Taking a break at Red Rock.

After transiting the Corryvreckan, we arrived in the Sound of Jura. The ebb tide had built rapidly and we were making 10km/hr with little paddling effort. Our destination was our starting point at Carsaig Bay. This lay 12.5km down tide but 6.5km across tide on the far side of the Sound of Jura. It did not take a mathematician...

...to calculate that we needed to paddle across the sound at a high ferry angle to avoid...

 ...being swept past our destination and out to the open sea beyond.

So we paddled almost straight across the Sound so that the vector of our paddling and the tide would take us safely to our destination. The Paps of Jura seemed to get nearer very quickly!

Fortunately there is a good marker of whether we were making sufficient progress. The tide swept islet of Ruadh Sgeir (Red Rock), with its little lighthouse, lies in the middle of the Sound of Jura and is in a straight line between the Corryvreckan and Carsaig Bay.

Despite being carried along at 11km/hr as we approached the lonely rock, we managed to cross uptide of it so we were bang on course. It was a beautiful evening and despite being very tired...

...we enjoyed passing so close to this  seldom visited little rock with its views to the Paps of Jura. Sam and I even revelled in breaking out of the tide into the eddy on the far side of the rock....

Some edge control was required to break back into the stream that was running round the rock at 14km/hr! The tide then continued to carry us on towards Carsaig Bay and the end of our journey.

Paddling and portaging in the wake of the dead.

Our original intention had been to paddle the Small Isles at the beginning of May but a last minute increase in the forecast NE winds caused us to head further south for a trip out to Oronsay and Colonsay via Jura. It is just as well we did. My brother Donald (who we had arranged to meet on Eigg) has a large inflatable with a 25HP outboard and he had committed to the Small Isles but spent 3 days and two nights on Canna stormbound. So David, Ian, Maurice, Sam and I met at Carsaig Bay on the Sound of Jura. We were bound for Tarbert Bay on Jura where we would portage across into West Loch Tarbert, following the route of the wealthy dead of Argyll as their bodies were carried out to the Holy Isles of either Oronsay or Iona.

The Paps Of Jura rose enticingly above the low headland which encloses Carsaig Bay.

Due to the last minute change in venue we were just too late to catch the north east going flood tide in time to get through the Corryvreckan before the start of the ebb. As a result our rout SW to Tarbert was thwarted by the last of the NE going tide. However, a SW going eddy runs down the delightful channel inside the islands to the SW of Carsaig Bay.

It was very pleasant being carried towards the distant Paps by the swirling waters of the Sound of Jura.

However, all good things come to an end and we set off across the Sound of Jura with the tide carrying us to the NE. We did not bother ferry gliding because the tide was due to turn when we were in mid chanell.

Slack water arrived bang on time and with it the light breeze dropped, leaving a glassy calm.

You can see where the tide changed, mid channel on the first part of our route to the isles (bottom right).

The tide was now in our favour and by the time... 

...we reached the entrance to Tarbert Bay on Jura we were being carried along at 8km/hour.

As we slid into Tarbert Bay, we were following an ancient coffin route from Argyll to the Isles.

So our journey was to follow the route of the dead on their last journey. To avoid the tidal Gulf of Corryvreckan to the north and the Sound of Islay to the south, our bereaved ancestors landed at Tarbert and set off on foot across the narrow isthmus that joins the north and south parts of Jura. Their destination was the head of West Loch Tarbert, a deep sea loch which nearly bisects the island. So we loaded our kayaks onto trolleys and set off in our ancestors footsteps... on the coffin road to the west.

Like them we were heavily laden and rested our kayaks at many of the spots they would have rested their coffins. This ancient standing stone marks the route. It predates Christianity by thousands of years but there is also an ancient chapel nearby where mourners would have said prayers for the safe journey of the departed to the next world and for their own safe return from their journey to the isles.

After a long hard portage it was a relief to see the head of the loch and that the tide was still in.

The head of West Loch Tarbert drains almost completely so it is worth timing your arrival for round HW, which is 40 minutes after Oban HW. There is a narrow sea gorge to manoeuvre through to exit the inner loch. The tide runs through it at 8 knots springs so you better set off on the ebb! Just as we were leaving, the local resident laird, Andrew Fletcher, his wife and daughters passed by. They gave us big smiles and welcoming waves. 

