Stoned on Gigha.

 From Poll Mor we approached Port na Cathrach on Gigha's exposed west coast. It has long been used for fishing, there are bait holes carved into the solid stone of the rocks near the old pier.

It was good to see the old pier was again in use by the Banff registered creel boat, BF42 Jewel (though her home port is Campbelltown).

Just beyond the pier lies the little sandy Port an t-Samhlaidh. On the hill behind the beach millstones were once carved out of the rock. A partly quarried millstone is still in situ.

 We then decided to circumnavigate the little island of Craro. The ownership of Craro includes the title The Baron of Gigha. This is currently held by Don Dennis who owns both Craro and Achamore House from where he runs his flower essence business. On Craro there is said to be a curious rock formation which is like a stone bull.

 We paddled all the way round Craro but found no obvious landing place so we set off...

 ...for Gigha again disturbing yet another otter on the way.

 There was no landing along the great rock wall of Cnoc Loisgte.

 Previously I have seen a pair of peregrine falcons here but today we saw only a large number of buzzards and a golden eagle.

 At last we arrived at Port an Duin were we...

 ...took a short break for luncheon on the shore below...

 ...the old water mill. I wondered if its mill stones had come from the quarry we had passed earlier. During our stop we were entertained by the silvery autumn song of a robin.

In the NE corner of Port an Duin a pile of stones form another rudimentary pier.

A pile of creels on the rocks suggest that this is another port that is being used by a fishing once more.

A grey Gigha day.

We woke on Cara to the rumble of the heavy diesel engine of this work boat. it was a grey cold day and...

...we put warm thermals and cags on.

Ceanothus UL72 from Oban set off out through the Sound of Cara as did...

...we as we were going to paddle clockwise round Gigha.

 It did not take long to approach Slocan Leim at the south end of Gigha, beyond which...

 ...we entered Grob Bagh where for a moment we thought that...

 ...the sun might break through the clouds but it did not quite manage,

 In Grob Bagh there is a striking quartzite dyke called Rubha Ban which extends well into the bay.

 The Gigha community wind farm had a fourth and larger wind turbine added in 2014.

 From Grob Bagh we paddled north through...

 ...the Gigha skerries until...

 ...we entered Poll Mor.

 Ahead heads of various sizes appeared in the pool.

 We saw several otters and seals and curiously...

 ...they seemed to be quite oblivious to each other and indeed...

 ...to us. Sammy the otter was quite happy munching crabs on his back before...

...diving down for some more.

The correct protocol required when greeting the Brownie of Cara

 From Gigalum we crossed to the south end of Gigha before heading across the Sound of Cara to...

 ...Port an Stoir  at the north end of Cara where we intended to camp.

The east beach was occupied by some resident goats. I immediately thought of goat bhuna but we decided to land on the west beach instead.

 If one lands on Cara (and especially so, if one intends to stay the night) it is a wise sea kayaker who knows the correct protocol for greeting The Brownie. It is vital to do this before doing anything else. One needs to raise one's cap then doff it in a suitably deferential manner while at the same time saying in a clear voice "Good Evening Mr. Brownie". The only acceptable variation to this protocol is to change the greeting to suit the time of day of one's arrival.

Failure to satisfy The Brownie on this matter will result in him interpreting your arrival as a serious diplomatic faux pas. All manner of mischief may then be unleashed upon your party by this unhappy spirit. Campbells need to be particularly careful as The Brownie is the spirit of a MacDonald who was murdered by a Campbell. Best advice would be to never disclose your surname on Cara. If your first name is Campbell then you must use a nickname or visit Gigha instead. The annals of Scottish sea kayaking are full of tales of The Brownie's mischief; kayaks floating away in the night, paddles being hidden in the bramble bushes, full bottles of malt whisky being emptied during the night and much, much worse.

 We found a little driftwood but were glad of the barbecue coals and logs we had brought with us and soon...

