We continued north from Pirnmill on Arran's west coast towards...
...the great sweep of
Catacol Bay.
It was not just the NE wind that was coming down from the mountains. The burns tumbling down from the mountains were full of the previous night's rain.
The wind accelerated down Glen Catacol and hit the sea in great cat's paws but as we...
...approached the head of the bay...
...the wind eased off as we...
....paddled into a
tidal lagoon.
As we unloaded our boats (for third breakfast) the wind dropped completely and we were attacked by a savage horde of voracious Catacol midges. There is a National Nature Reserve in Glen Catacol to protect three species of rare whitebeam trees. The majority of the World's population of each live in this one glen. I do hope that there is never a nature reserve for midges. There is a fundamental difference between whitebeams and midges. Whitebeams do not bite.
There was nothing for it but to get back on the water and soon we were passing the...
Twelve Apostles of Catacol. These were built in the mid 19th century to rehouse crofters who were cleared from Glen Catacol to create a deer estate. The cottages had no land and the intention was that the crofters would take up fishing. However, they are situated on an inhospitable shore which is exposed to the prevailing westerly winds and a fishing industry was never established here. Each of the upper windows is a different shape and legend has it that when a fisherman saw a lighted candle in a window he could tell if it was his wife who was signalling.