It is a most wonderful feeling of lightness getting back in a boat after a laden portage. Our passage was assisted by both the ebb tide and a gentle NE breeze. We had to press on as to achieve our goal of circumnavigating Colonsay, before David had to return to work. We had to get as far down West Loch Tarbert as possible and it was already 18:45!

You can also follow this trip on Ian's blog here...

Time stands still in Loch Sween

The mouth of Loch Sween is guarded by the grim walls of the remains of Castle Sween which...

 ...is one of the oldest stone castles in Scotland. I have used a great deal of artistic licence in the composition of these photos as nowadays the castle is besieged on all sides on land by serried rows of modern caravans. Little is known of the origins of the castle but it is believed to date from the late 12th century when it was built by a lord Suibhne in the Norman style. It changed hands many times before it was abandoned in the mid 17th century. However, so well was it constructed that time seems to have stood still for the castle over the last four centuries or so.

 The wind from the north had increased so we crossed to the loch's NW shore to gain some shelter. The offshore wind carried the heady coconut scent of the Kokatat yellow gorse bushes.

 Elsewhere the shore was bare rock and the perspective of this photo emphasised the linearity of this long ribbon like loch.

In places, the wind freed just enough to allow some close hauled paddle sailing and we crossed to the SE shore. Soon...

 ...we had left the entrance to the loch and the Sound of Jura far behind. We were beginning to get a sense of closure on our expedition to Jura and Islay.

We tacked across to the NW shore again and paddled inside Taynish Island where we passed Taynish bath house and jetty. 

 There was just a hint of the buds breaking in the deciduous trees of the Taynish nature reserve. We heard the contrasting calls of a willow warbler in the woods and a great northern diver on the water.

As we approached the end of our journey at Tayvallich the Shannick, the Jura passenger ferry passed on her way to Jura. two sea kayakers were hitching a lift for a trip across the Sound of Jura in much less time than we had just made.

We now turned west into the sheltered waters of the natural harbour at Tayvallich where...

 ...sheltered by the wind we unloaded the boats in warm spring sunshine before...

...shuttling across to Carsaig Bay on the Sound of Jura where we had left the other car. Beyond the NLV Pharos the north end of Jura beckoned. I seemed ages ago we had set off from this spot but in reality it had only been three days. That is what I like about a good sea kayak expedition, time seems to stand still and so many things get packed in to what is actually a very brief time.

A ferry glide across the Sound of Jura

No sooner had we launched into Tarbert Bay than we came across this otter. Tony and I had seen it in exactly the same spot a year previously. We now set off to paddle across the Sound of Jura. We had set off from Carsaig Bay some 14km to the NE and the SW going tide was now well into its third hour of ebb.

There was hardly any wind but it was forecast to get up to F5 from the  north in the afternoon when the tide would have turned to north going. This would make for rather unpleasant conditions so we decided to return via Loch Sween to Tayvallich where we had left one of our cars.

We decided to ferry across the Sound of Jura on the ebb. Mike was very keen to visit the MacCormaig Islands but although the current mid channel was only 1.5 knots, it increases as you approach the east side and runs at 4 knots round the MacCormaigs at springs (which it was). I have missed the MacCormaigs before due to underestimating the tide so decided to make use of a NE going eddy which took us 1km up stream before setting off on the crossing.

 We then ferried across on 110 degrees magnetic and that...

 ...soon had us in mid channel and then into...

 ...an eddy in a kelp bed to north of the isolated rocky isle of Carraig an Daimh where...

 ...we regrouped to discuss strategy. We were now in an ideal position to run down tide to the MacCormaig Islands but Ian and I both had 200 mile drives home. So we decided to give the MacCormaigs a miss and...

 ...paddle from the rocky islands towards...

 ...the Island of Danna at the mouth of Loch Sween where...

 ...we landed on a white sand bay to...

 ...take luncheon. Anywhere else this would have been another spot of Heaven but it did feel a bit of an anticlimax after the amazing beaches on Jura.

 After lunch we bid farewell to Dana and with increasing cloud and...

 ...wind we paddled south...

...with our sails up for the entrance to Loch Sween. We turned our backs to the Paps of Jura for the last time and...

...on the horizon ahead the...

  ...MacCormaig islands did tempt but...

...we left them for another time and turned into Loch Sween. The ebb tide was still pouring out of the channels at the mouth of the loch but...

...soon we were safely inside paddling north in the shelter of the increasing wind. The last leg of our journey had begun.