Gusty headwinds under the cliffs of Mull's Laggan Peninsula.

 We awoke on the shores of  Loch Buie on Mull to find that a light SE wind was sufficient to keep....

 ... the morning midges at bay. The weather forecast was for light and variable winds increasing to F4 to F5 S-SE winds by midday. Given that it was midsummer and sunny there was also the possibility of afternoon thermal winds increasing the wind even more. So we decided to make an early start and were on the water by 07:30.

We were in the lee of the Laggan peninsula and at first there was very little wind but a fair amount of swell was wrapping round Rubha na Faoilinn at the entrance to Loch Buie.

On rounding the point we were hit by a very gusty head wind from the SE which...

...was shrieking and swirling along the steep cliffs below...

...the steep cliffs of An Garradh. The gusts were so strong that they were lifting waterspouts off the surface of the sea and threatened to snatch the paddles out of our hands. As we put our heads down, our forward progress was slowed to less than 1km/hr.

The early morning sun was reflecting on the sea in front of us, which made it difficult to see the approaching gusts. The gusts were so unpredictable and ferocious that I did not risk using my Canon DSLR and so these photos were all taken with a little 2mp waterproof camera.

After an exhausting 4km paddle straight into the teeth of the wind, it was a relief to shelter in the lee of Frank Lockwood's Island. We were rewarded by a magnificent view of the cliffs on Mull's remote Laggan peninsula, which stretched away to the NE. Lying in the shelter of the little island we discussed our options. We wondered if the forecast F4-F5 winds had arrived early. If so they would make our 12 km open crossing of the Firth of Lorn rather unpleasant as they would be blowing over and against a big spring ebb tide. We battened down the hatches.... .

Threading through the 2011 Oban Sailing Club Round Mull Race.

Gradually we left the Isles of the Sea a long way behind but as we approached the coast of Mull we came across the third day of the 2011 Oban Yacht Club Round Mull Race....nearly two score of them! They made a wonderful sight, broad reaching up the Firth of Lorn in close, line astern formation as they came round Malcolm's Point on the Ross of Mull. However, they posed an almost impenetrable barrier to our progress, as we were travelling at right angles to the fleet.

We were completely knackered by our long, hot day, so we paused for some sustenance (with the distant Paps of Jura behind) before summoning the energy to sprint in tight formation...

...through one of the more sizeable gaps before the finishing line off Frank Lockwood's island.. We felt a bit like Drake sailing into the Armada but fortunately we squeezed through without anyone having to alter course or fire a broadside. I drew breath to admire the fine set of the spinnaker on this lovely yacht. Vaila is a Borresen BB10  which, as her type suggests, is 10m (32 feet) long. We have passed her several times in various places on the west coast, from Loch Fyne to Loch Linnhe, over the last 10 years or so. We have seen her most often in Loch Leven, which I think is her home water.

I used to be a sailor before I took up sea kayaking. What you don't see is what is fluttering away in a yacht's wake. Modern yachts are made up of a composite of resins and special hydrocarbon laminates. Out with yachting circles, these laminates are better known as £50 notes and unfortunately for yachties, the composite resin is partially water soluble. This explains why yachts have somewhat expensive wakes.

 Anyway I digress, we now had open water between us and the entrance to...

 ...lovely Loch Buie where we...

...landed and set up camp in the late evening.

Sea Kayaking round Laggan peninsula Mull via Lochs Spelve and Buie

A 44km paddle from Ellenabeich on the Island of Seil across the Firth of Lorn and round the Laggan peninsula of Mull via Loch Spelve, freshwater Loch Uisg and Loch Buie, February 2010. This route takes you through part of Scotland's Great Glen Fault, which just clips SE Mull. It involves two portages and two open crossings. Although this was a day trip, it would make a fantastic multi day expedition. From Glasgow it takes about 2hrs 45minutes to drive to Ellenabeich.

Tidal streams in the Firth of Lorn south of the entrance to Loch Spelve run at 2 knots springs
NE going +0515 HW Oban -0015 HW Dover
SW going -0105 HW Oban +0555 HW Dover

Tidal streams at Loch Spelve entrance run at 3.5-4 knots springs
Ingoing -0530 HW Oban +0125 HW Dover
Outgoing +0015 HW Oban -0515 HW Dover
Strong eddies and overfalls

Tidal streams off Frank Lockwood's Island run at 1 knot springs
NE going +0430 HW Oban -0100 HW Dover
SW going -0115 HW Oban +0500 HW Dover
W going eddy to Loch Buie during NE stream


Loch Spelve


Loch Buie

Google maps, short by an Insh!

