New Pesda Guide: Oileán –The Irish Islands Guide 2nd edition by David Walsh

This completely revised second edition of  Oileán –The Irish Islands Guide was published yesterday by Pesda Press. It covers 574 Irish Islands that can be visited by kayak or small boat. David Walsh the author has an encyclopaedic knowledge of them, he has visited 503 of them! I have not seen this edition but the first was beautifully written, informative but also capturing the spirit and essence of each island.

Amazing clarity of vision from the Solway reefs.

 With the sails up in the NE wind...

 ...Tony and I made rapid progress towards Murray's Isles.

 Soon we rounded the rocks at their western point and...

 ...slipped below the old cottage that was once used by pilots and excise men. The window in the gable end allowed them to keep an eye on the horizon for approaching ships. The isle was now devoid of the colonies of breeding cormorants and gulls that had nested here from April until early August.

 The reefs of the smaller Murray's Isle soon slipped...

 ...astern as we made across the mouth of Fleet Bay towards...

 ...the reefs of Barlocco Isle. After all the recent rainfall the atmosphere was exceptionally clear and we were able to see as far (51km) as St Bees Head in Cumbria on the English side of the Solway Firth.

On the SW side of Barlocco there is a maze of rocky channels in which to spend time trying to thread a way through.

Have you ever heard of Knockienausk Head?

The tide built up as the afternoon wore on...


...and we sped past Money Head.


To the west we could just make out the coast of Northern Ireland and to the east...


...we passed under the cliffs of Gull Rigging and indeed there were a few gulls getting ready to nest on its ledges.


From Knockienausk Head we looked back to headland after headland on the Rhins of Galloway coast. Thanks to tidal assistance, we had rounded quite a few of them on two occasions today!



The sun began to sink rapidly to the horizon above the distant hills surrounding Belfast Lough and we were nearly back in Portpatrick. We had so enjoyed paddling this remote coastline with so many strange names.

Threading the Needle's Eye with the Cetus LV!

The staff of seakayakphoto.com are currently puting the P&H Cetus LV through its paces for Ocean Paddler magazine. So far we have taken her to Mull in the Inner Hebrides, Loch Creran in the Firth of Lorn, the Mull of Logan in the North Channel, Ballantrae on the Firth of Clyde and here at the Colvend coast in the Solway Firth. We have been particularly keen to see how she compares with other kayaks such as the Rockpool Alaw Bach.


From Gillis Crag we continued eastward past Port o' Warren...


...and oyster catchers waiting for low tide at Portling, all on our port side,...


...with Skiddaw, 931m, and the mountains of the English Lake District on our starboard side, until...


...we arrived at the magnificent arch called the Needle's Eye!


Once through the Eye, we soon came across another of the Solway's treasures. This little cove is not named on modern maps and is completely cut off by steep red cliffs at high tide.


I discovered it is named Piper's Cove on the OS 6" to 1 mile map published in 1854. A cave nearby had green stains of malachite on its walls and was once a copper mine. The name Piper's Cove could equally apply to the cave as in old Gallovidian "cove" could mean cove or cave.


Piper's Cove, what a fantastic name for a special place. What hardships we have to endure, keeping up a busy testing schedule!

Mud, tides and windmills on the Solway

Back at the end of January, we drove south to Auchencairn Bay on the Solway Firth. We parked behind the hotel and trollied the kayaks down a delightful lane to the shore. In the distance, beyond the shoulder of Hestan island, our destination, the Colvend coast, lay tantalizingly on the far side of Auchencairn Bay .


Launching here is very much controlled by the tide. The window extends for about 2.5hrs either side of HW Hestan Island. If you arrive and see the mud is still exposed, don't even attempt to cross it, it is glutinous, evil smelling stuff that you will carry round with you for many weeks to come. Being the Solway, the tide will come in very quickly, so be patient and wait just a little until it is covered.


On launching, we first turned west along the cliffs of Balcarry Point. In the spring and early summer, these cliffs come alive with thousands of sea birds such as guillemots, razorbills and fulmars. Today...


...all was quiet as we explored the stacks at the base of the cliffs....


...before turning east to cross Auchencairn Bay. To the south, the windmills of the Riders Rigg wind farm were silhouetted against the distant snow covered mountains of the English Lake District.

South West Sea Kayak Meet - 12th-14th June

Mark Rainsley has organised the second South West Sea Kayak Meet for the 12th to 14th June

This promises to be a fun alternative to the many established UK symposia. The SW has a stunning coastline and I am very tempted to go myself but I can't travel very far from home at the moment.

Have a great meet!

Los Petrificados, Madrid

Just occasionally the staff of seakayakphoto.com escape furth the bounds of Auld Scotia. Madrid is quite warm at this time of year and there is much to see...


"¡Juro que un parpadeó!"



24/08/2008