Wherever you go on the Clyde, you will not need an anemometer!

Unfortunately I dislocated my "good" knee after our recent Ayrshire's Atlantic Coast trip and, despite several good days since, I have not been able to get out. So, turning the clock back to September 2010...

... David and I convened at Largs marina  on the Firth of Clyde. The memorial "pencil" commemorates the Battle of Largs (1263) between the Scots, led by Alexander III and King Hakon of Norway. Both sides suffered terrible losses but the battle marked the start of the end of Viking influence in Scotland.

We set across the Fairlie Roads bound for the south end of Great Cumbrae island. This view will soon be radically altered by the construction of three giant wind turbines, each of which will be 195.5m tall. They will be sited near the ore terminal cranes but will tower above them. Indeed, they will tower above Goldenberry Hill beyond the cranes. They will be visible all over the Firth of Clyde, Even the existing 100m tall windmills near West Kilbride...

...can be seen from Arran on the far side of the Clyde. This photo taken from Brodick (on Arran) shows the existing 100m windmills to the right of the ferry. The new windmills will be sited just to the left of Goldenberry Hill, which is the dark hill between the white power station towers and the ferry. The Hill is 26km from Brodick and 140m high. and the three windmills will be almost 200m, some 60m higher than the hill. Wherever you go on the Clyde you will not need an anemometer!

We made good progress and we were soon passing the...

 ...Hunterston ore terminal, where the Greek bulk carrier MV Ariadne was off loading coal into the smaller Norwegian bulk carrier MV Mornes.

On arrival at the Great Cumbrae, we passed the RV Aora and the RV Actinia, which were moored at Keppel Pier the University Marine Biological Station, Millport.