Sea kayaking to Lady Isle

From Culzean to Barassie via Lady Isle, a 30km day paddle on the Firth of Clyde,  February 2011.

The lighthouse, Lady Isle.

A fair wind to Barassie Beach.


Ready for some windy fun on the Clyde.

A close encounter of the Bres kind en route to Lady Isle.

A Lady like landing.

Imminent Barassie Monkeys.

A Lady like landing.

Our journey to Lady Isle continued unhindered by further ships. About half way across, we could just begin to see the lighthouse on the horizon.

 The mountains of Arran lay far to the west and the wind increased as we paddled further into the open waters of the Firth of Clyde.

As we approached Lady Isle, the sea became shallower and together with a little increase in wind and swell, conditions became  more interesting.

We were delighted when whe made our final approach and went into a...

 close orbit  before...

 ...finally touching down on the far side of the Isle...

...where we enjoyed a hot cup of tea beside the "No Landing" sign.

Night time in Troon harbour

In the darkness we swung round the outer harbour wall at Troon. The moon and constellation Plaedes could be seen behind the lighthouse.


From far out at sea, we had heard a strange roaring noise. It turned out to be a huge shredder which was chipping logs. This grab crane was feeding about 20 logs at a time into this tree slaughter-house. There was no fine end as bedroom furniture for these pine trees!


Recently we had seen a huge pile of logs on Portavadie pier. Perhaps it was these ones which were now being chipped. By shipping logs to Troon, the west coast roads are spared a lot of heavy timber lorry traffic.


We made paddled past the High Speed Ferry terminal and made our way into the inner harbour where the fishing fleet was unloading.


The welcoming lights of the Wee Hurry fish and chip shop can be seen on the quay. Fresh fish is cooked to order, it is well worth a visit. They serve a variety of seafood dishes including things like cullen skink soup, squat lobster-tails in spring rolls, battered langoustines and of course haddock and chips! For those with a more sophisticated palate, McCallum's Oyster Bar is right next door.


We then explored the rest of the harbour. At low tide a series of tunnels, linking the inner and outer harbour, are big enough to paddle through but do so on a falling tide! We then paddled past the Trent class RNLI lifeboat. In the distance multi coloured containers under floodlights marked the RORO freight ferry terminal for Ireland. This opened in 2001. In the 1960's this was a ship breaking quay and I remember destroyers and submarines meeting their end here.


Finally it was time to go home and we paddled round from the harbour back to the Ballast Bank. The lights of the rest of the returning fishing fleet stretched away into the darkness of the Firth of Clyde.

Please note this is a busy working harbour, even at night. Look up the P&O ferry timetable before you come and avoid ferry arrival and departure times. Fishing boats and yachts can arrive or leave at any time so keep a sharp lookout and have a bright white light on each kayak.

01/04/2009

Another World on Lady Isle, just three miles from home!

Last Wednesday evening we found ourselves drifting round Lady Isle in the Firth of Clyde. Far to the SW the great rock of Ailsa Craig was merging into the twilight.


The lighthouse beam flashed white every two seconds. It was originally built in 1903 and was gas powered. It was refurbished in 2004 and converted to an electric light powered by batteries charged by solar panels. More of the early history of beacons on Lady Isle can be read here.


As we drifted round the island in the fading light Hundreds of herring and common gulls flew in from every direction to roost on the isle. When I was a member of Troon Sailing Club in the sixties and early seventies there was an annual race around the isle in dinghies. It was a fundraiser for the RNLI which has a lifeboat based in nearby Troon Harbour. In those days there was a large colony of terns on the island but these have now disappeared. Judging by the number of gulls which followed the fishing fleet into Troon, maybe the gulls came and displaced the terns when the fishing fleet moved from Ayr to Troon in 1996.


Although the isle is now rocky it was once covered with beautiful sand dunes backed by grass. Unfortunately early 19th century attempts to improve the pasture by burning the vegetation and introducing rabbits destroyed the dunes which were washed away by winter storms. There are still supposed to be rabbits on the isle but I have never seen any. Remarkably, there is a small freshwater spring on the island.


It was a wonderful atmospheric experience, with the mournful calls of the gulls filling the late evening sky above.


Slowly the lights of the Ayrshire coastal towns came on and the eastern horizon glowed with the orange of sodium lights.


