Seals and boats on the east coast of Inchmarnock.

As we paddled up the east coast of Inchmarnock we came to the abandoned farm at Midpark. 

On the shore below Midpark lie the sad remains of the wooden ferry MV Dhuirnish. The Dhuirnish was built as a turntable ferry in 1956 for J & A Gardner Ltd. who operated the Taynuilt/Bonawe route across Loch Etive until the service closed in 1966. In 1967 the Bute Ferry Co. Ltd. bought her, removed the turntable and fitted a bow ramp. They operated her on the Colintraive/Rhubodach crossing in the Kyles of Bute where she carried six cars at a time. During the Great Storm on the 14th January 1968 she sank at her mooring in Colintraive. She was raised and re-entered.service the following summer. She remained on the crossing until June 1971. By September 1971 she had had two further owners but it is not known how she ended up on Inchmarnock.

Further north we came to the modern farm buildings and slipway at  Northpark where the MV Marnock was moored. She was built on Bute in 1999 for the Inchmarnock Estate who...

 ...rear a pedigree herd of Highland cattle here.

It was now too hot for our dry suits so we landed near the north of Inchmarnock to disrobe.

 No sooner had we landed than an inquisitive group of about 30 common seals surrounded us.

 The water looked so inviting that I joined them for a quick swim.

This fellow was not for moving, despite the interest shown by his fellow members of  the Welcome to Inchmarnock committee.

 Feeling much cooler we  continued on our way towards...

 ...the north of the island where...

...a large rocky spit  makes a good place to land to explore the north of the island. It was near here where the stone cist containing the 4,000 year old remains of the "Queen of the Inch" were found.

Caught between midges and reefs on Inchmarnock, a hard place.

Mike and I rose early on Inchmarnock on the last day of our trip round the West Kyle, Loch Fyne and the Sound of Bute.

 Unfortunately so did the midges and we fled to the shore...

 ...where we had left our food and cooking things.

Despite the breeze, the early morning sun and the vast expanse of beach the midges were still biting. A good ploy on a sunny day is just to lie in bed until it is too hot for the midges. However, we had to get going early as the tide was ebbing fast and at low tide the cobbles run out and...

 ...jagged reefs separate the beach from the sea. You can find easier spots to land and camp at all states of the tide at the north and SE of Inchmarnock.

Fortunately the midges hurried our breakfast and packing and we were able to launch while the tide was still well above the reefs

Golden sunset and embers on Inchmarnock.

The sun slowly sank to the NW over the Sound of Bute.

 As it did so the sky slowly turned to gold and...

 ...the ancient layers of sedimentary rock on Inchmarnock were illuminated by a lovely warm light.

 Normally midges are a problem in the West of Scotland summer evenings but a north wind meant...

 ...we enjoyed the sunset undisturbed.

After sunset we experienced an extended twighlight but the temperature dropped even further and so we turned...

...to the glowing embers of our fire and enjoyed the heat of many past summers as night drew round the mountains of Arran.

Sammy the Inchmarnock otter is an imposter!.

Once we had negotiated the reefs exposed by low tide, the upper beach on the west coast of Inchmarnock was a broad expanse of cobbles.

We set up camp at the top of the beach and set to preparing our evening meal.

We had a grandstand view across the Sound of Bute to the rocky ridges of the north Sannox mountains of Arran. The notch of Ceum na Cailich, (the Witch's Step) and the granite tors on the summit of Caisteal Abhail (this means "castle of death" not "stronghold of the ptarmigan" as you may read elsewhere). A yacht was beating up the Sound into the cold northerly wind which also brought the remarkably clear air.

Due to the chill wind we wasted no time in getting the fire and...

 ...the baked potatoes on.

 This must be one of the best views in Scotland and we had it all to ourselves until...

 ...what I thought was Sammy the otter put in an appearance. He ran along the beach from where a little trickle of a burn issued into the sea.

 He made for his favourite fishing...

 ...pool where he caught several sea urchins before...

...heading home again.  What a place, we were just 50km from my house in Glsgow but there was not a sight of human habitation.

I am grateful to Ian and Ben (see comments below) for correctly identifying this animal as a mink. The first unconfirmed sighting of a mink on neighbouring Bute was in 1981 and the first confirmed report was a dead mink at the north of Bute in 1982. Since then numbers have increased. Local naturalist JA Gibson has published an account "Atlas of Bute and Cumbrae vertebrates, 1980". An update Supplementary notes on Bute vertebrates was published in the Buteshire Transactions in 2004. In it Gibson writes about the mink  "I believe it has not yet reached Inchmarnock." and "During a visit to Inchmarnock in 2001 no mink were seen and there was no obvious predation on eider nests." It is sad that the mink is now indeed on Inchmarnock.

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!