Dark volcanic sands of Mull.

A Lorn view at luncheon

The Loch Spelve welcoming committee.

Loch Spelve and its mysterious pier.

A sea kayaking milestone on Mull.

Sea kayakers get fresh on Loch Uisg, Mull

Lochbuie, his highlanders and an admirable port.

The road to Loch Buie.

Sea kayaking at sundown in Loch Buie.

A night crossing of the Firth of Lorn by kayak.


Photo album map.

Sea kayaking at sundown in Loch Buie.

Despite Jennifer and Jim having done most of the heavy work, the portage had taken much longer than I had expected because of the pain in my knee. The shadows on the sand were long by the time we started to move the kayaks to the water's edge of Loch Buie.


The low sun gave a lovely warm light to the low hills behind the beach. The dark green bushes are gorse. In the spring they will be covered in the yellow flowers that give the loch its name, Loch Buie; the yellow loch.


At last we were ready to go and the trolley's were disassembled and stowed in our rear hatches.


It was a wonderful feeling to be afloat again but we were now faced with a 23km crossing of the mouth of the Firth of Lorn back to Seil. There would be no places to land and most of the crossing would be in the pitch darkness of a moonless Scottish winter's night. What an adventure!


We took a final look back at Loch Buie. We could now see Lochbuie House beside Moy castle at the head of the loch.


On the horizon ahead, low lying Colonsay contrasted with the bold outline of Malcolm's Point on the Ross of Mull.


As we emerged from the confines of Loch Buie we rounded the low wave cut platform of Rubha na Faoilinn and the horizon opened up. On our left, the bold outline of the Paps of Jura heaved high above the lower hills of Islay on the right.

The road to Loch Buie.

At first it seemed a real drag (literally) to have to portage the kayaks round a rocky headland to reach the sands of Loch Buie. I had to tackle each slight slope backwards because of my knee injury.


Then we caught sight of the sea.


The perfect peace of the scene was broken only by the white foam of the waves which were breaking along the long crescent of sand on Traigh Bhan Lagain.


We stood for some time under the slopes of Beinn nam Gobhar (435m). We were just enjoying...


...the beauty and tranquility of the scene.


Without doubt, this was the finest approach to a sea kayaking launch spot that we had ever made.

Lochbuie, his highlanders and an admirable port.

Emerging from Loch Uisg, we found ourselves on the Lochbuie road once more. This obelisk was:

Erected by Lochbuie and his highlanders to commemorate HM Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee 22nd June 1897 "God Save the Queen".

Lochbuie was the chief of the clan Maclaine which owned these lands from the 14th century until 1922 when it was sold to Sir Richard Garton who had brewing interests in London. The estate is still owned by his descendants, the Corbett family.


It was somewhat disheartening to discover we still had a mile to go. These must be long Scot's miles. We decided to take a short cut to the sea through the grounds of Lochbuie estate. The estate road had suffered from the severe winter weather and was full of pot holes. We just turned a corner and met a distinguished looking gentleman in tweed. He was shovelling bottoming into the potholes. It turned out to be Jim Corbett, the owner of Lochbuie. We complimented him on the beauty of the estate and he said he was very lucky to live in Lochbuie.


We continued down to the sea near Moy Castle. The castle was built in the 15th century by Hector MacLean. It is currently being restored. In 1752 the Maclaines moved out of the castle and into the much more comfortable Lochbuie House which is now the stable block for the estate. In 1773 Dr Johnson and Mr Boswell were entertained by the 17th laird of Loch Buie while on their tour of the Hebrides. Boswell wrote in his diary:

“We had heard a great deal of Lochbuie being a great roaring braggadocio both in size and manners. The truth is that Lochbuie proved to be a bluff, comely, noisy old gentleman, proud of his hereditary consequence, and a very hearty and hospitable landlord”.

Boswell also recorded that Lochbuie was a “delightful host” and kept “an admirable port” of which, he drank a whole bottle. The staff at seakayakphoto.com are delighted to follow the example of the great diarist on our little tours!

The current Lochbuie House was completed in 1790.


We now emerged at the head of Loch Buie. The loch looked glorious with its surface burnished by the late afternoon sun and its entrance framing the distant island of Colonsay on the horizon. It was obvious I was not going to make it over the boulders to the water with my injured knee, so we turned left and continued south on the estate road...