It was now time to return. We lit our head torches as we did not want to be run down by the still returning fishing fleet.


Our lights made crazy reflections as the little waves danced in the darkening waters of the Firth of Clyde.


The night closed round us and we were soon in Another World, but Tony's house was less than three miles away! When sea kayaking, the adventure begins within minutes of wherever you launch from, especially here on the wonderful West Coast of Scotland!



01/04/2009

Nightfall over Lady Isle

Last Wednesday night we left work and the city behind.


We were bound for Lady Isle in the Firth of Clyde.


We launched from the Ballast Bank in Troon just as the High Speed Ferry from Northern Ireland came in. Fortunately the returning fishing fleet left smaller wakes.


They were also bound for Troon Harbour.


As the sun sank in the west, the light breeze dropped away and Lady Isle and the rocky dome of distant Ailsa Craig seemed to float on a sea of liquid gold.


The kink on our route on the way out was to slip behind the stern of the above fishing boat.

01/04/2009

Busy night at Troon

We met last night at 8pm on the Ballast Bank at Troon Harbour on the Firth of Clyde.


Our destination was Lady Isle, a nature reserve to the SW.


Just as we set off the high speed ferry Express left for Larne in Northern Ireland. Her gross weight is 5902 tons and her maximum speed is 41 knots. She passes by Ailsa Craig and on our recent trip there we set off an hour later than we originally intended. This was to make sure she was well past the Craig before we arrived.


Those 4 diesels sure make some smoke as she warms up.


As she left the fishing fleet was returning to Troon. We had seen them scooping huge loads of fish from the waters round Ailsa Craig. I hope they have left enough for the gannets.

There are too many people on this Earth. Maybe we had all better become vegetarians before the food runs out but on the other hand, maybe its already too late.

08/05/2008

Mysterious nocturnal "goings on" on Lady Isle.

The recent weekend weather in the West of Scotland has not been particularly conducive to sea kayaking. However, this week has been blessed with a high pressure system resulting in light winds, clear skies and hard frosts. Suffering withdrawal symptoms on one of the shortest days of the year, David, Gavin, Harvey, Tony and myself convened at the Ballast Bank in Troon on the Firth of Clyde. Our destination was Lady Isle which is only 4km away to the south west. Rumours were circulating of mysterious sounds, which locals had heard drifting over the bay from the direction of the island on still nights! We were set to investigate and report back to you, the reader, our findings.

How, may you ask, did we get caught out by darkness on such a short trip? Well we saw no daylight whatsoever. We set off at 8pm which was some four and a half hours after sunset! The temperature then was a reasonable -1.5C but when we returned at 10:30pm it had dropped to -5C.


Navigation was no problem due to the regular white flash (every two seconds) of the lighthouse which is situated in the middle of the island. This was built in 1903 in place of an unlit stone built tower. There is a smaller stone beacon nearby, which was built in 1776 at the same time as the stone tower. The Ayrshire ports were hazardous for sailing ships to enter in strong SW to NW winds. In these conditions ships could find safe anchorage in the lee of Lady Isle by lining up the two stone towers.

The night was clear with a near threequarter waxing gibbous moon. Mars, Orion, the Plough and Cassiopeia were prominent overhead but apart from the flash of the light, the island itself was just an indistinct shadow. As we approached we became aware of a curious bellowing and groaning coming from the island. The source of the mysterious sound was soon discovered. This is the mating season for grey seals and it proved to be in full swing. In the darkness we could see little of the actual events but the sounds were quite self explanatory. After a particularly prolonged roaring between two bulls, the defeated seal made off into the sea with a great splash. To Harvey's great concern he swam straight for us. To the recently defeated bull we might appear as slim and attractive newcomers that might succumb to his needs and desires (all 800lbs of them). We behaved as unseal like and as unfemale like as we could. Neither did we wish to rekindle his fighting spirit by giving more than a passing glance at the shadowy figures of the harem of females waiting for the master.

Last night we fortunately returned to shore as mere observers of, rather than as participants in, the ancient rituals which have been acted for countless generations under the winter moon on Lady Isle. Kayako intacto as they say.

18/1/2007


This photo shows Troon South Beach on 20/10/02. Last night we launched from the distant point. You can just see the lighthouse on Lady Isle at the left of the photo. There is a yacht to its left.