Two resting places on Gigha.

It was early evening when we came across the wreck of the Kartli.


It was humbling being so close to the final resting place of the wreck of this great ship and it served as a reminder of the power of the sea.


This quartz, on a rock nearby, seemed to have taken its hue in sympathy from the rusting remains of the Kartli.


The sun was nearly setting...


...by the time we had explored potential camping spots.


We finally found this one, with a view of Islay and Jura over the Sound of Jura. We looked forward to resting our limbs after a long day. (Donald's outboard motor "throttle hand" was quite fatigued!) We anticipated sampling a little of the produce of the fine isle of Islay. Specifically we had in mind an 18 year old Caol Isla malt whisky. According to the label on the box, this rarely available bottling has the spicy, sea-air aromas and smoky-dry, peppery flavours of a mature expressive Islay malt. I was certainly not going to argue with that as we could almost see the distillery! Yum!

Navigation and spice in the Sound of Islay.

Proceeding up the Sound of Islay we soon came across yet another distillery. What a wondrous isle Islay is! Sea kayak navigation is so easy here. Even we (without a single navigation qualification between us) knew we had arrived at Bunnahabhain. There has been a distillery here since 1881. The fine malt whisky produced here is lighter and less peaty than the whiskies produced by distilleries elsewhere on Islay. This is because the water rises from a limestone spring and is piped directly to the distillery, without gathering peat in surface rivers and lochs. The 18 year old bottling has been described as follows: "The voyage ends with dry notes that are interspersed with mixed spices fading magnificently into a light salt and sherry finale."

Despite its spicy name and overtones, I do not think this whisky distillery has Indian owners.


Bunnahabhain marks the end of the road and we now paddled past one of the wildest and most remote corners of Islay.


To the east, the modesty of the heaving Paps of Jura was covered by a decent layer of cloud.


Our destination was Ruvall lighthouse which is perched on the end of Rubh a' Mhail. An electricity supply was put in to the lighthouse in 1981. The poles and cables were flown in by helicopter but the pilot had a lucky escape when his rotor hit one of the poles that had already been erected.


A basalt dyke runs through the headland to the north of the lighthouse. Its continuation can be seen on the other side of the Sound of Islay, marching up the hillside of the Paps.


The lighthouse was built in 1859 by David and Thomas Stephenson. The tower is 34m high. Every 15 seconds there are 3 quick flashes. The light is white with the exception of the NW quadrant which is red. The lighthouse has been automated since 1983.

Rounding the point, we now left the Sound of Islay and headed west along the most remote part of Islay's incredibly varied coastline.

What would we find next?

Caol Isla: whisky, puffers and paps!

Leaving Port Askaig, the flood tide was racing north up the Sound of Islay at 16km/hr so there was really little choice involved in deciding where to go. Just round the corner from Port Askaig, the NW wind proved to be one of the sweetest winds on the west coast. It was carrying the "Angels' Share" over the water from the Caol Ila distillery. The name means Kyles of Islay (or Narrows of Islay).

The distillery was founded in 1846. From the 1920's until 1972 the distillery was served by its own puffer service, the first, Pibroch was built in 1922, her successor, also called Pibroch, was built in 1957. They sailed from the distillery pier to Glasgow via the Mull of Kintyre. The distillery was expanded and rebuilt in 1974 but now barley comes in and whisky goes out via lorries and the Calmac ferry.


From out in the Sound of Islay we caught sight of the Rhuvaal lighthouse, still some 9km distant.


Although the water of the Sound was calm, we were still proceeding at 14km/hr with little paddling effort.


The summits of the Paps of Jura were decently wreathed in puffs of light cloud.

Leaving the "Angel's Share" on Islay.

As we continued up the Sound of Islay, the Carraig Mor light announced our imminent arrival at Port Askaig.


The Eilean Dhura ferry was in port. This ferry connects Islay to Jura. Vehicular traffic for Jura needs to arrive on Islay first then transfer to Jura.


Our ferry had not yet arrived so we decided to let the now north going tide carry us on past Port Askaig to the Caol Isla distillery. It was very enjoyable sitting there in the offshore wind savouring the "Angel's Share!"


It was a short paddle against the tide back to Port Askaig.


