Sea Kayakphoto.com trip index 2008

I have been posting little snippets of various trips concurrently. For those who would like to follow the thread of a single trip, I hope this index will be useful.

Less is more round Lismore!
27/12/08

What a carry on round the Mull!
15/12/08 The Mull of Galloway

Another West coast sunset! Firth of Clyde
14/12/08 Bute from Portencross,

Dunure from Maidens, Firth of Clyde
06/12/08

The Four Castles of Carrick, Firth of Clyde.
02/11/08 Turnberry to Ayr

The River Fleet from Fleet Bay
17/10/08

Loch nan Ceall and the Sound of Arisaig
13/09/08
14/09/08

To the Corryvreckan
30/08/08 Seil to Scarba via the Corryvreckan
31/08/08 Scarba to Seil via the Grey Dogs and the Cuan Sound

The Mull of Kintyre
26/07/08 Macrihanish to Sanda via the Mull
27/07/08 Sanda to Davaar Island

To Islay
12/07/08 Claggain Bay
13/07/08 Traigh Bhan
14/07/08 An Claddach
15/07/08 Port Askaig

To St Kilda
30/05/08 Loch Roag
31/05/08 Taransay
01/06/08 Monach Islands
02/06/08 Hirta and Dun
03/06/08 am Village Bay, Hirta
03/06/08 pm Boreray and the stacks
04/06/08 Loch Reasort to Scarp
05/06/08 Pabaigh Mor and Bhacsaigh

To the Garvellachs
10/05/08 Seil to the Grey Dogs via the Corryvreckan
11/05/08 Grey Dogs to the Garvellachs and Seil

Lady Isle
08/05/08 A busy night at Troon

Ailsa Craig
05/05/08 Gannets and granite

Fleet Bay
02/05/08 Solway sunshine

A misty Firth of Clyde
27/04/08 Maidens to Ayr

Arran
18/03/08 Portencross to Brodick via the Wee Cumbrae, Bute and Glen Sannox

Mull of Galloway
17/02/08 Ardwell Bay to East Tarbet

Dorus Mor
12/02/08 Craignish through the Dorus Mor to Crinan and Loch Craignish then back through the Dorus Mor as the sun set.

The four maritime castles of Carrick
20/01/08 Turnberry to Ayr.

The Cumbraes and Bute
12/01/2008 A day trip in the Clyde from Largs

Of lighthouses and lenticulars!

We were completely exhausted by the time we rounded McArthur's Head so we decided to take a breather by the lighthouse jetty. This lighthouse, though on the mainland of Islay, is so remote that it was supplied by sea.


While David rested, Tony and I decided to climb up to the lighthouse. There were quite a few steps!


The boats were soon left far below.


Then there were more steps and we got a great view up the Sound of Islay.


After some further steps, we finally made the lighthouse gate. We were just grateful we did not have to carry supplies on our backs, as the light keepers of old had to do.

Dougie MacDougall was one of a family of Islay boatmen who served the lighthouse. You can read more about him over on Islay Weblog.


McArthur's Head lighthouse was built in 1861 by Thomas and David Stevenson. The light shows two flashes every 10s, and is red from NW to NE an white from other directions. The light is 39m above datum.

We were struck by the very unusual looking clouds which had formed downwind of the headland.


These are lenticular clouds. These are caused by warm moist air blowing over mountains and form as standing waves down wind of high ground. Once formed, air rises very rapidly round the clouds and this sucks even more wind into the system. The result is very strong winds at the surface, which is what we experienced crossing Proaig Bay. The wind would also have been accelerated down through the mountains in Proaig Glen.

14/07/2008

Blowin' away the cobwebs round McArthur's Head!

Aroused from our slumbers, we paddled the SE coast of Islay under some very unusual clouds.


As we approached a headland, the wind steadily increased.


Round this point Tony tried to paddle straight across the bay into the wind but at times he was going backwards, straight out to sea. We were now very much awake, as we battled our way into the wind by hugging the shore. At times our progress could be measured in inches.


Only once we were in the shelter of McArthur's Head did we finally escape the blast of the wind. McArthur's Head is an interesting place. This detatched stack has a cave running right through it to the narrow channel behind.

14/07/2008

Return from Oa

After our return from the White Hart Bar to our camp on the SE of the Oa peninsula, there were tremendous rain storms during the night. We awoke to find the tents straining at their guy ropes in a force 4-5 offshore wind.


Scudding clouds hung low overhead but their greyness was broken by the dramatic contrast of the dark rocks and white shell sand. Low tide revealed a bit of a rock garden so we were relieved the offshore wind had flattened the swell.


Although the winds were only moderate to fresh, the forecast was for westerly winds up to force seven for most of the remainder of the week. Although we were tempted to push on round the Mull of Oa, we decided that it would be best to stay to the east given the westerly winds. Billy and Mair decided remain at camp and to explore Islay on foot and rented bicycle.

