Reminiscent of a river: the Loch Eil narrows.

As we approached the tidal narrows at the mouth of Loch Eil...

...the summit of Ben Nevis was still lost in the clouds.

In the narrows, the west going flood starts at -0435 HW Oban (+0220 HW Dover) and the east going ebb starts at  +0130 HW Oban (-0400 HW Dover). The spring rate in both directions is 5 knots. We were in the narrows an hour before the end of the ebb and were surprised to be drifting at 3.2 knots.

This boat had found a sheltered spot to hole up for the winter.

We stopped for a quick break in the middle of the narrows. With the trees coming right down to the shore, above the flowing water, we both thought the scene was reminiscent of a large river like the Tay. Well, apart from the sea weed that is!

On the water again, for the first time there was some sign of the cloud on the Ben lifting. Maybe we would get photographs of  Ben Nevis after all.

We now left the shelter of the narrows and entered the broad sweep of the head of Loch Linnhe. First signs of industry at Corpach and Fort William appeared. We were about to return to civilisation!

A very modest Ben, above Loch Eil.

At first we made rapid progress down Loch Eil.

Every so often the sun would break through the grey blanket of cloud...

...that hugged the Lochaber landscape.

We were averaging about 7-8km/hr...

...with the help of the ebb tide.

Our bows cut through the calm water but all too soon...

...we drifted to a stop. The scenery  just grabbed our attention.

Stop/start was to be the order of the day...

...as photo opportunities kept appearing out of the clouds. However, Ben Nevis (our target of the day) was proving to be very elusive with the summit hiding behind a thick veil of cloud. A 900m cloud ceiling would reveal many Scottish mountains but not Ben Nevis, which is 1343m high.

Sea of tranquility in Loch Eil.

Last Sunday Jim and I left Glasgow at 6am. We were bound for the head of Loch Eil which is deep within the mountains of Lochaber. We dropped one car off (as our shuttle) on the shores of Loch Linnhe, just north of the Corran Narrows.

Not a breath of wind disturbed the waters of Loch Eil and to the west, the mountains above Glen Finnan were perfectly reflected on the calm water. From left they are: Beinn an Tuim 810m, Meall an Uillt Chaoil 844m, Stob Coire nan Cearc 887m and on the extreme right, Streap 909m.

There is a long passing place, suitable for parking, on the single track road just above a large rock on the beach. In the distance, Ben Nevis 1344m was lost in thick cloud.

If this old lifeboat is moored offshore and is a pretty unmissable guide that you have arrived at the correct spot.

We soon had the kayaks on the beach ready to go.

The waters of Loch Eil are a long way from the open sea and not a hint of swell reached the upper recesses of the loch. We set off on a tranquil sea.