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!

An eclipse luncheon on the white sands of Ardnish!

Having got a photo of the eclipse. I set off to catch up with the others who were making their way into Loch Ailort past the north end of Eilean nan Gobhar. Because I had the sail up, I soon caught them as they were paddling hard...

 ...against the tide that was pouring out between the gap between and Eilean nan Gobhar and Eilean a' Chaolais. A solar eclipse, when the sun and moon are aligned, mean a very big spring tide is generated! As we got nearer Eilean a' Chaolais the conditions increased in lumpiness so there was no chance of getting the camera out!

Once inside the loch the tide races were restricted to narrow channels and most of the loch was pretty flat. Annoyingly the thick cloud that had so effectively obscured the eclipse now...

 ...began to lift and there was nearly full sun as we approached the delightful tidal beach to the east of Port na h-Aifrinne.

We pulled the boats clear of the swell then...

...made our way up...

...this glorious beach to the...

 ...rocks at its head. What a great place to welcome the return of the sun...

 ...it was time to celebrate with an eclipse luncheon! We don't have many of  these so...

 ...the cameras came out to record...

...the pouring of a celebratory dram in thanks for the return of the sun, which was now casting a strong shadow on the light sands of Ardnish.

The whisky went very well with our luncheon of tortilla bread, Edam cheese, humus, chillies, green olives and black grapes.

Slàinte mhòr, may we all enjoy great health until the next solar eclipse!

Eclipsed by the moon and retinal scarring on the Sound of Arisaig.

On the third day of our circumnavigation of the lands of Moidart we awoke early after a warm and comfortable night in the Glenuig Inn.

 Outside was breezy, grey and cold what had possessed us to have an early breakfast and be...

 ...on the water for 0830?

 It was not just us. Steve and Chris from the Inn joined us as well!

This was the morning of 20th March 2015 when the eclipse of the sun  was expected! We wanted to see it from the water but...

...things did not look too promising. Using local knowledge Steve suggested paddling straight into the NW wind to get away from the mountain Roshven which was throwing up the clouds.

At first this seemed to be a good plan as there was a hint of sunlight ahead on the  hill sides of Eigg. This was taken at 09:28am some 6 minutes before the maximum eclipse at 09:34.

This was taken at 09:34 at the point of maximum eclipse. It was an eerie feeling being on the water when it should have been getting lighter not darker. Note how the slow shutter speed caused by lack of light has blurred the waves and spray.

It was at this point that I noticed that there were some hints of brightness back the way we had come. So we turned our bows to face the entrance to loch Ailort and Ian raised Steve on the VHF on our prearranged channel 72 and told him where we were headed.

I launched the sail and used it to broad reach towards the bright patches. Steve who had not seen a Flat Earth Kayak sail in action before, made this comment afterwards "We saw your sail up as you raced off downwind on a broad reach, chased by your rooster tail!! Does the hull get hot at that speed? Couldn't believe how quickly you put clear water between us!!"  He has now  borrowed one of my sails...

Meanwhile the others ran directly downwind as I drew towards the ever dwindling patch of bright water.

Amazingly I got this shot at 09:56 through a thinning of the clouds. Despite the bouncy conditions, I wanted the best shot so I got the Canon 5D mk3 out and took three quick shots. This one was the best but I now have three images of the eclipse burned on my retinas, I just need to close my eyes and there they are...who needs photos!

Turning full circle at Smirisary with the sun on our backs all day.

 We continued north past the...

 ...ancient stratified rocks of Smirisary.

 We reached the most northerly point of our day at Rubha Ghead a' Leighe where...

 ...we turned towards the east, into the Sound of Arisaig. The distant bulk of mighty Roshven was turning pink with alpenglow.

The many crofts of Smirisary were sited on infertile land with little access to the sea. The inhabitants were cleared here by former estate owners who wanted the better land for sheep and deer. Although still remote by today's standards, Smirisary was at one time almost inaccessible. The road into Glenuig from the Fort William/Mallaig road was not built until 1966 and even then it was still a footpath from Glenuig to Smirisary! "The Spade among the Rushes" by Margaret Leigh describes living as a crofter in Smirisary in the 1940's and makes an insightful and enjoyable read.

 During our long day of travelling west, north and then then east, the sun had followed behind us so we enjoyed...

 ...the constant views like this one of Samalaman Island and Samalaman Bay without being dazzled.

The big house at Samalaman makes quite a contrast with the crofts.

 Gulls were pairing up for nesting on Samalaman Island as we passed between it and...

 ...the entrance to the sheltered bay.

 At the final wooded headland we had one final turn to make. For a brief time...

 ...we turned south into Glenuig Bay, past the public jetty, to our final destination...

...the Glenuig Inn. We arrived at just after sunset at high water so did not even have to carry the boats very far. We intended to stay the night and the first thing we did was to have a hot shower in our dry suits in Steve's excellent sea kayakers' washing and drying facilities!

After changing we made our way into the inn where we received a warm welcome and ordered pints of real frothy sports recovery drinks and bowls of prawn tails in garlic butter! From our early start at our camp site on the shore of Loch Shiel it had been an incredible day. One which we each agreed was one of the best sea kayaking days ever but our journey round the lands of Moidart was not over yet!