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 Moa of Mull

Unlike the moai of Rapa Nui, which all turn their backs to the sea, the great moa of Mull faces resolutely towards the west and the open sea. This mimetolith can be found on the pink granite rocks on the coast of Eilean Dubh which lies to the west of Erraid.

21/07/2007

The right shade of white.

Our last day on Mull was spent investigating the many stunning white shell sand beaches on the south coast of the Ross of Mull and Erraid.


Both these beaches are called Traigh Gheal. This is not particularly surprising since most Gaelic place names are simple descriptions. In this case, the English would be "white beach". Of course, the Gaelic is much more precise than the English. There are several Gaelic words for white that are commonly applied to places: gheal (geal), bhan (ban) and fionn. It's got to be the right shade of white.

21/07/2007

The bonfire of Fidden.

A driftwood fire on the Fidden foreshore.

At the end of a long day to the Carsaig arches, which are evidence of Mull’s volcanic and fiery past, we made a bonfire with driftwood, which we had collected from one of the beaches on the Ross of Mull. It was one of the best bonfires, ever. The well seasoned wood was dry and it produced only a little, pleasantly aromatic, smoke. We were untroubled by that frequent bonfire scourge of Scotland, the midge. Our last night on Mull was spent swapping kayaking tales and malt whiskies with a German sea kayaker.

20/07/2007

Fidden sunset

After returning to Uisken we loaded up the kayaks and drove back to Fidden on the Ross of Mull. We arrived just as the sun was setting.


One of the cottages in Fidden was momentarily bathed in this beautiful warm light...



... until the orb of the Sun sank below the distant rocks of Iona and the gathering darkness of night wrapped around us.

20/07/2007

Reclining nude figure of Uisken

The reclining nude (and cross legged) figure of Uisken can be seen at low tide among the skerries.

20/07/07

Exsisto paratus on the Ross of Mull.

It was a long paddle back from Malcolm's Point to Uisken. We stopped at this deserted and unnamed white shell sand beach.


There was not a hostelry in sight. We had to wash our freshly caught mackerel down with what ever refreshment we had to hand. Exsisto paratus.


We did not want the day to stop so we took a little detour past Uisken, through the skerries, to Ardalanish Bay.


We turned back from Ardalanish as the sun began to sink in the west.



The skerries of Uisken are such a maze, it is unlikely you would ever retrace your wake.



20/07/2007

"I'm at the Arches"

Carsaig #1 from Carsaig #2


Carsaig #1 from the sea.


"I'm at the Arches."


Even the great Carsaig Arches are dwarfed by the scale of Malcolm's Point. mind you if this is the size of his point, what size was Malcolm?

20/07/2007

Carsaig Arches, Mull

Not far from the great slab of Leac nam Leum, there are even greater wonders of Mull's volcanic past.


The Carsaig Arches are now high above the sea but during the last Ice Age, when water levels were higher, Atlantic swells surged through the arches.


Hexagonal basalt columns teeter on top of layers of lava.


In turn the lava layers are interspersed with layers of volcanic ash. The ash is very soft and can be picked with a fingernail. As you can see, wave action is undercutting the basalt by wearing away the ash. One day, probably quite soon in geological terms, the whole lot will come toppling down.

Might I be presumptuous and recommend that you visit the Carsaig Arches sooner rather than later?

20/07/2007

Look before you leap.

We landed on extremely slippy green boulders at the foot of Malcolm's Point.


Mike is dwarfed by the scale as he casts a line from Leac nan Leum.

We were unprepared for the huge scale of Leac nan Leum, a great basalt slab, which stretched for hundreds of metres. This was testament to the violent volcanic past of the island of Mull during which, huge volumes of lava spilled down from the Ben More volcano. Even today, after some 50 million years of erosion, the lava fields are up to 1.8km thick.

Leac nam Leum is Gaelic for Slab of the Leap....


At its eastern end, the slab is riven by a great chasm over which one of our ancestors is reputed to have leapt while being pursued by an army of dreadful giants or some such terror.

Tony, who did not have the same constraints on his time, made a more measured judgement and, after a long look, decided not to leap.

20/07/2007

Howling wolf rock (not the blues).

Shortly after leaving Uisken we passed "howling wolf rock". Rocks whose shape looks like something else are called mimetoliths. This mimetolith is the only grey wolf we saw on our travels. The wolves were native to Scotland but the last was exterminated in 1743.


We gathered the most wonderful seasoned wood from the top of one of the beaches. We filled all the hatches of our kayaks and took it back to Fidden beach which had been stripped bare of firewood. It was to provide the best sea kayaking fire we have ever enjoyed but it did not need to frighten off any wolves. The farmer's dog was quite unafraid of fire and made off with half of David's tea.

20/07/2007

Uisken to Malcolm's Point

After our circumnavigation of Iona we were looking for a more restful day so we ran the kayaks by car along to Uisken on the south coast of the Ross of Mull. We were bound for Malcolm's Point a mere 11km along the coast to the east.


Making progress along the first part was somewhat difficult given that there were deserted white shell sand beaches round every corner.


When we rounded Rubha nam Braithrean the bay opened out and Malcolm's Point lay before us.


As we approached, we were dwarfed by the scale of the cliffs. Layer upon layer of volcanic ash alternating with basalt lava flow soared over 300m above us.