David, Tony and myself decided to pack the kayaks and head back east to explore a distillery or two.


We were soon on the water heading across Kilnaughton Bay under the shadow of Carraig Fhada lighthouse. We were bound for Port Ellen.

14/07/2008

The spirits of Dunyvaig Castle, Lagavulin Bay, Islay

Leaving Port Ellen and heading east along the south coast of Islay we came across a break in the reefs guarding a large bay.


Being highly skilled sea kayakers we were able to use all our powers of navigation to deduce that we were now in Lagavulin Bay.


In the thirteen century the bay was the anchorage for a fleet of armed birlins. They were the navy of the Lords of the Isles who were descended from Somerled, who had wrested the Hebrides from the Vikings.


Today the 16th century ruins of Dunyvaig Castle teeter on the edge of a rock stack which guards Lagavulin Bay. Some of the castle dates back to the thirteenth century and its stones have been there so long that it appears to grow out of the rock. In places it is difficult to say whether the structure is the hand of man or the hand of God.


The castle changed hands many times in a turbulent history and in the 17th century one of its last MacDonald owners was hanged from the walls after a siege. Some say it is haunted by troubled spirits from its bloody past. We chose not to camp there but the only spirit we found was a heady vapour making its way over the sea from a plain white building at the back of Lagavulin Bay.

14/07/2008

Sea kayaking in search of the Holy Grail: the Ardbeg distillery, Islay

We continued to paddle with a tail wind along the SE coast of Islay. As a result, we had no olfactory warning of the delight that lay round the headland. Tony sprinted ahead leaving David and I in his wake.


We decided to the tie the kayaks up as we thought we may be spending some time on land. The essence of our trips is exploration but this one was more of a pilgrimage.


The clear Celtic symbols left us in no doubt that we were now on hallowed and spiritual ground. We had arrived at the Ardbeg distillery, home and birth place of the Lord of the island malt whiskies.


Tony was quite relaxed as he waited for our arrival outside the temple of the old drying kiln. He was still licking his lips as we approached, a clear sign of a quick one!


We entered the great shrine of Ardbeg and prepared for worship of a palatial kind.


But first we were delighted to find that the old drying kiln now served sustaining food and drink for the faithful. As we placed our order, the serving staff did not bat an eyelid at our dripping kayaking gear. As the sun had not yet passed the yardarm, we decided to wash a bowl of delicious soup down with a pint of bottle conditioned Finlaggan Ale from the Islay Ales brewery. Afterwards we found the facilities to be warm and spotless. Only after a ritual washing the salt from our faces did we feel prepared to sample the great Ardbeg....

14/07/2008

Port Ellen's hidden haven.

The SW breeze blew us swiftly across Kilnaughton Bay towards Port Ellen. We planned to land to replenish supplies but did not fancy a long paddle back into the teeth of the wind afterwards.


We slipped down the south side of the Ard peninsula and made our way through some skerries into this lovely little hidden (and sheltered) haven. It was full of local boats and the shoreline had many fishing bothies hidden amongst the rocks.


A short walk over the Ard..

..took us to the south bay of Port Ellen.

Another Internet writer has described it as a " crappy little town" and "so ghetto it's hilarious". Well its neatly whitewashed houses with black painted windows and doors curved round its south bay in a most pleasing way. On our early impression of Port Ellen, we beg to differ.

We found it to be a delightful place and that is before we met the locals.

14/07/2008

Water, fire and peaty smoke on Islay!

Paddling across great leagues of ocean and battling against katabatic winds had left us hot tired and sweaty. We noticed a waterfall of bracing cold mountain water which rushed down from the hills above and tumbled over a small cliff almost into the sea. We found shelter in an old cottage nearby and took turns to enjoy a natural shower. At the back of the waterfall there was a thick bank of soft moss to lean against while the fresh water cleansed the salt. It was very brrrracing!


We soon warmed up beside a blazing fire, fuelled by a log which Tony had brought from one of our stops.

Uncorking a bottle of the great Ardbeg, we swapped sea kayaking yarns late into the Islay night as the wind and rain lashed the outside of the bothy. Although we were burning logs, the room was filled by a peaty aroma from the Ardbeg.

14/07/2008

Siesta on Islay

Refreshed after our stop at Ardbeg, we made our way north east, hotly pursued by a fresh west wind.


We had covered leagues of ocean and were becoming exhausted by our exertions.


Just in time, we spotted an idyllic white shell sand beach which was sheltered from the wind by wooded slopes above.


We found ourselves in yet another stunning location with a view under brooding clouds to the great Sound of Jura..


On our travels we have been greatly inspired by tales of great Spanish navigators. Taking our lead from them, we decided it was time for a siesta!

14/07/2008