Would the real Sammy Otter of Inchmarnock stand up?

There was still a chill wind from the north as we paddled down the west coast of Inchmarnock towards its...


 ...southerly point. We then turned north into the Sound of Inchmarnock which separates it from its larger neighbour, Bute.

 It was like entering another world. The low sun warmed the rocks and in the lee of the land the water ahead was like...

 ...a millpond.

 I turned the kayak round to get a last view down the Sound towards Arran. I was just turning again when all of a sudden this...

 ...little fellow periscoped up beside me.

He was gone in a second but I hope he was the real Sammy Otter of Inchmarnock and not an imposter.

A quick blast down the Kyle to Rubha Dubh.

 We enjoyed some excellent paddle sailing in the West Kyle of Bute.

 The north end of Bute is a rugged place...

 ...but as we travelled south, the scenery became gentler with villages and farms. We decided to seek shelter from the north wind...

 ..in the delightful sheltered south facing bay at Rubha Dubh on the Bute side of the Kyle.

It was a great place to stop for first luncheon and...

...enjoy a great view to Ardlamont Point at the mouth of the West Kyle and the distant Arran mountains while clouds scudded across the blue sky.

Loo with a view at the Buttock of Bute.

 We set off from Rhubodach in a NW'ly direction passing to the south...

 ...of the Burnt Islands. The last time we were here we explored the vitrified fort on Eilean Buidhe but

 ...this time we were headed for a bay just to the east of Buttock Point.

At the foot of a forest and beside a burn there are two new wooden buildings. They are part of the Argyll Sea Kayak Trail.  The building on the left is a composting toilet and the building on the right is...

...is a simple shelter and fire pit. Bute Forest supply timber for burning so that you do not need to cut down any SSSI trees. There is not much camping here but there are plenty places further east.

The view from the loo looks north, straight up beautiful Loch Riddon. We were not going to explore this beautiful loch on this occasion...

...instead we paddled NW towards the lighthouse at Caladh Harbour before...

 ...turning left at Buttock Point....

Lots of boats on the commute to Bute.

It wasa a bright Monday morning when Mike and I rolled up at the Wemyss Bay ferry terminal to catch the ferry to Bute. "Our commute to Bute" as we called it.

The mountains of Arran rose majestically above the low rolling ground of Bute. We did wonder if the ferry would arrive as one of the two ferries had burnt its turbo charger out just a few days before.

 Fortunately MV Bute seemed to have made a good recovery and she arrived right on time.

 It was with great anticipation that we left Wemyss Bay on the 45 minute crossing to Rothesay in Bute. We then drove 20 minutes north...

...to Rhubodach near the head of the Kyles of Bute. The narrows were quite busy, several yachts passed before MV Splendour a converted 20m wooden fishing boat cruised down the East Kyle. She is the flagship of the recently formed Argyll Cruising company and this is their first season. I wish them great success.

No sooner had Splendour cleared the narrows than MV Loch Dunvegan rolled up the slipway. She operates CalMac's shortest ferry route from Colintraive to Rhubodach, all 420m of it.

We wasted no time in getting ready and soon we were ready to set off on another mini adventure!

Charcoal and herons in the Burnt Islands.

From Eilean Dubh we paddled across the north end of the Kyles of Bute to the delightful Burnt Islands. The first we came to was Eilean Fraoich (Heather Isle).

The daffodils were out and it was only the 14th of March. There was little sign of any heather however.

 Looking over the Kyles of Bute to the Bute shore we could see the new composting toilet and cooking shelter that has has been provided for those that follow the Argyll Sea Kayak Trail.

The west going tide had already started so we worked our way uptide close to the island before crossing...

 ...the shipping channel which is clearly marked by red and green cans.

 The tide had just started running so was very gentle but it rips through here at 6 knots on a spring tide. Our destination was Eilean Buidhe (Yellow Isle).

 We landed on rocks at the north end of the islands. Although the rock hereabouts is...

 ...very interesting, composed of contorted lichen covered swirls, it was not the purpose of our visit.

Ian and I  braved bramble covered defences to ascend to the south point of the island. Here are the grass covered remains of a vitrified dun (fort). Its circular walls are 4m thick and enclose an inner area nearly 20m in diameter.It was extensively excavated by JH Maxwell in 1936. He found a thick layer of charcoal at the base of the vitrified walls which was presumably the source of the combustion process that fused the stones of the wall together.

From the dun we had a good view over the Kyles to Eilean Mor which is the largest of the Burnt Islands. Some years ago Mike and I camped on Bute just on the far side of Eilean Dubh. We suffered one of the worst midge attacks we have experienced anywhere. Then we were kept awake most of the night by the cacophony from the large heronry which takes residence in the island's trees in the summer.

The dun also affords a good view over Eilean Bhuidhe to the West Kyle beyond. It must have been a great location for a fort.

 Leaving the Burnt Islands we just had a short trip down the East Kyle to Rhubodach, the Bute ferry terminal  where we had left the cars. An easterly wind got up and we launched the sails. I was able to leave the others far behind by using the forward fin on the Aries. However the others caught up as I had to wait for the ferry MV Loch Dunvegan to leave her berth.  I remember using the MV Loch Dunvegan to cross to Skye in the days before the Skye Bridge was opened in 1995. She was built in 1991 at Fergusons Yard in Port Glasgow. After leaving Skye, she was relief vessel on various crossings until she moved to the Kyles of Bute route in 1999.

 We landed just to the east of the ferry slipway, a few metres from the cars.

We had enjoyed a wonderful day in the Kyles of Bute. We may only have covered 18km but on the other hand we had spent some very pleasant time in the Kames Hotel!

Two cheeky Maids sitting on Bute's bottom.

 Our voyage up the Kyles of Bute continued at...

 ...an increasingly leisurely pace as we entered the wind shadow of Bute. We stuck close to the wild Bute shore to...

 ...avoid the villas of Tighnabruaich (The house on the hill) on the Cowal shore.

 We kept our eyes open for otters as...

 ...the scenery became increasingly highland but...

 ...we only saw this heron and a couple of...

...garishly painted rocks known as the Maids of Bute, which sit on Buttock Point.

Navigation and tidal planning skills put to the test when David got his spanker in a twist.

From Lenihuline on the Island of Bute we launched or sails and set off on a wonderful downwind blast to...

 ...Kames on the mainland Cowal coast of the West Kyle. The wind had got up to a good F5 but the water...

 ...was nice and flat due to the enclosed nature of the Kyle. I was regularly hitting 14 to 15km/hr but fell back from Phil and Ian as David had twisted his sail and was not travelling as fast as the rest of us.

Our destination was the Kames Hotel. This was a "skills" outing and this week we were practising navigation. Some sea kayakers spend hours honing their skills with charts, maps and plotters.

We of  course simply read the large sign...

 ...and in no time made landfall on the little beach below the hotel.

David clearly had a drouth on him as he had managed to partially untwist his sail and came spanking in just a minute later than the rest of us.

We unanimously decided to head to the pub for lunch but first we had to put another skill into practice...

..this time it was tidal planning. Just how high up the beach should we carry the kayaks?