From the sublime to the ridiculous in the West Kyle.

As the two sides of the West Kyle of Bute gathered towards us we came to Kilmichael. In the field in front of the cottage there is a chambered cairn called St Michael's grave. St. Michael founded a church near by but this cairn predates the Christian era by about 2,000 years.

Just round the coast from the cairn is the ruin of this abandoned house. It was the ferryman's house for the ferry that ran from Kilmichael on Bute to Blair's ferry on the Cowal side of the kyle. Although the rocks look too inhospitable for landing, there is a little cut with a jetty just to the NW of the house. The ferry was established in 1769 and ran until 1940 when it was closed due to WW2 military operations and exercises in the area. The house was occupied until that time. The ferry man operated the premises as an inn called "The Bottle and Glass Inn". Unfortunately we had arrived well after closing time.

The Kames Hotel on the opposite side of the Kyle  was open but as it was such a glorious day we decided to stay in the sun for our second luncheon. Amazingly a southerly thermal wind picked up and gave...

...us a little assistance past Tighnabruich to Caladh Harbour at the north end of the kyle.

Then at the north end of Bute we passed blow two garishly painted rocks known as the Maids of Bute.

As you can see from this close up from our March trip, they look nothing like "maids". I doubt they will be as long lasting as the chambered cairn at Kilmichael.

After a short paddle through the tidal south channel at the Burnt Islands we arrived back...

...at the ferry terminal at Rhubodach just as the MV Loch Dunvegan was pulling away from the jetty. Our  four day trip from the Kyles of Bute to Loch Fyne and Inchmarnock was now over. Sadly the Scottish summer of 2015 seemed to coincide with those four days and it would be some time before we went on a camping trip again.

We took the Calmac ferry to Bute from Wemyss Bay then drove from Rothesay to Rhubodach. We covered 91km in 3 whole days paddling.

Inchmarnock to the West Kyle.

We left the lovely but low lying isle of Inchmarnock floating on a wide expanse of limpid sea. It was...

...dwarfed by the high mountains of Arran on the far side of the Sound of Bute.

Our passage across the Sound of Inchmarnock was accompanied by a black throated diver which flew round and round us until it lost interest as we...

 ...entered the narrowing...

 ...confines of the...

...West Kyle of Bute.

We took a last look back at Inchmarnock before the last stage of our journey, which would take us on a winding route deep into the mountains where there would be no sign of an open horizon.

Bracken time in Glenan Bay Loch Fyne.

It did not take Donald long to disappear down Loch Fyne in his SIB due to its 25HP Mariner outboard but...

...we were making good time assisted by the northerly breeze. A bend in the loch means that we could not see beyond the lochs shores but...

...there were plenty lovely bays at the foot of wooded hills to maintain our interest until...

...we rounded Eilean Buidhe and caught sight of Arran beyond the mouth of the loch.

Eilean Buidhe means yellow island and looking back it indeed looked yellow.

The wind was steadily increasing and before long we were back at Eilean a' Bhuic which stands guard at the mouth of Glenan Bay.

We had not stopped here on our way north but it seemed churlish not to do so now.

 It was spring low water so we left the boats at the water's edge and made our way to the top of the beach where...

 ...we enjoyed a splendid first luncheon as the Poravadie/Tarbert ferry plied her route with the mountains of Arran beyond.

We did not rush as we knew that David and Phil would be shortly leaving Mike and myself at Portavadie. Indeed this frond of bracken had unfolded considerably in the time it took us to finish.

The wind mills of Kintyre were birling in the north wind.

Just round the headland from our camp site, the main sweep of Kilfinan Bay is sand. As David was getting himself ready I went off for a little beach combing.

Our little beach had no sand but had these beautiful pebbles. As I was admiring their iridescent colours I heard the approach of an outboard motor...

 ...it turned out to be my brother...

 ...Donald who was out fishing in his SIB (soft inflatable boat). We swapped stories until...

 ...David was all packed and ready to go. David asked Donald if he had any oars for emergencies. Donald just laughed and pointed to the two outboards.

 Soon we were on the water and left Donald tidying his gear.

It did not take long for him to speed past us  on his way to Inchmarnock. He went on to cover 150km that day while we covered 27km!

Donald might have his two outboards but as the wind mills of Kintyre were birling in a north wind, we would have wind assistance the whole way!

Reviresco in Loch Fyne

Today Kilfinan is a remote and wild landscape but...

www.canmore.org.uk (You will need to create an account to see the mapping)

...place an archaeological map over today's map and you will discover this area was once a near metropolis. There was an ancient dun or hill fort on...

 ...the hill to the north of the beach so we decided to climb up to it...

 ...passing clumps of spotted orchids on the way.

Today the remains of the dun are largely two semi circular walls about 30m across and not much above ground level, which date from the Iron Age. They were built by Celtic people in pre-Roman times. However, the site was inhabited until late mediaeval times with a succession of wooden buildings. It became known as Caisteal Mhic Eoghainn (Mac Ewan Castle) and was the base for the Ewan of Otter clan. There were multiple, unrelated MacEwan clans in Scotland and the Ewans of Otter and their land became subsumed into the Campbell clan after their last chief, Swene Mac Ewen, died in 1493.

There is a stone memorial with...

...a brass plaque on which the clan motto "Reviresco" is displayed. This means grow green (or young) again.

Well the former Mac Ewan lands have grown green again even though that branch of the clan died out. The castle certainly had a commanding position. This is the view down Loch Fyne and this is the view...

...view up Loch Fyne. The building by the shore is a 19th century salt house. Salt was needed to preserve the prodigious numbers of herring which were once found in the loch. Other herring were preserved by smoking...the Loch Fyne kipper. One branch of my family came from here and my great great grandfather MacCallum was a herring fisherman. His sons followed him but the fish ran out and they had to fish further and further afield. My great, great uncle was washed overboard and lost at sea in the Southern Ocean.

Loch Fyne herring drifters by William Lionel Wyllie (1851-1931)

The traditional Loch Fyne herring fishermen used sail and oar powered boats and drift nets but the introduction in the mid 19th century of steam trawlers (based in Tarbert and Campbeltown) increased the overfishing and there was bitter rivalry between the two types of fishermen. Violence ensued and the Royal Navy had to station HMS Porcupine (a 3 gun wooden steamer built in 1844) on the loch to keep the peace. My great grandfather gave up the sea and moved to Glasgow where he got a job with the Caledonian Railway company.

Rip roaring yarns at Kilfinan.

 The warm evening sun soon dried our things but as the sun began to sink and the shadows lengthened...

 ...the midges came out. David had set up his fancy new inflatable luxury camping armchair by the tents. Unfortunately so ferocious was the sudden midge attack that, as he lashed out at the invisible enemy, the whole contraption exploded and collapsed, leaving him stranded like an upturned tortoise. It would have been hilarious if we had not all been scrambling round for...

...our own midge jackets. After donning them we decided to cook on the shore where there were slightly fewer of the predators. We were certainly not top of the food chain that night.

 We soon got a rip roaring fire going and gathered...

 ...round to swap yarns and...

 ...roast potatoes in the embers.

Never mind the flames or the midges, rip roaring yarns lasted long into the summer night!