Craighouse nestles in the bosom of the hills of Jura.

The south east coast of Jura has relatively few beaches and for the most part lines of cliffs dominated our tiny kayaks and fell...

 ...steeply into the sea.

As we proceeded northwards towards the main settlement at Craighouse, the cliffs gradually reduced in height and the...

 ...sea became shallower and our shadows glided smoothly over a sandy bottom, startling crabs and shoals of small fish as we went.

On shore, this wild goat was less easily startled. After gazing at us for some time it continued its saunter slowly along its rocky path.

Away to the north, the Sound of Jura was framed by the high ridges of Ben Cruachan, which were still flecked by snow.

 Round a small headland the Paps of Jura came into view then...

...we came across the village of Craighouse, which nestles in the bosom of the hills. The white houses were strung round the bay like a necklace.

Then we paid homage at the jewel in the heart of Jura, the distillery!

The northern Sound of Islay, the sound of superlatives.

The north half of the Sound of Islay is blessed with...

 ...some amazing rock architecture on the Jura shore. We were treated to more dykes, arches,...

 ....caves and stacks.

 We were enjoying the view so much that we kept close inshore out of the main south going flow.

 The Islay shore was also not without its delights. This is the Bunnahabhain distillery.

 Meanwhile back on the Jura shore the succession of caves and...

 dykes continued.

 Then gradually the Sound narrowed and as we approached...

 ...the lighthouse at Carragh an t-Sruith the full force of the ebb tide caught us and we sped south at 13km/hr.

 The next Islay delight was the Caol Ila distillery very rapidly followed by...

...Port Askaig, where the ferries from Kintyre, Jura, Colonsay and Oban call. This evening it was only the Eilean Dhiura, the Jura ferry, that was in port.

As we reflected on what we had seen in our rapid transit of the northern Sound of Islay, we agreed that it truly was a Sound of Superlatives. As we would now be crossing from Jura to Islay I was particularly glad I had brought some Caol Ila 18y old malt for later that night. Jura malt on Jura then Islay malt on Islay, what could be better?

The intoxicated Giant of Ardbeg.

From the Ardmore Islands, we paddled below the wooded shores of Islay's Kildalton estate. The great house is now a ruin but in the early 20th century it belonged to a wealthy, eccentric, travelling gentleman called Talbot Clifton. Clifton liked to travel the World and shoot things, pretty much anything was fair game; tigers, lions, elephants, and closer to home, grouse, snipe, stags, IRA captains etc.. It was after he shot the latter, that he felt it somewhat prudent to leave Ireland and settle in Islay.

To the SW of Kildalton, we came to the lonely uninhabited isle of Eilean Imersay. Uninhabited that is, except for this great sleeping giant. His head was resting on a stone pillow and his hands were resting on his chest.

He had a strangely smug self satisfied expression and a bad case of megalithic rhinophyma. There was a particularly pleasant ambiance about this place. It was not just the sun. There was something else in the air...

...there was the heady aroma of Ardbeg! The angel's share from the distillery was blowing steadily over our giant friend. No wonder he looked smug. He wasn't sleeping at all, he had been lying there too long and was now well and truly pished!

Beyond Ardbeg we came to the ruins of Dunyvaig Castle. We have been here before and it must be one of the sweetest smelling castles in Scotland! This time the aroma proved to be from the..

...Lagavulin distillery.

At this point I would have shown you a photo of Laphroaig, the third distillery on this coast, however, the offshore wind had increased and violent gusts were blasting off the land and snatching at our paddles. There was no way I could take a photo, so you will just need to wait for another visit. After all, two distilleries are quite intoxicating enough for one day.

Navigational aids in the Sound of Islay.

The tide in the Sound of Islay whisked us south to the Carrag an t-Sruith lighthouse. Unfortunately it was not big enough to have its name painted on the side, thus somewhat hindering its navigational usefulness.

Useful though white painted lighthouses may be to navigators, we noticed a much more interesting  building on the far side of the Sound, which was also painted white.

