A haven by the shore of the southern Sound of Islay.

Bt the time we passed the Carraig Mhor lighthouse on the Islay shore to the south of ort Askaig, we could...

 ...see right through the southern Sound of Islay to the distant Kintyre peninsula beyond.

Looking back the Paps of Jura were receding...

 ...at a rate of knots (literally) as the...

 ...swirls and boils in mid channel pushed us south.

 Amazingly quickly it was time to break out of the flow...

 ...we did not want to be pushed beyond McArthur's Head lighthouse!

 We turned west looking for the tiny haven...

...of An Cladach (the stony shore), another MBA bothy.

This was to be our home for the night. We had arrived on the wonderful isle of Islay from the mainland by a most circuitous route!

 It was six pm and the sun was sinking fast. Tony went for a shower in the local waterfall. I went for a quick swim in the sea. It was only 9C. I suspect the waterfall might have been a little warmer.

The northern Sound of Islay, the sound of superlatives.

The north half of the Sound of Islay is blessed with...

 ...some amazing rock architecture on the Jura shore. We were treated to more dykes, arches,...

 ....caves and stacks.

 We were enjoying the view so much that we kept close inshore out of the main south going flow.

 The Islay shore was also not without its delights. This is the Bunnahabhain distillery.

 Meanwhile back on the Jura shore the succession of caves and...

 dykes continued.

 Then gradually the Sound narrowed and as we approached...

 ...the lighthouse at Carragh an t-Sruith the full force of the ebb tide caught us and we sped south at 13km/hr.

 The next Islay delight was the Caol Ila distillery very rapidly followed by...

...Port Askaig, where the ferries from Kintyre, Jura, Colonsay and Oban call. This evening it was only the Eilean Dhiura, the Jura ferry, that was in port.

As we reflected on what we had seen in our rapid transit of the northern Sound of Islay, we agreed that it truly was a Sound of Superlatives. As we would now be crossing from Jura to Islay I was particularly glad I had brought some Caol Ila 18y old malt for later that night. Jura malt on Jura then Islay malt on Islay, what could be better?

Waiting for the tide in the Sound of Islay #1 a tick feast!

The flood tide was now rushing north up the Sound of Islay at  5 knots. While there are some counter eddies, it is a purgatory thing to waste energy fighting the forces of nature. It is much better to go with the flow and where better to stop for third luncheon than this stunning beach on the Jura shore?

 Tony wasted no time in leaping to the top of the basalt dyke behind the beach. "You'll need to come up and see this view" he shouted down. Well my knees were still aching after the Tarbert portage the previous night so I took my time...

...and pitched my tent in the lee of another dyke. My tent was still soaking wet after my camp on Seil with Mike two nights previously.  The fresh offshore wind soon had it bone dry. While it was drying I slowly made my way up to Tony the easy way, round the back of the dyke.

As I climbed the view got better and better. This is looking north  to the distant mountains of Mull.

This is looking NW to Ruvaal lighthouse on Islay with Oronsay, Colonsay and Mull on the horizon.

This is looking west across the Sound of Islay to Sgarbh Breac 364m on Islay.

 This is looking SE down the narrowing Sound of Islay.

 These pretty yellow primroses caught my eye as I stopped to give my knees a rest.

 Tony was right the view from the top of the dyke was stunning.

 We had pulled the kayaks well above the incoming tide so we were in no hurry.

 Unlike these guys whom we had seen lifting their pots when we left the mouth of West Loch Tarbert.

The boat is Speedwell of Glenariffe CN318. Her home port is Kilkeel in SE Northern Ireland some 240 kilometres away! Whatever, she was on full throttle and only making slow progress down the Sound of Islay.

After all this activity and hubbub died down Tony and I were left in peace. We spent some time just watching the tide rush by and picking ticks off our wrists and ankles. This was our luncheon, not a tick feast!

A change of course in the Sound of Islay.

When Tony and I left West Loch Tarbert on Jura's wild west coast, our original intention had been to paddle the 8km across the Sound of Islay from Rubha a' Chrois-aoinidh on Jura and land to the west of Ruvaal lighthouse on Islay. There we could sit out the north going flood tide in the Sound of Islay before the tide turned and carried us south to our next destination on the SE coast of Islay. At first the sea was calm but...

Intermission with no photos.

...one thing about sea kayaking is that you need to be flexible. We had only gone 2km but the offshore tail wind which was funnelling straight down West Loch Tarbert had increased to the top of a F4 and we the Sound was kicking up some very lumpy water as the tide increased.

Anyway we decided to give Ruvall a miss and turned through 90 degrees to broad reach down the Sound as far as we could, given the tide was running against us.

 Out in the open Sound, we made splendid progress...

Intermission with no photos.

...for a further four kilometres but as we entered....

 ...the lee of Jura, the wind dropped and veered to the south so we had to drop our sails. The coastline here has frequent basalt dykes, arches caves and raised beaches.

It was getting hard paddling against the wind and the tide but we hugged the shore to keep out of the main stream as the Sound narrowed ahead.

This magnificent series of waterfalls cascade from a high valley directly onto the beach. The deep V shaped gorge was not cut by the present flow but by the huge volume of melt water from the retreating ice after the Ice Age.

 We made one last burst against the tide before finding...

 ...a most agreeable place to stop for...

 ...third luncheon. A basalt dyke behind the beach offered shade from the chill south east wind.

Living the dream of the Hebridean Isles on Gigha.

Due to the presence of an amphidromic point between Islay and the Mull of Kintyre, the mean spring tidal range on the west coast of Gigha is only about 1m so we did not ...

 ...need to pull the kayaks very far up the beach before settling down to...

 ...enjoy the sunset.

We gazed wistfully at the islands on the horizon, Islay to the west and Jura to the north west and...

...,as the midge attack lessened,  made plans to visit Islay in July. At the back of my mind I suspected this might be wishful thinking, After 4 days of paddling my shoulder was giving me real concern. I knew I would have to go and see about it on my return.

 Ever so gradually the day faded away over Islay and...

...Jura but it was still light when we went to bed about midnight. We may have dreamed of Hebridean Isles but on this trip we were living the dream!