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Crossing the Tan, which is the channel separating the Great and Little Cumbrae isles, we came across this funny looking buoy (No 38) with a top that looked like an upside down bishop's hat. There were no directions on it so we proceeded in a southerly direction...
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...and were soon paddling down...
![](http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_YDeW6uBEz2o/SzsRtl6_-PI/AAAAAAAAKxY/xSDyi7KMfQY/s400/091227IMG_8393.jpg)
...the series of raised beaches which characterise the west coast of Little Cumbrae.
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Assisted by wind and tide, we swept past the old and new lighthouses.
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But it was cold. The chill wind blew right from Valhalla, in the cold wastes of Asgard.