Ebb tide in the Rhu Narrows.

Our peaceful reverie on the shores of the Gare Loch came to an end as the VHF crackled into life on channel 73 as HMS Raider asked QHM Faslane for permission to pass through the Rhu Narrows. HMS Raider is an Archer class armed fast patrol boat operated by the Royal Navy in a Force Protection role with her sister ship HMS Tracker.

As the tide had now turned it was time to make our way back to Limekiln Point where...

...we looked right then left then right again before ferrying...

...across the Narrows and the shipping channel.. As the tide was ebbing at 2 knots we crossed at quite a high angle before...

...breaking out behind the special purpose light that...

...marks the end of the tidal spit on the east side of the narrows. You can see the blip in mid channel where I stopped to take the 4th photo.

Then the ebb tide slowly but steadily carried us away from the mountains and the inner Gare Loch.

The elephant in the loch.

Once through the Rhu Narrows we paddled into the inner recesses of  the Gare Loch. After the constriction of the Narrows, the scenery opens out here and moody clouds hung low over the snow flecked mountains of Argyll. Although we were paddling on salt water, we were  completely surrounded by land. Only the 250m wide Rhu narrows connected us to the Firth of Clyde and we were 120 kilometers from the open sea at the mouth of the Firth of Clyde.

This remoteness from the sea and enclosed location was chosen to site HMS Neptune, the land based site for Britain's nuclear deterrent. We could see the base at Faslane Bay near the head of the loch.

As instructed by QHM Faslane, we kept to the west shore of the Gare Loch and although the MOD Police launches and RIBs gave us the once over with binoculars they left us in peace. We stopped for second luncheon on a little beach of...

 ...shingle and mussel shells. As we munched our sandwiches we looked over the Gareloch to the Faslane base. It was sited here to minimise the chances of a stealth attack by a Russian submarine.

Some 6,500 service and civilian personnel work at the base. By the time you add in their families you can appreciate that this base is a very significant part of the economy of the west of Scotland. Of course it doesn't make ploughshares and so it has attracted much protest from CND since it was established in the 1960's. For many years there was a big Peace Camp at the gates of the base but enthusiasm for that seems to have died out a bit over recent years.

In the late 1970's I did GP training in Helensburgh with an excellent GP called Dr Robin. He was GP to Faslane and arranged for me to get clearance to visit the base and see onboard a Repulse class Polaris carrying nuclear submarine and a smaller nuclear submarine with conventional armaments. I met a number of officers and crew and I doubt I would manage to live and work in such confined spaces for months at a time. The Repulse class submarine was cramped but the conventional submarine had a tiny living space, almost all the internal space was filled by tubes and machinery.

This is one of the current Vanguard class of Trident missile carrying nuclear submarines making her way up the Clyde to Faslane. It could be HMS Vanguard, Vigilant, Victorious or Vengeance but I don't know which. Subs like these do not have name or number plates.

One of the SNP policies, if the population in the forthcoming referendum votes for independence, is to do away with the nuclear deterrent. By nature I am a pacifist, I don't watch boxing or violent TV shows. I had my fill of street violence attending to its victims when working in Glasgow A&E departments. But I am also the first generation of my family that has not had to go and fight in a war. I have been researching my family history round about the time of First World war. Reading letters sent back from the front. Hearing about death, injury, disability and psychological trauma in the family and the loss of generations as maiden aunts' boyfriends were killed, leaves no doubt about the horrors of war. A great uncle who was left disabled and deaf after being blown up by a shell was awarded a medal for...

...meritorious service in Egypt during 1915. He went on to fight in Gallipoli where he was left for dead after the shell struck. He was so affected by what he had experienced in the war that he never discussed it afterwards and never told anyone about the medal. We only discovered about the medal 99 years later.

I believe that the presence of Faslane has helped to avert further war during the "Cold War" years and so (paradoxically as a pacifist) I support its presence. I wonder how the many thousands of people who work there will be voting in the independence referendum?

Swanning about in the Queen's Harbour.

As we paddled north towards the restricted zone at the Rhu narrows another MOS Police launch proceeded through followed by...