20/07/2007

End of a perfect day on Iona

After leaving Iona Abbey and Martyr's Bay Restaurant and Bar David and Mike headed straight back across the Sound of Iona for Fidden. Tony and I decided to do a little more paddling and found this amazing cave (complete with white sand beach) on the SE of Iona about 21:30hrs.


On finally leaving Iona, we took a last detour via Tinker's Hole. We eventually returned to Fidden at 22:30. We had covered a mere 34km but felt we deserved a rest.

19/07/2007

An Iona fishergirl

Leaving Market Bay on the Ross of Mull, we paddled back towards Iona in the still of a perfect summer evening. We passed the lovely hamlet of Kintra at the mouth of the Sound of Iona but the tide had now turned and we had to fight the increasing flood current which was flowing against us through the Bull Hole. This is a narrow channel between the Ross of Mull and Eilean Nam Ban. Ahead, some basking seals ignored us, they could see we were making almost no progress. We then ferried over to the island side and on across the Sound of Iona.


We landed below the village just as the last ferry departed with its load of tourists. A little local girl, sitting with her father in a beautiful white clinker built boat, asked “Is that a sea kayak?”

“Yes it is” I replied.

“I would love to do that” she said, wistfully.

“Well you very lucky, you are in the right place for it.”

Her dad then said “Aye, she likes the sea; she’s been helping with the lobster pots today.”



19/07/2007

Munching Mull mackerel in Market Bay

After Mike caught some mackerel, we needed to find somewhere to land. There can be no finer land fall than Market Bay (Traigh na Margaidh) on the Ross of Mull.


Straight out of the sea into the pan and fried with a little salt and dill; what a feast!


We also had time for a swim and some climbing on the granite torrs before heading back to Iona.

19/07/2007

Five little fishies

Leaving Eilean Annraidh, we crossed the Sound of Iona and made our way east along the north coast of the Ross of Mull. We paused off the headland of Rubha nan Cearc while Mike got his trusty rod out. He quickly caught five fat mackerel and we looked for somewhere to land....

19/07/2007

Bay at the Back of the Ocean, Iona

This incredible cove is at the north end of Camas Cuil an t-Saimh (Bay at the Back of the Ocean) on the west coast of Iona. It is near to Port Bhan. This view is more reminiscent of the Outer Hebrides than the Inner Hebrides. The rock here is ancient grey gneiss unlike the relatively young, red granite of the Ross of Mull which is only a few kilometres away.

19/07/2007

An evening alternative to the Abbey on Iona

After an arduous day sea kayaking round Iona and the Ross of Mull we landed on Iona just as the MV Loch Buie was making her last crossing of the evening. The last of the many day trippers were waiting on the jetty to return to the mainland. The crowded isle of the day was about to return to the peace of the evening and its past. (With the useful addition of our good selves of course.)

It had been a long hot day and we were in need of some sustenance as there was still to be a final eight long Scotch kilometers until our keels would be hauled up on the white sand of our chosen camp for the night. We spotted an unprepossessing building at the top of the slip. Closer inspection revealed it to be the Martyr's Bay Restaurant and Bar.... the only bar on the island no less.

Despite the undoubted attractions of the nearby Abbey, which is one of Scotland's most historic and venerated sites, we felt a duty, to you the reader, to further investigate and report upon this outwardly unassuming hostelry, situated as it is on this most Holy of the Isles.


Leaving a sandy trail on the plush carpet, we made our way to a well upholstered seating area with a fine view over the Sound of Iona. We ordered some pints of Guinness to assist our perusal of the menu. On hearing of our desire to dine, the friendly staff asked if we would prefer to move to the formal dining room. We declined as we wished to cause no loss of appetite to other diners. We were accompanied by a certain odour which was evidence of several days' activity in the great outdoors.

Despite an extensive selection of freshly caught seafood, we chose steaks. After all, we had already enjoyed a luncheon of freshly caught and cooked mackerel on a deserted white sand beach. An excellent meal deserved to be washed down with some more refreshments which were served at just the right temperature. My only minor criticism was that a rare steak was served medium. This however, is something that is quite common in Scotland. Scots as a race like to make sure that their food is quite dead before they eat it. Some (though not this restuarant) even do the same with vegetables.

Boswell and Johnson also visited Iona on their tour of the Hebrides. Although Boswell did not drink alcohol he quoted Johnson "....No, Sir; there is nothing which has yet been contrived by man, by which so much happiness is produced as by a good tavern or inn." I think Johnson would have been well pleased with this one.


After a farewell to the attentive staff, we made our way back to the boats and our day on the water continued. The Martyr's Bay Restaurant and Bar proved to be a truly excellent sea kayaking pub, with first class food as a bonus! It is highly recommended.

Safety Notice. Sea kayaking is already a risky activity. Alcohol and water do not mix. This bar offered a wide selection of hot and cold non alcoholic beverages.

19/07/2007

Red rock sunset on Erraid

As the sun slowly moved towards the northwest, the granite rocks of Erraid glowed red above the white shell sand beaches.


Finally the sun sank behind the grey gneiss of Iona and the sky above turned to fire. Far below, in the gathering darkness, our boats gently kissed the sands of Fidden and the Ross of Mull.