Total silence in the Sound of Arisaig at sunset.

25/03/2017 

On our return across the Sound of Arisaig we initially had a decent breeze to assist our progress but

 ..as the sun sank in the west and Rois-Bheinn took on a warm glow, the...

 ...wind dropped to nothing. Donald's little F-Rib had long since landed, leaving Mike and myself in total silence in the middle of the Sound.

We were in no hurry and reflected on what a great afternoon we had just enjoyed. Our reverie was broken by the sound of a naturally aspirated 3 litre straight six petrol engine rising and falling along the twisty road from Loch Ailort. It could only be David and Phil arriving from Ayrshire so..

..we pressed on and pulled the boats up from low tide in Glenuig Bay to the Inn where we...

 ...wasted no time in ordering a round of sports recovery drinks. David and Phil were of course very disappointed to have missed the dolphins....

It may have only been a short afternoon trip but it turned out to be one of the most memorable days on the water, ever!

The economics of going on a safari adventure.

25/03/2017

After our first luncheon it was time to return to the boats. This is the P&H Scorpio HV Mk2 in CoreLite X. It is very large but supremely comfortable and as can be seen from the previous post, made an excellent stable platform for photographing bottlenose dolphins. Talking of which...

...no sooner had we launched than we were pounced upon by the pod which had been lying in ambush just offshore.

The tide had turned and the wind had got up, creating some wonderful kayaking conditions off the headlands. The flying spray, the sunshine the motion of the boats and leaping dolphins made for a simply unforgettable experience.

Unfortunately I did not risk taking my SLR out  and my little Olympus TG4 camera had so much shutter lag that I  ended up with a lot of photos of splashes where the dolphins had been. Despite the lack of photos this was an even more intense experience as the dolphins were also revelling in the rough water. They would suddenly appear out of our wave and flash across our bows before reappearing just ahead of us. It seemed that they were leading us to the shelter...

...of Port nam Murrach. Once we were safe in the calm of the bay, the dolphins disappeared for good.

Back on dry land we could hardly believe how lucky we had been to experience such a wild life safari and spectacle. You could spend thousands of pounds travelling across the world for such experiences. We had woken in our own beds that morning and so far it had just cost 13 litres of diesel fuel (£17) on the drive up. Donald had spent maybe another £2 to put petrol in his 6hp outboard.

Pleased with our economical adventuring, we wandered round this delightful spot at the edge of the Sound of Arisaig. I have in the past travelled the World and been lucky to get to many amazing places off the beaten tourist track but sometimes you do not need to go far, especially if you live on the west coast of Scotland. Another factor for me is the cost of health insurance to travel out with the UK. Last year it was £1,100!

In the distance the long finger of Ardnamurchan stretched away to the west, beyond the sparkling waters of the Sound of Arisaig to the Sea of the Hebrides beyond.

 It was with some reluctance that we made our way back to the turquoise waters of the bay but...

 ..our friends would be shortly arriving and so we set off...

 ...across the Sound of Arisaig again with the ...

...sun rapidly dipping in the west.

Bottlenose dolphins in the Sound of Arisaig.

25/03/2017

At first Mike was oblivious to the pod of...

 ...bottlenose dolphins which had been playing in Donald's wake.

 What a spectacle they made against the backdrop of the Eigg and Rum mountains.

They were much more interested in Donald's boat than the kayaks but he obliged us by motoring back...

...and forward across...

...our bows, with the pod in tow, so that we could get a better view of their antics.

 It is difficult to resist being anthropomorphic but these guys...

 ...were having a whale of a time (if that is not an oxymoron) as they alternately lolled in the water beside us before...

 ...exploding into action again.

 They only let us be when we paddled into shallow water to take a break...

 ..on the shell sand beach of Port Eilean a' Ghaill for a delayed first luncheon.

After the excitement Donald and I reviewed our photos and could hardly believe that we had managed to capture the action. I even went for a quick swim which rather quickly pulled me back to reality!

Grey Moidart skies and green seas

As we carried the boats to the water's edge, low grey clouds were streaming from the summits of hidden mountains to to our east.

Under the grey skies the shallow water appeared an almost luminous green that matched the green of the machair we had just left.

 Although the clouds were scudding over head we...

 ...were paddling in the lee of the cliffs until...

...we passed the ancient crofting township of Smirisary. "Spade among the rushes" is an evocative book by Margaret Leigh. It describes her hardships trying to recover an abandoned croft here after WW2 as she tried to make a living to support herself and her mother.

 Once past Smirisary our bows began to turn east into the Sound of Arisaig and the wind picked up.

 We got a little respite as we passed close under Rubha Ghead a' Leighe but...

 ...then it was heads down as the easterly wind funnelled out of the Sound of Arisaig.

It was a cold, fitful wind and I could only snatch photos in the short lulls. My hands were numb with the cold and at one point I nearly dropped my camera trying to get a photo of the clouds streaming of the summit of Rois-Bheinn (878m).

Then we arrived in the shelter of Salalaman Bay just as a...

 ...blink of sun provided a moment's warmth before the rain started. It was here where we had left our shuttle car and our journey through and round the lands of Moidart came to an end.

On our previous trip we had left the shuttle car at the head of Loch Ailort. I am glad the weather forecast had accurately predicted the strong easterly!

Sea kayak camping in Nirvana

This was the view we woke to the morning after the amazing sunset.

I could not resist going in for an early morning swim. At 11C the sea temperature was warmer than the air temperature at only 7C.

We wrapped up warmly in Buffalo jackets as there was a cool easterly breeze.  However, there are few locations that can match this for a view over breakfast.

The wind was forecast to get up to 5-7 easterly which is why we had left our shuttle car at Samalaman rather than further east, at the head of Loch Ailort, as we had done the last time we had done this trip. This meant we did not have far to go but even so, we decided to start packing the boats early.

 We were in no particular hurry though as...

...we wanted to savour these wonderful surroundings for as long as possible. Our fire had burned away to just a few ashes, which we scattered in the sands then...

 ...after a last check that we had left the machair pristine, we...

 ...left Port Achadh an Aonaich, the port of the field of the steep place, to...

...the local inhabitants.