Baked Bramley apples at a Shian Bay Sunset.

As the sun in the west sank behind distant Colonsay...

 ...it illuminated the moors of Jura to the east with a warm red light. A full moon rose into a cold blue sky above the misty hills beyond the moor.

We gradually gathered round the fire with our sports recovery drinks. Camp raconteur David kept Sam amused with tales such as how he had rolled more cars than kayaks!

 We were all set for a most convivial evening but...

 ...Ian and I made our temporary excuses as we...

 ...photographed the last of the sunset in the hope of capturing a green flash.

As we made our way back up to the camp, a cold mist began to roll down towards us from the Jura  mountains.

Gradually it spread across the near full moon, which was now high in the sky. Ian and I delighted in telling Maurice that as the full moon meant the tides were at springs, it would be an exciting trip through the great Gulf of Corryvreckan in the morning. As Morris had not been through the Corryvreckan before, his face visibly paled in the moonlight, as we continued to wind him up with tales of giant waves and whirlpools....

 Soon the cold mist wrapped around us making everything wet with condensation.

We were glad of the warmth of the fire. David and Sam had to sit ever closer on their bench seat as Ian and I continued to cut the ends off to keep the fire going to ensure...

...cooking of Ian's new signature dish...baked Bramley apples with clotted cream and sprinkled with cinnamon. 

Life really does not get much better than this. For us it is the essence of sea kayaking. Using a small boat to voyage and navigate yourself to remote, special places gives a real sense of adventure and achievement. Alternatively, we could have signed up for Saga Holidays "thrilling tour and cruise adventure for the over 50's" to Machu Picchu and the Galapagos Islands for £5,000 each (well Sam might not have been eligible as he is in his twenties). :o)

Read Ian's account here.

The correct protocol required when greeting the Brownie of Cara

 From Gigalum we crossed to the south end of Gigha before heading across the Sound of Cara to...

 ...Port an Stoir  at the north end of Cara where we intended to camp.

The east beach was occupied by some resident goats. I immediately thought of goat bhuna but we decided to land on the west beach instead.

 If one lands on Cara (and especially so, if one intends to stay the night) it is a wise sea kayaker who knows the correct protocol for greeting The Brownie. It is vital to do this before doing anything else. One needs to raise one's cap then doff it in a suitably deferential manner while at the same time saying in a clear voice "Good Evening Mr. Brownie". The only acceptable variation to this protocol is to change the greeting to suit the time of day of one's arrival.

Failure to satisfy The Brownie on this matter will result in him interpreting your arrival as a serious diplomatic faux pas. All manner of mischief may then be unleashed upon your party by this unhappy spirit. Campbells need to be particularly careful as The Brownie is the spirit of a MacDonald who was murdered by a Campbell. Best advice would be to never disclose your surname on Cara. If your first name is Campbell then you must use a nickname or visit Gigha instead. The annals of Scottish sea kayaking are full of tales of The Brownie's mischief; kayaks floating away in the night, paddles being hidden in the bramble bushes, full bottles of malt whisky being emptied during the night and much, much worse.

 We found a little driftwood but were glad of the barbecue coals and logs we had brought with us and soon...

 ...had an excellent fire going on the white shell sands of Cara. previous visitors had burned multiple fire rings in the machair.. hope the Brownie got them!

 Anyway we were just thinking that life did not get better than baked sweet potatoes when...

...this amazing moon rose out of the fog on the Sound of Gigha.

An eclipse luncheon on the white sands of Ardnish!

Having got a photo of the eclipse. I set off to catch up with the others who were making their way into Loch Ailort past the north end of Eilean nan Gobhar. Because I had the sail up, I soon caught them as they were paddling hard...

 ...against the tide that was pouring out between the gap between and Eilean nan Gobhar and Eilean a' Chaolais. A solar eclipse, when the sun and moon are aligned, mean a very big spring tide is generated! As we got nearer Eilean a' Chaolais the conditions increased in lumpiness so there was no chance of getting the camera out!

Once inside the loch the tide races were restricted to narrow channels and most of the loch was pretty flat. Annoyingly the thick cloud that had so effectively obscured the eclipse now...

 ...began to lift and there was nearly full sun as we approached the delightful tidal beach to the east of Port na h-Aifrinne.