This one is quite clearly identified by having its name painted on the side, in large black letters. This makes it an incredibly useful navigational aid. Not only that, the building serves another purpose, it is where one of the spirits of Islay is distilled from base grains of fermented barley. This is the spiritual home of the sublime Caol Ila malt whisky, which we had enjoyed just a few hours before!

I am not sure if it was the powerful tide or the heady vapours emanating from the large white building but Phil seemed to loose all sense of direction and veered off into mid channel.

He very nearly missed the turn off into the narrow mouth of Port Askaig Harbour.

We had completed a great paddle on the north coast of Islay and Loch Tarbert on the west coast of Jura. Maybe it was not the one that we had originally intended but it was one from which we had returned safely.

The start of another Islay adventure.

It was with considerable anticipation that Phil and I viewed Port Ellen as the ferry from Kintyre...

...approached the terminal on Islay's southern coast. Islay's characteristic whitewashed buildings with black painted windows crowded round the bays on either side of the jetty.

We then drove north to Islay's second terminal, Port Askaig. As we launched from the little harbour, the flood tide was already surging north through the Sound of Islay.

No sooner had we crossed the eddy line, than we were being propelled northwards, at a very respectable 15km/hour.

After we passed two big, white washed buildings called Caol Ila and Bunnahabhain (with pleasantly intoxicating aromas emanating from both) we were surrounded by wilderness. Only the pipping of oystercatchers and the gentle rippling of the tide disturbed the silence.

The magnificent Paps of Jura, towered over the far side of the Sound ...

...but at this speed, we soon left them behind.


Learn more about this fabulous island at Islayblog.com and Islay weblog

Large white navigational aids on Islay

I am sorry seakayakphoto.com has been unavailable since last Saturday. Apparently there were many other blogs affected as a result of spammers stealing content from genuine blogs (splogs) to cloak themselves then the Blogger spam detection software deleted the lot, spammers and genuine bloggers together. Thank you to Blogger staff, Brett, Gatzby and nitecruzr for sorting the problem :o).

I was extremely touched by the many emails I received expressing concern in case the disappearance of the blog meant I was unwell. Thank you all and I am delighted to say that I am very well indeed and certainly hadn't lost my way.

That brings me to today's photo. It was taken on Islay, which is one of my favourite places in Scotland (the World!).  The coastline of Islay is unique. At regular intervals there are large white navigational aids round the coast. It would be very difficult to loose your way on Islay!

The Sound of Tomorrow, Islay.

Port Askaig on the Sound of Islay is one of the best places to set off sea kayaking. The Sound is only 0.75km wide so you can really only go north or south. However you don't even need to make that decision as the tide will make it for you (5 knots at springs can be somewhat persuasive).

The scenery on the Sound is stunning with the Paps of Jura being the high point on the horizon.

A number of lighthouses guard the salient points...

...but the strong tides still catch the unwary.

There are two distilleries situated on the Sound.

It is not just kayakers that use Port Askaig...

...it is one of Islay's two ferry terminals and after the introduction of the new ferry MV Finlaggan for the summer 2011 season, it will be the only one until Port Ellen is upgraded.

There is also a small fishing fleet, which use the port as a base for their lobster boats.

The south end of the Sound, towards McArthur's Head lighthouse is equally dramatic and...

 has Scotland's best bothy right by the shore!

The waters of the Sound are pretty sheltered from the storms that sweep across Islay...

...but you never get away from the power of the tide.

Today the Scottish Government approved plans to build an array of 10 tidal generators mounted on the sea bed. These will  generate enough electricity to power several thousand homes and Islay's energy hungry distilleries.

Scottish Power Renewables are going to install 1 megawatt versions of the turbine developed by Hammerfest Strom tidal turbines in Norway.

Two of the turbines will go in just offshore from Port Askaig  with the other 8 going in further south. Apparently the blades will rotate slowly enough not to harm migrating whales and...

...will be deep enough not to interfere with ships or kayaks.

It sounds pretty good. The tides are a lot more reliable than the wind! The only downside is that no fishing will be allowed in the vicinity of the turbines. Just imagine a spot of kayak fishing and catching a turbine with a mackerel line!