaps. The constant between HW Dover and HW Oban does vary, so most accurate times are calculated by using HW Oban times (though not if you have calculated HW Oban indirectly from HW Dover!!).

Slack water lasts up to 30 minutes at neaps. At springs there is no real slack, there is always water moving about somewhere in the Corry. These times are pretty good as long as there is high pressure. Low pressure and wind can alter timing considerably.


Tuesday, January 09, 2018

Cake, beer and wind in Scalasaig harbour, Colonsay.

It was now time for second luncheon and as the sun was high overhead, we had become exceedingly thirsty. We decided to stop at Scalasaig harbour, which was deserted as the ferry we had seen earlier had already gone.

Making our way from the harbour to the scattered settlement, you can imagine our disappointment when we saw the big sign outside the Colonsay Brewery.."Brewery Shop Closed".

We resigned ourselves to Plan B and visiting the Colonsay Pantry for a slice of excellent chocolate gateau. You can imagine our delight to discover that they sold...

 ...Colonsay beer! What a relief, David was...

 ..particularly pleased because our beer supplies had mysteriously dropped during the previous night at Kiloran. Perhaps the Hag of Colonsay has a taste for beer and had raided our camp?

 Refreshed and loaded with victuals we paddled slowly out of Scalasaig harbour.

The morning's NE wind had now backed to the west and, as we were heading east to Jura, it looked like the...

...favourable winds we had enjoyed would continue. This was much to Sam's consternation as our destination, the neighbouring Isle of Jura, was still 15km away. We said our farewells to the fair isle of Colonsay as we passed under the small lighthouse on Rubha Dubh.

Read Ian's account here.