We pulled the boats clear of the swell then...

...made our way up...

...this glorious beach to the...

 ...rocks at its head. What a great place to welcome the return of the sun...

 ...it was time to celebrate with an eclipse luncheon! We don't have many of  these so...

 ...the cameras came out to record...

...the pouring of a celebratory dram in thanks for the return of the sun, which was now casting a strong shadow on the light sands of Ardnish.

The whisky went very well with our luncheon of tortilla bread, Edam cheese, humus, chillies, green olives and black grapes.

Slàinte mhòr, may we all enjoy great health until the next solar eclipse!

Frostbite, Gorgonzola, and antifreeze at sundown on Loch Leven.

The freezing east wind out of the deep shade of Kinlochleven at least assisted with our speedy exit from the coldest place in the known universe. Ian had never sailed before but had no hesitation in unleashing his sail to ensure his timely departure.

Unfortunately Mike had rigged his sail wrongly and I rafted up to undo an iced knot. I got him going but my fingers were numb for 24 hours afterwards.

At first we made good progress and since we were paddle sailing with the wind the apparent wind dropped...

 ...reducing the effects of the severe wind chill to which we had been exposed on landing at Kinlochleven.

Sadly the wind dropped and we had glassy calm...

 ...back to down the loch to..

 ...the Caolas nan Con where the tide was now pouring in. We were still in the deep cold shade but warmed up by paddling up the south shore to an eddy then ferrying across to another eddy on the north shore.

At last we emerged into the sunshine again but the sun was low in the sky and partly obscured by a veil of cloud.

 A little beach beckoned for second luncheon...

 ..of Mike's home made...

  ...cauliflower, mustard and Gorgonzola soup* and...

...once we had warmed up with that, we...

...poured some antifreeze. It is important not to skimp and buy a 5 litre job lot out of one of the discount stores. No, such pecuniary orientated purchasing is not for us. This was the finest 15 year old Dalmore.

You can read Ian's account here.

* by popular demand here is the recipe for cauliflower mustard  and gorgonzola soup. Mike and I both have the New Covent Garden Food Co A soup for every day book. currently available on Amazon for £5! Ian has enjoyed my soup (broccoli and stilton and leek and potato) in the Sound of Aisaig and Mike's cauliflower, mustard and Gorgonzola soup in Loch Leven so he ordered his own copy on his return! Ian has kindly typed this out for me!

Covent Garden recipe cauliflower, mustard and Gorgonzola soup

Ingredients (serves 4)

2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1 tablespoon plain flour
284ml vegetable stock
284ml milk
1 medium cauliflower, cut into small florets
160g Gorgonzola cheese cubed
1 teaspoon whole grain mustard

Method (40minutes)

1.            Heat the oil in a saucepan, add the onion then cook until softened, without browning

2.            Add the flour then cook for 1 minute

3.            Gradually add the stock and milk, stirring constantly

4.            Add the cauliflower, bring to the boil then cover and simmer for 20 minsutes until the cauliflower is                tender

5.            Remove from the heat, add the Gorgonzola then stir until melted

6.            Blend until smooth then return to the pan

7.            Season to taste then reheat gently for 3 minutes

8.            Stir in the mustard and serve on a lovely cold beach!

Disappearing breakfasts, otters, sharks and islands in the Kilbrannan Sound.

We awoke the following morning to low water. A feature of the Firth of Clyde is that spring tides tend to occur at midday and midnight.Arriving at a campsite in the early evening and leaving in early morning is therefore associated with LW and a long carry. Many of the "beaches" you see on Google Earth are only accessible at HW.

This is the long rocky gully we carried our boats up the previous night. It was taken with a telephoto lens so it is foreshortened and is longer than it looks.

A decent number of calories were required for our forthcoming labours. In case any one is concerned about any dietary imbalance, I consumed this lot in a whole meal wrap. Yum Yum!

Although the sun attempted to break through, a thick bank of fog rolled in. I just missed the otter in this photo but with the eye of...

...considerable faith I hope you can see the large basking shark through the fog!. I have never seen them in the Clyde so early.

After considerable humphing we set off from Rubh a na h-Airde Baine which roughly translated means "point of the pale high beach"
.

We set off across the Kilbrannan Sound but of the Isle of Arran, which is...

surprisingly large, there was not a sign!