A meeting with the latter day Brownie of Cara at the Mull.

 When we woke on Cara on the third and last day of our trip the skies were overcast but there was no wind or swell which would make ideal conditions to round the Mull of Cara.

We set off round Cara in an anticlockwise direction which took us through the skerries on the island's NW coast.

 An unmistakable odour revealed a number of the island's large goat population.

As soon as we were out of the shelter of the skerries we encountered swell which is often a reason to keep well out but it was just about as flat as I have ever seen it.

Ian had not being expecting the Mull of Cara to be particularly impressive so he was delighted when we first saw its rocky profile.

 It was so calm we were able to paddle right into Dead Man's Bay to the west of the Mull.

 Ian was dwarfed by the scale of the rocks which had fallen from the Mull in a huge landslide in 1756. The resulting tsunami destroyed coastal houses on Cara, Gigha and the west coast of Kintyre as far north as West Loch Tarbert.

 We took it in turn to paddle out to get some good distance shots. It was slack water but when the tide is running against the wind here, photography would be the last thing on your mind.

 High above the sightless stone eyes of the Cara eagle gazed out to the Atlantic. For a time we had had the impression we were being watched and had caught an occasional sight of a small brown figure flitting from rock to rock. Was it the Brownie?...

 Then we say it. It was the alpha male goat of Cara. He was perched on a comfortable rock...

...high on the cliffs of the Mull...

...watching over his flock below. We paddled on leaving the Mull of Cara to the goats and the Brownie.

Taking the tide from Slocheen Slunk to Gabarunning, Rhins of Galloway.

As we approached the Broadstone of Portdown on the west coast of the Rhins of Galloway we decided to stop for...

 ..first luncheon at what we call Rainbow Rock. It has a steep...

 ...cobble beach and even in calm conditions there always seems to be some swell but...

 ...it makes a really great place to stop.

 You can see why we call the Broadstone Rainbow rock!

During our luncheon the tide continued to build and when we rounded...

 ...Slew-Whan Point it was already...

 ...running like a river.

We took a breather in the slack water in the recesses of Sloucheen Slunk and when we had negotiated the right angled bend we emerged into the day again and took a last look back...

 ...at Slew-Whan Point.

 The next headland was Gabarunning and we sped through the gap on a tide that was vrunning at 11km/hr until...

 ...we were rushed passed the next headland at Crammag head with its lighthouse and WW2 lookout post.

 Rather than fight against the eddy north of Crammag Head...

...we stayed out in the tidal stream which was still at 10km/hour for as long as we could. We were rather grateful there was no wind as it can get a tad bouncy round these parts!

Lobsters, tides, caves and headlands on the Rhins of Galloway.

 We were not the only ones going round the Mull of Galloway that day...

 ...Tony Patterson and crew in BA852 Valodest were...

 also taking advantage of the calm and slack water to lift their lobster pots.

We decided not to land at West Tarbert as there were "wild" campers in residence. I am surprised there is any grass left there. Everyone makes a fresh fire ring on the grass.

 Instead we proceeded north up the west coast of the Rhins of Galloway ...

 ...along an amazing coastline and soon...

 ...we had left the Mull of Galloway and its lighthouse far behind.

 As we crossed Carrickamickie Bay the tide began to pick up until...

 ...there were standing waves and a slope on the water at a gap off Carrickallan Point.

 Beyond the point we entered a calmer eddy and then came to a series...

 ...of caves, at Carrickahawkie,...

  ...Slocknagower and...

 ......Port Mona.

By now we could see Crammag Head, the next bit of tidal fun but we decided to stop for first luncheon to let the tide build up a bit....

All calm in the Lunnock Cave at the Mull of Galloway.

The 16th dawned to be one of the few sunny, calm days in August. It was ideal for a trip to the Mull of Galloway.

Tony and I dropped a shuttle car at Port Logan on the west coast of the Rhins of Galloway then met Phil and Maurice at the East Tarbet. Inshore, the west going ebb starts at -1:30 HW Dover. HW Dover was at 13:10 so slack water was at 11:40 and we launched bang on time at 11:10.

The NE side of the Mull is a grassy slope and gives very little warning of the dramatic rock architecture beneath the lighthouse just 500m away on the other side of the peninsula.

The waters of Luce Bay to the NE were calm unlike a previous visit when we hit the Mull at maximum tidal flow!

 We rounded the critical point at Lagvag at slack water and entered the Lunnock Cave...

...for a celebratory exploration. If you do get caught out in the Mull of Galloway tide race, the Lunnock Cave would make a marvellous place to wait for calmer conditions as the...
.

...vicious eddylines at its mouth kill the swell.

Some glorious paddle sailing down Dunagoil way.

 From Scalpsie Bay we paddled down the east coast of Bute with the mountains of Arran on...

 ...our right pulling our eyes away from...

 ...the coast of Bute which was mostly rocky with a raised beach above. Beyond the beach there was now dry line of sea cliffs with occasional caves.

As we crossed Dunagoil Bay we came out of the lee of Ardscalpsie Point and the wind began to increase again.

 We fairly shot down the coast past St Blane's Hill with some glorious paddle sailing which...

Photo Ian Johnston.
...was pretty hard work as we tried to catch every wave! My GPS showed we were regularly hitting 14km/hr as we caught the waves. This photo by Ian shows me in the new P&H Scorpio MV mark 2 with sail and skudder. I have this out on a long term test and I hope it will be in a forthcoming issue of Ocean Paddler magazine. I really like it. The skudder (a combined skeg rudder) is incredibly well engineered and very effective. I did notice that when I was using it downwind in rudder mode that I was falling behind Ian and Mike who had similar sails and were paddling P&H Cetus MVs. So I raised it into skeg mode then I found I had no trouble keeping up even though they were in GRP kayaks and the Scorpio is made from roto moulded polyethylene.

 Rounding Dunagoil Hill and Garroch Head was great fun as the flood tide was now against the wind.

 Once in the lee of Garroch Head the wind dropped again and we leisurely paddled round to...

...Glencallum Bay where we unpacked our kayaks for first luncheon.