Summer puts in a late appearance on the Solway.

 Summer finally arrived...

 ...at Fleet Bay...

 ...on the Solway Firth...

 ...on the 21st of September. Tony and I were taking no chances, in case we missed it, and set off as soon as the tide reached the bottom of the rocks.

In the NE wind, we hoisted our sails and set off for the horizon. The Isles of Fleet were somewhat nearer than the Isle of Man, so that was where we headed.

End of the road: the Mull of Galloway tide race.

After we reloaded the kayaks onto the car, we drove to the road end at the Mull of Galloway, the southernmost tip of Scotland.


Looking east on the spring ebb tide you can see the main race comes very close to the east end of the Mull but it then heads SW, out to sea, leaving most of the cliffs below the Mull standing in a relatively flat eddy.


This is the spring ebb race running against a force 4 to 6 SW wind.


Looking south towards the Isle of Man over the ebb race.


Looking west, the ebb race is well offshore...but the water round Gallie Craig is not exactly flat.


To give an idea of the scale this is Gallie Craig from the sea looking east towards the lighthouse! (17/02/2008)


The above photos show the ebb race. The flood race come much closer to the cliffs than the ebb. We went through against the flood tide, 2 hours from slack water at springs. This photo (in a similar wind to that which we experienced) shows the water state below the fog horn, 2 hours from slack water at neaps. It gives an idea of what we met. We found more broken water and the conditions persisted without a break for 2km! To give some idea of scale, the photo was taken from a height of 71m. (28/12/06)


Going east to west, on the west going ebb you have only a short 100m or so of race to cross at the east end of the Mull. After this you enter a large relatively flat eddy which extends right to the west end of the Mull and beyond.

Going east to west on an east going flood as we did, even in close to the rocks, you are much closer to the main race. From the light house you have to fight adverse currents at each headland. The red arrow highlights a submarine reef which throws up standing waves especially on the flood.

What a fun place! No wonder several legends attach to this place.....

PS Of course most people would have driven up to the road end at the top of the cliffs and looked at the race before they paddled it. Many would have decided that one look was enough! The trick with this type of paddling is not to look first! We didn't, but of course I am not recommending this ostrich type of approach to planning sea kayaking expeditions! In truth I knew exactly what it would look like as I have gazed down on the race in many different conditions but not paddled it afterwards.

15/12/2008

Southern exposure round the Mull of Galloway.

The Mull of Galloway is a bold headland which juts out into the North Channel of the Irish Sea. It is Scotland's most southerly point. It is a magnet for sea kayakers due to its notorious nine tides!

Tony and I set off from the East Tarbet of the Mull of Galloway 2hrs and 30mins before the end of the east going flood. We planned to use a west flowing eddy that runs close into the cliffs. Unfortunately this eddy does not run round each of the many headlands on the Mull and we were prepared to battle round these into the teeth of the east going flood. The freshening SW wind began to make its presence felt. Cats' paws spread out on the water as the wind dropped over the cliffs.

We soon picked up an east going eddy which runs along the north coast of the Mull. It carried us effortlessly to the east point of the Mull.


Here in the shelter from the wind, and out of sight of the race, we enjoyed a calm moment enjoying a view of the Isle of Man. Calm was not a word we would use again on this trip!


As we worked our way round the corner, the water became livelier...


... and the wind began to increase.


This photo was taken in the last of the calm water before we entered the race. The water then got a bit rough and I found myself quite unable to take further photographs....

We were in the disturbed water from below the lighthouse to the entrance of West Tarbet bay. Most of the waves were only about 5 feet, crest to trough, but they were short, steep, breaking, very irregular and coming at us from all angles.

As the wind shrieks round their jagged ramparts and as the surf thunders at their base, no one can hear your screams far below the cliffs of the Mull of Galloway!

Close to the rocks the clapotis was fearsome but the tide was less strong. After being side surfed by several waves we kept away from the rocks as much as we could. As a result we found ourselves in the stronger adverse current further out. It took 40 minutes from the east to the west points of the Mull. It is only 2.5km so we actually managed to average 3.75km/hr. It really was sustained maximum effort all the way. The worst bit was 1.5km to the west of the lighthouse. My GPS showed I was going backwards at 1km/hr on several occasions before I got round that one! The maximum speed I hit was 14.5km/hr (while still paddling) in the eddy to the south of the lighthouse.

The wind was still increasing and any thoughts of continuing up the west coast to Port Logan were abandoned. We made for the shelter of West Tarbet Bay and prepared ourselves for a Viking style portage over the Tarbet ...

15/12/2008

The fishermen of Kirkcudbright Harbour

The fishing fleet is in, bringing colour to Kirkcudbright Harbour.

Like Maidens, Kirkcudbright's fishing fleet declined during the first half of the 20th century. Then in the late 1950's a revival started after local man, John King, started lobster and scallop fishing. Gradually the number and size of the boats increased and construction changed from wood to steel. Today there is only one traditional wooden Scottish boat left. She is the "Fredwood" on the extreme right of the photograph. Most of the boats are scallop dredgers but "Argo", the small boat in the foreground, is a cockle dredger. One of the biggest boats is the blue boat, third from the right. She is the "King Explorer" and is part of the John King fleet.

A local economy has built round the fishing fleet; fish processing, dredging gear manufacturers, suppliers etc.. Local restaurants serve fresh scallops which make an excellent starter before a succulent grass fed Galloway fillet steak.


All this has come at a cost, in 1985 the "Mhari-L" was lost with all 5 hands. Then in 2000 the "Solway Harvester" was lost with all 7 hands. Both vessels were lost in the Irish sea between Galloway and the Isle of Man. On their way to the boats, fishermen walk past a memorial dedicated to the women and children of this and other Galloway fishing communities who have lost their menfolk.

22/03/2008