 ...this swan. Neither asked permission from Queen's Harbour Master, Faslane.  However, even the swan would have shown up on...

...the Queen's Harbour Master's radar!

 So we stopped before the narrows on got the VHF out...

...the regulations include: "Craft entering the Gareloch or Loch Long at any time, or if in doubt,
should contact the QHM Duty Controller on VHF Channel 73 or 01436 674321 (Extension 3555)." 

Before they were taken over, Clydeport used to have a nice PDF for recreational users with the various regulations, signals and prohibited areas in the Clyde. Unfortunately it has yet to make an appearance on the new Peelports.com website. You can download copies of both sides of the original leaflet from my public Dropbox folder here and here.

If you do not ask permission of QHM, you can expect the attention of one of the many armed MOD Police launches. The Royal Navy are very sensitive about sea kayakers in the Clyde. In the 1960's Hamish Gow used a kayak in a CND protest against Polaris nuclear submarines. He tried and climb the anchor chain of an American Navy supply ship in the Holy Loch. Later he and his wife became the first sea kayakers to paddle out to St Kilda.

Our compass needles gave hardly a flicker.

 A little breeze got up as we left the wreck of the MV Captayannis and we wasted no time...

 ..in hoisting the sails. Despite low pressure all around the west coast of Scotland, the wind didn't stay or get up as hoped and sadly...

 ...it turned into a flat calm. This had its advantages as we spotted black guillemot, guilliemot and razorbills on the crossing.

We were not the only ones doing some spotting. An MOD Police launch and 4 MOD Police RIBs  had given us the once over as we crossed the shipping channel from the wreck of the Sugar boat. Their job is to escort Royal Naval vessels to and from HMS Neptune at Faslane in the Gare Loch. They also escort too curious others from the premises.

A momentary blink of sun lit up Helensburgh (from where we had embarked) but we were headed for the Rosneath peninsula where we made landfall at...

  ...MOD Rosneath at the Green Isle.  This facility offers electromagnetic signature services to ships and submarines at both 9m and 20m depths in the channel just offshore. Our compass needles gave hardly a flicker and so we passed on feeling completely un-degaussed but in need of some luncheon.

Some fishy goings on in the Sound of Bute.

As we paddled down the Sound of Bute we were aware that strange swell lines were suddenly appearing. They came from different directions and were not what we expected in the relatively sheltered waters of the Firth of Clyde. Nor were there any  large ships visible that might have created such waves in their wake.

Then the peace was shattered by the appearance and sound of a SeaKing helicopter from HMS Gannet. It dotted about dropping its sonar into the sea and was joined by SD Omagh, the naval support vessel which we had seen berthed in Tarbert the previous evening. It was now clear that the swell was the wake of a submarine(s) and that the helicopter was hunting it.

The whole area is identified as a submarine training area but usually the Coastguard  broadcast MSI VHF SubFacts warning of such operations but we did not hear them. Whatever, they do not like to publicise these exercises too much. SD Omagh was not transmitting any AIS information about her whereabouts. For a long while the SeaKing helicopter hovered directly over SD Omagh then they both broke off and left us in peace.

 No sooner had they gone than  common dolphins (above) and porpoises began to appear again.

Please excuse the quality of these photos. They were taken with a standard lens and cropped to give a telephoto effect. Behind Phil you can see a series of great...

 ...splashes...

...caused by dolphins leaping out of the water as if in celebration of the submarine exercise finishing. Thank goodness peace was restored.

Tired kayakers and concrete sleepers at Kilbride Bay.

From Skate Island we enjoyed a fast reach eastwards along the Ardlamont peninsula, which divides Loch Fyne from the Kyles of Bute. The cool clear air of the north wind and the low evening sun made for a breathtaking view over the Sound of Bute to Arran. We passed dolphins, porpoises, otters, puffins and diving gannets. It was difficult to believe that this glorious wilderness was in the Firth of Clyde, in the catchment area of which, 3/5 of Scotland's population live.

