Islay retrospective #2.

Yet another weekend has passed without being able to go sea kayaking. I had hoped that my worsening knee problems would still allow me to continue sea kayaking but, worryingly, this is not proving to be the case. My "good" knee suffered a minor dislocation on Friday, fortunately it went back itself, just by hyper-extending my knee, but it gave me a real shock; a reminder of my accident on Gunna. The good news (I hope) for visitors to sea kayakphoto.com is that I have a huge back catalogue of trips going all the way back to 2002!

I am now going to return to a summer past when Tony and I visited the magnificent isle of Islay...

...we awoke on the shores of lonely Loch Gruinart to find a fresh north wind, which was forecast to increase to force 6 to 7 by midday. The seals on the sand bank had been singing all night but now we only caught snatches of their mournful song on an increasing wind. Our original plans to either nip across to Colonsay or continue round the incredible north coast of Islay were put on hold. The staff of seakayakphoto.com are known to operate at the "gentleperson" (no sexism here!) end of the sea kayaking spectrum. This amount of wind caused us to run off with our tails between our legs...

...to the sheltered south cost of Islay. It was a different world down here, with delightful wooded lanes radiating  out from the south's main town, Port Ellen. The people of Islay are remarkably friendly, they still wave a greeting to visitors as they pass (and I don't just mean the wave of acknowledgement at passing places on the single track roads).

In those days ferries still used both of Islay's main harbours; Port Ellen and Port Askaig. Currently, only Port Askaig is being used. On this morning, the CalMac ferry, MV Hebridean Isles, was just arriving as the small luxury cruise liner, MV Hebridean Princess, lay at anchor in Kilnaughton Bay. Just a few days before, the Queen had chartered the whole ship for a 10 day family cruise round the Hebrides and Northern Isles.

Tony drove from Port Ellen past three, yes three, distilleries without stopping, until we arrived at the delightful sweep of Claggain Bay on the sheltered SE cost of Islay.

We wasted no time getting the kayaks ready...

...and getting afloat. We were off on another adventure!

Singing seals of Loch Gruinart at the end of a long day.

Under lowering clouds  we set off from Ton Mhor along the north shore of the Rinns of Islay towards the gap between Ardnave Point and Nave Island.

The gap is infested with reefs but as it was high water, most were submerged. Despite this, the water inside the reefs was still pretty sheltered from the swell.  Looking back, Ton Mhor was now getting plastered with rain which was quickly heading our way.

Rounding Ardnave Point, our passing provided little interest for the local beasts...

...before we entered Loch Gruinart. We were now paddling into the southerly wind, which was lifting the spray off the waves breaking on the bar at the mouth of this tidal loch. The flat conditions on the sheltered east coast of the Rinns peninsula were a complete contrast to those on the west... just 8km away, as the gull flies.

We paddled past the shifting sands of Killinallan Point, which has one of the finest dune systems in the Hebrides.

Although the abandoned buildings of Killinallan Farm had a melancholy air under the grey, rain filled skies of a typical Scottish mid summer day, our spirits were high. We had just finished the most amazing paddle along one of the most challenging coastlines on the west coast of Scotland, in less than ideal conditions.

Although my day was now over, Tony still had to cycle 26km (with 300m of ascent) back to Portnahaven to collect the car. It was pouring with rain...

...so I took the easy option and retired to the tents...

...where I collapsed in agony, rubbing my bad knee. After some strong painkillers I didn't wake till Tony returned several hours later with the car... thanks Tony!

That night we slept soundly as the seals sang to one another on the sand banks of Islay's beautiful Loch Gruinart.