 ...had an excellent fire going on the white shell sands of Cara. previous visitors had burned multiple fire rings in the machair.. hope the Brownie got them!

 Anyway we were just thinking that life did not get better than baked sweet potatoes when...

...this amazing moon rose out of the fog on the Sound of Gigha.

A foggy crossing to Gigalum and why I never go to sea without GPS.

Back on the first of October much of Scotland basked under the blue skies of an Indian summer. Ian and I decided on a short notice camping trip of two nights to Gigha and Cara. When I arrived at Tayinloan on the Kintyre mainland there were stunning blue skies but as Ian arrived thick mist rolled in from the sea. The very stuff that Paul McCartney wrote about when he was staying in his farm just down the road. We decided to take tea and cake at the excellent Ferry Farm Cafe which is adjacent to the ferry car park.

Well fortified, we set off into the fog on a 5km crossing of the Sound of Gigha. I regularly paddle in fog on the Solway and Ian and I have paddled together from Rum to Eigg in thick fog so we didn't think twice about it. I had plotted a waypoint into my GPS that would take us on a course that diverged south of the ferry route by 60 degrees. I had set it for the isle of Gigalum at the south end of Gigha as it would cross the Flat Rocks the Wee  Rocks and Gigalum Rocks on the way. This would expose us to the minimum danger of shipping as anyone with a draught of more than a few inches would keep well clear of these rocks in fog. The ferry captain did ask us about our plans as he was concerned in case he ran us down. However, he was reassured when he heard our plans. Of course both the wind and tide would carry us off course but I had set my GPS to give the bearing from our current position to the waypoint on Cara. As we crossed if the bearing dEcreased we went lEft and if it Increased we went rIght.

Half way across, the mist thinned just for a moment and we were lucky to experience this wonderful fogbow.

We caught sight of something in the mist. The fog magnifies everything and Ian thought it was an island with trees but it was just Gigalum rock with some cormorants on it. We were bang on course and Ian called the ferry captain on the VHF and let him know our exact position. We could hear his engine rumbling well to the north.

 Shortly afterwards we arrived at Gigalum and...

...a hazy sun put in a brief appearance as we paddled through the amazing Gigalum skerries. There was no chance of getting run over in the fog here. Many very experienced sea kayakers are disparaging of GPS and never use it. Pn the contrary, I never go to sea without a GPS (actually I have two, my phone is a backup). Of course on this crossing I was also using my compass, map, ears, nose, sense of what the wind was doing (and the smells it carried) and sense of what the tide was doing. I suspect that some of those who chose not to use GPS do so because they have not taken the effort to learn how they work and understand their advantages and disadvantages.

A fair wind in West Loch Tarbert.

The weather forecast had been for a force 3 to 4 NE wind. This would have been a most unwelcome headwind in West Loch Tarbert. However, we were pleasantly surprised when a delightful tail wind picked up. I was especially pleased as my left shoulder was now "clicking" painfully with every stroke. It was a relief to hoist the sails and let them take some of the strain.

 We soon left the open sea and Gigha far in our wakes.

The enclosed nature of West Loch Tarbert was in complete contrast to the exposure we had experienced off the Mull of Kintyre earlier in the trip. As the shores of the loch closed round us we came across enchanting coves and...

 ...beaches backed by wooded slopes.

We trailed our fingers in the shallow, warm, clear waters as the sails carried us on towards the only sign of human activity... the Islay ferry, MV Finlaggan berthing at the Kennacraig ferry terminal.

We were not alone on Gigha.

We awoke to a beautiful morning on Gigha but unfortunately we were not alone. We had been joined by billions of midges who enjoyed breakfast on us.

 So we missed our own breakfasts and hurriedly broke camp and loaded the boats.

 It was such a relief to be out on the cool midge free water.

In the early morning sunshine, we paddled to the north end of Gigha where we caught sight of our next destination. The mouth of West Loch Tarbert was highlighted by the silhouette of the morning ferry to Islay, the MV Finlaggan.