Many sea kayaking visitors to Scotland (and also many Scottish sea kayakers) tend to shun the Firth of Clyde and head north to places like Arisaig and the Summer Isles. Maybe the above photos might cause some wilderness seekers to think again.

The Ardlamont peninsula holds a glorious little visited beach that you can only visit by walking in or by boat. It is Kilbride Bay. It has a huge crescent of sand backed by dunes and machair.

We landed at its western end and had a well earned break while enjoying the view. However, unspoiled though Kilbride Bay appears, it was heavily used in WW2 for army, air force naval training exercises.

                             
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At the east end of the beach, a railway line with concrete sleepers still  runs straight down into the sea...

Sea kayaking again in East Loch Tarbert.

We had now reached the most northerly point in our rather circuitous return trip from Campbeltown to Ardrossan. After portaging the isthmus at the north end of the great peninsula of the Mull of Kintyre, we...

 ...found ourselves back in Firth of Clyde waters at Tarbert. After the sweated hard work of the portage it was such a relief to be floating weightlessly on the cool water of East Loch Tarbert.

The Tarbert fishing fleet can use either the fish quay in the East Loch or the quay in the West Loch. This can save a long voyage round the Mull of Kintyre or through the Crinan Canal. SD Omagh is an Admiralty Fleet Tender operated by the private firm Serco Denholm on behalf of the Royal Navy Support Services for the naval dockyards on the Clyde.

As we left the inner harbour the beauty of Tarbert's situation was revealed. The distant hills lie on the far side of West Loch Tarbert from which we had portaged. Tarbert Castle stands over the village. It is open to the public and is a wonderful vantage point from which to view the village and its loch. The castle was greatly reinforced by King Robert the Bruce in 1325.

 It was too nice to leave Tarbert, so we landed for an extended luncheon in the delightful Port Ban bay.

By the time we had finished lunch it was low water and we faced our second portage of the day back to the water. Our Karitek portage straps proved very useful.

We paddled steadily on but with a readiness to duck.

After our wonderful meeting with Alistair Wilson, founder of Lendal Paddles, Phil, Jennifer, Donald and myself set off across a glassy sea in our respective craft and...

 ...soon left the Ayrshire coast behind.

Jennifer was enjoying the Cetus MV and was just about to streak ahead when all of a sudden, the VHF burst into life on Channel 16:

"Sécurité, sécurité, sécurité. All vessels, all vessels, all vessels, this is the Royal Navy. Live firing will commence at 0900 BST until 1100 BST in exercise area 73, Ailsa."

This generated some alarm but I knew that "Area 73 Ailsa" lay to the SW of Ailsa Craig and we were approaching the isle from the SE. However, a bank of sea fog rolled in, blotting out Ailsa Craig from view. We paddled steadily on but with a readiness to duck. All of a sudden, rounds of heavy automatic fire echoed out of the fog, Yikes!

Then at 1100 the firing stopped and HMS Mersey emerged from the mist to pass behind...

...Ailsa Craig where she reappeared with a surfaced submarine alongside. We continued on our way undisturbed by further shell fire.

All sorts of things on the go at Brown Head, Arran.

Shortly after leaving Drumadoon Bay we passed the Rebecca R  (RX 383) which seemed to be fishing very close inshore. At first I thought she might be fishing for razor clams but I thought it strange that a small trawler registered in Rye, on the English SE coast had come all the way up here. It turns out she is a fishing research vessel used by CEFAS for young fish surveys.

We continued south towards Brown Head which is another geological sill dating from Tertiary times. The modern day road traverses a raised beach, which is now 30m above present sea level.

707 is one of three Sea King Mk5 search and rescue helicopters based at HMS Gannet in Prestwick. She did the helicopter equivalent of waggling her wings as she passed over.

 Continuing round Brown Head, signs of continuing erosion are frequent. We were not sure if this car was fully aware of what was (or was not) beneath its wheels.

 Over the millenia, large granite boulders had tumbled down the slopes and made the beaches here almost impossible to traverse.

Some larger boulders had even bounced out to sea, where they performed as convenient cormorant perches.