28th April 2021 #1 Return to sea kayak camping, a trip to the Sound of Sleat and Loch Hourn.

Due to various health problems I have not posted much here recently mainly because I have not gone anywhere. However, I managed to get myself north to Glenelg on 28/4/2021 to join Ian from Mountain and Sea Scotland and friends. It is the furthest I have driven, furthest I have paddled and the most nights I have camped out in over 4 years.

I get easily tired these days and though previously I have driven to Loch Hourn, paddled and driven back in a day, I now stop every hour. I left Glasgow at 6am and my first stop was at the Falls of Falloch north of Loch Lomond.

My second stop was under the Three Sisters of Glencoe where 

the Alt Lairige Eilde tumbles into the glen over a series of three waterfalls. I also stopped at the Spean Bridge Commando Monument but there was no view to Ben Nevis due to fog. A further stop at the Loch Garry viewpoint was equally disappointing, due to a large forest having grown up and completely obliterated the view. Goodness knows what tourists make of it.

A final stop near the summit of the Mam Ratagan pass above Loch Duich gave a splendid view to the Five Sisters of Kintail.

Glenelg lay at the foot of the far side of the pass. We had wondered if we would get parked as all the likely spots are usually taken by motor homes. 

Before we left the cars we asked several locals. It turns out the popular Bernara beach was blighted by a few of the many camper vans who visit staying for weeks at a time and dumping sewage onto the beach. The community erected a 2 metre barrier which has kept all camper vans out. That is unfortunate for the responsible owners but was fortunate for us.

Soon we were loaded up and ready to go, though the tide was a long way out as it was spring tides.

My brother Donald came along in his small 2.75m Rib and 6HP outboard... the Guppy. He has made a video of the trip.

Photo Donald Wilcox.

Soon we were on our way with an increasing tail wind.

An RAF Typhoon banked overhead and we could see the pilot looking down on us then

we got a cheery wave from the local prawn boat OB164 MAIREAD M. I hope everyone was happy to see the return of tourists.

The wind quickly picked up and my camera stayed in its dry bag. The GoPro did capture 

some of the sense of freedom after the long winter lockdown.

All too soon it was time to drop the sail and land on our chosen spot for the night, an offshore reef with a white shell sand beach.

It was now spring low water so we had a long carry.

 

The kayak crew were Ian, Allan and his wife Lorna and his brother Raymond. My brother Donald had motored the Guppy round to the lee side of the reef where he would line it in as the tide rose. We were set for our first camp together in quite a few years. Our end of lockdown adventure had begun.

Fair birlin' doon the loch to Castle Tioram.

We left Shoe Bay and set off up the South channel of Loch Moidart with both a fair wind and a flood  tide behind us. We were soon birlin' doon the loch at a most respectable rate of knots.

As we paddled deep inland, the loch narrowed and the wind dropped. To the south the land was relatively low lying and is where the outflow of River Sheil carries the fresh water from Loch Sheil into the salt water of Loch Moidart.

 To the north we were hemmed in by the rough slopes of Eilean Shona which fell steeply into the sea.

 Ahead and to the east, lay our next objective...

...Castle Tiorum (pron. Cheerum) whose ancient grey walls rise from the grey rocks of...

 ...the tidal island upon which it stands. On its NW side there is a sheltered cove, which at one time would have had...

 ...wooden birlinns, like this modern reconstruction, drawn up on its sands. Many think the Celtic birlinns were developed from Viking longships but it was actually the other way round. The Celts were using birlinns some 800 years before the time of the longships. Indeed, in his third book of the Gallic Wars, Julius Caesar describes them in detail and how they were superior to the Roman galleys.

 Today it was kayaks and an F-RIB rather than birlinns that drew up on the sands  below...

 ...the castle walls. Long gone castle defenders might have viewed our approach with some suspicion but we were intent on nothing more than...

 ...stopping for our fourth luncheon....

Setting off hell for leather to Shoe Bay.

Donald quickly disappeared over the horizon towards the mouth of the South Channel of Loch Moidart.  We had arranged to meet at Shoe Bay for our third luncheon. We fully expected he would be there long before us.

Unfortunately for Donald, the various entrances to this delightful spot are not at all easy to spot from the sea and when...

...we arrived at the inner recesses of Shoe Bay there was no sign of him. A quick call on the VHF ascertained that he had explored most of the southern coast of Eilean Shona without success and was nearly at Castle Tioram. A quick turn around and...

..the hare sheepishly rowed the final few meters into the delightful turquoise waters of Shoe Bay.

Shoe  Bay makes an excellent spot for third luncheon, if you can find it, but watch out for the soft sand or you might find out why it is called Shoe Bay!

Paradise lost and found and a miserable rock at Cul na Croise (Eden).

 We  had just set off from Camas an Leige on the north Ardnamurchan coast when Donald appeared from the west. He had very nearly made it round Ardnamurchan Point but wisely turned back due to increasing swell.

We could not resist landing again and this time Cul na Croise was peaceful as the helicopter had departed. After catching up and after Donald stretched his legs he...

...set off towards our next rendezvous on Eilean Shona.

 We set off more leisurely, enjoying the last moments on Cul na Croise.

Either the swell had got up or Donald's little 6HP motor produced more wake than we were expecting.

As we paddled along the strand, just beyond the surf line, we came across two sculptures which had been...

 ...left behind by the participants in the Eden reality TV show. I know the participants did not find the paradise that they had been hoping to find here but what they had lost, we had found.

We turned our bows to the north and paddled inside the lonely islet of Sgeir an Eididh (loosely translated: miserable rock), we did not stop.

We made landfall at Rubha na Caillich north of Ardtoe. Our next destination was another...

...piece of paradise: turquoise waters leading to a dazzling shell sand beach on the north side of the South Channel of Loch Moidart.

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!