There is a very convenient beach and slipway by the conveniently situated Port Askaig Hotel which boasts the oldest bar on Islay! Unfortunately a full review will need to wait for another visit....


..as our boat, the Isle of Arran, had come in!


Sadly this brought our visit to the island of Islay to an end but we had made lots of new friends and we will return!

15/07/2008

Sea kayaking in search of the Holy Grail: the Ardbeg distillery, Islay

We continued to paddle with a tail wind along the SE coast of Islay. As a result, we had no olfactory warning of the delight that lay round the headland. Tony sprinted ahead leaving David and I in his wake.


We decided to the tie the kayaks up as we thought we may be spending some time on land. The essence of our trips is exploration but this one was more of a pilgrimage.


The clear Celtic symbols left us in no doubt that we were now on hallowed and spiritual ground. We had arrived at the Ardbeg distillery, home and birth place of the Lord of the island malt whiskies.


Tony was quite relaxed as he waited for our arrival outside the temple of the old drying kiln. He was still licking his lips as we approached, a clear sign of a quick one!


We entered the great shrine of Ardbeg and prepared for worship of a palatial kind.


But first we were delighted to find that the old drying kiln now served sustaining food and drink for the faithful. As we placed our order, the serving staff did not bat an eyelid at our dripping kayaking gear. As the sun had not yet passed the yardarm, we decided to wash a bowl of delicious soup down with a pint of bottle conditioned Finlaggan Ale from the Islay Ales brewery. Afterwards we found the facilities to be warm and spotless. Only after a ritual washing the salt from our faces did we feel prepared to sample the great Ardbeg....

14/07/2008

The spirits of Dunyvaig Castle, Lagavulin Bay, Islay

Leaving Port Ellen and heading east along the south coast of Islay we came across a break in the reefs guarding a large bay.


Being highly skilled sea kayakers we were able to use all our powers of navigation to deduce that we were now in Lagavulin Bay.


In the thirteen century the bay was the anchorage for a fleet of armed birlins. They were the navy of the Lords of the Isles who were descended from Somerled, who had wrested the Hebrides from the Vikings.


Today the 16th century ruins of Dunyvaig Castle teeter on the edge of a rock stack which guards Lagavulin Bay. Some of the castle dates back to the thirteenth century and its stones have been there so long that it appears to grow out of the rock. In places it is difficult to say whether the structure is the hand of man or the hand of God.


The castle changed hands many times in a turbulent history and in the 17th century one of its last MacDonald owners was hanged from the walls after a siege. Some say it is haunted by troubled spirits from its bloody past. We chose not to camp there but the only spirit we found was a heady vapour making its way over the sea from a plain white building at the back of Lagavulin Bay.

14/07/2008

Mulling it over with a dram of malt on Islay

From Eilean Imersay we were now bound for the Isle of Texa on Islay's SE coast. To the east, the distant mountains of Arran rose above the long peninsula of Kintyre.


Note how Tony is looking wistfully at the distant Mull of Kintyre!


On our way to Texa we passed two of the three whisky distilleries that grace this part of Islay's coastline. The first was Ardbeg, a superb peaty malt.


The second was Lagavulin, producers of another fine malt whisky. Sadly we decided to pass them by as we had thoughts of rounding the still distant Mull of Oa later in the day.

I am now off on my own holiday to the Solway, so posting on our Islay trip may be irregular. If you want to read more of Islay I can recommend two blogs by other visitors to this fantastic island: Armin's Islay Blog and Ron's Islay Weblog.

13/07/2008

Gigha sunset

Seen from Gigha, the sunsets behind the Paps of Jura are among the finest anywhere on the west coast of Scotland.



Room with a view.





I do like a bonfire but at this time of year last season's vegetation is tinder dry and you need to be very careful not to set the whole countryside alight like two campers recently did in Galloway. In this case the wind was blowing strongly offshore and we lit the fire below high water mark.



We enjoyed a quiet libation of Ardbeg malt whisky. Its peaty aroma blended perfectly with the smoke from the fire and its amber liquid glowed in the embers of first the sunset and then the fire. It seemed highly appropriate to drink it here under a Hebridean sky. The distillery is only 25km away on Islay across the Sound of Jura.