Why sea kayakers should consider carrying a PLB, unless they are full sibling to an ostrich.

Our journey from Carsaig Bay to Oronsay and Colonsay back in May 2017 continued after a long luncheon break on the sands of Oronsay. The break in blogging has been somewhat longer than that as I have been feeling a bit under par recently. At this, point I should say a very big thank you to Duncan for so generously lending me Sith for this trip. It is just a pity that neither Duncan nor Joan could make this paddling adventure as they had recently returned to Vancouver Island.

We set off anticlockwise round Oronsay with...

...the distant Paps of Jura and the northern entrance of the Sound of Islay on our port side.

We entered a maze of rocky channels at the SW tip of Oronsay We were making slow progress against the incoming tide when a "whoppa whoppa whoppa" from behind announced the arrival of...

...G-MCGG, the coastguard search and rescue (SAR) helicopter from Prestwick, some 120km away to the SE. We heard from Belfast Coastguard VHF transmissions that she was on her way to assist a party of sea kayakers in trouble off the Ross of Mull, some 30km to the north. She tipped over slightly as she passed and we could see the crew looking down at us but presumably we did not look like we were in distress and were too far from their search zone.

This was a Sikorsky S92 helicopter but two months later it was replaced at Prestwick by a Leonardo (formerly AgustaWestland) AW189.  Bristows have operated these SAR helicopters from Prestwick on behalf of the Marine and Coastguard Agency since the previous Royal Navy Sea King SAR  helicopters were retired on 1/1/2016.

Just a few days previous to our sighting, a MCA helicopter from Prestwick had rescued a surfer from the middle of the North Channel between Scotland and Ireland. The surfer had been adrift after setting off surfing from Westport beach on Kintyre. The tide and an offshore wind carried him off without any means of attracting attention.  The search lasted for 32 hours and involved several MCA helicopters from Prestwick, 3 RNLI Lifeboats and 5 shore based coastguard teams. It is quite remarkable that he was discovered. He was found 26km from Kintyre and 21km from Ireland in a search area of nearly 500 square kilometers. 

After the rescue, one of the crew, Andy Pilliner, said: “Looking out at endless water, you just see something that’s slightly different in the water, from where we looked, it looked perhaps like a buoy, but it warranted further investigation so we dropped in height a bit and came in and it was that moment, oh it is actually a surfboard and there’s someone on it waving. It's just a great feeling, it’s just what you’re hoping for."

The rescued surfer said "I cannot thank those enough who rescued and cared for me, they are all heroes."

This remarkable rescue is a very good reason for water users, such as sea kayakers, to carry personal locator beacons (PLBs). By setting one off, if you are ever in a life threatening situation, you can help the rescuers find you quickly. This not only saves the rescue services considerable effort but it also reduces the time their personnel are exposed to danger. I have been carrying a PLB while windsurfing and sea kayaking for the last 12 years. My first PLB cost nearly £600 but the Ocean Signal rescueMe PLB1, which I now carry, is currently only £200. Given the overall cost of sea kayaking gear and transport this is a minor expense. (I burned £40 of fuel getting to our launch point for this trip and I live closest!) So I can't think of any good reason why a responsible sea kayaker would not nowadays consider carrying a PLB unless, perhaps, they are full sibling to an ostrich.

Fortunately we were in no difficulty and C-MCGG flew on and successfully assisted the kayakers in trouble while we landed on Oronsay. As we made our way up the beach at the head of the long inlet of Port na Luinge (long port!), we were following in the footsteps of our ancestors and our own pilgrimage to the Isles had nearly come to an end.

You can read Ian's account here.

Tunnel vision and the consumption of alcohol when winter sea kayaking in Loch Sunart.

The east wind whistled straight down Loch Sunart from the icy slopes...

 ...of Garbh Bheinn at its head.

 To the west gathering snow clouds darkened the sky but...

 ...the view to the east continued to clear and patches of blue sky appeared and bursts of sunlight dappled the hillsides.

 Mike spotted a rare beach of sand so it was undoubtedly time for second luncheon...]

...which we enjoyed  on the rocks below the ancient oak woods of Sunart, which come right down to the shore.

We poured some excellent Jura, which went down extremely well. However this blog has been spammed recently by "a responsible seakayaker" who is very unhappy that I am setting a bad example by portraying drinking while sea kayaking. Here is this morning's example:

"I am a responsible sea kayaker and I strongly object to your repeated glorification of the consumption of alcohol on your sea kayaking trips. Have you no insight into the bad example you are setting to impressionable sea kayakers whose lives are endangered by your irresponsibility? You should be ashamed of yourself."

Just in case there are any impressionable sea kayakers out there who feel they are unduly influenced by our luncheon habits (we never imbibe with breakfast by the way), let me just say that:

"Alcohol can impair your judgement, affect your coordination, make you more liable to exposure and if you are male, make you impotent."

 I trust any impressionable readers have now  been well and truly warned of the evils and dangers of drink. Anyway back to a pleasant luncheon and a dram of Jura...

...Cheers "responsible seakayaker", slàinte mhòr!

Please see below for comments and also Ian's post on his blog with comments also.

 It was now time to return to the waiting boats as...

 ...yet more snow showers gathered ...

...round the loch but at least the...

...wind slowly dropped away.

As the clouds gathered, the only clear sky was to the east through the "tunnel" of Glen Tarbert. The sun was shining on Sgorr nam Fiannaidh 967m some 35 km distant. Its sunlit slopes acted as a beacon and guided us safely home, through the darkening skies and snow showers of Loch Sunart.

After saying goodbye to Simon and Liz, Ian Mike and I drove back to Corran where the ferry was crossing Loch Linnhe from the Lochaber side.

After a short ferry crossing and drive we arrived back at the Ballachuilish Hotel for a hot bath, an excellent meal and several pints of sports recovery drinks.

At only 20 kilometres this was a short trip but we felt we had made the most of an unpromising winter day and had enjoyed great company.

Fourth element Arctic under suit long term test and review..

Although the west coast of Scotland sea temperature is still a balmy 11 degrees Celsius in mid December (due to the Gulf stream) the air temperature is not so warm. It was minus 5C when we set off the other day but the wind chill of a brisk north wind cut that down to -12C. Keeping warm in these conditions is vital.

My trusty Kokatat dry sit is now in its 4th winter and is still bone dry but what do I wear underneath?

I started using the fourth element Arctic two piece 4 years ago. It is composed of a double layer. The inner is a warm fleece with remarkable wicking properties. I usually just wear a pair of cotton pants (shorts) under the trousers and they stay bone dry. The Arctic outer layer is a closely woven water repellent and wind resistant layer. I never get too hot with the Arctic suit, neither do I get too cold. Importantly when I am sitting on an exposed beach for lunch and a cold wind is blowing, I still stay warm while others round about are shivering. I pair it with long Arctic socks and even my toes remain warm. The lower legs of the suit are a single layer so that the overlapping socks do not make them too bulky when putting your dry suit on and off. When I take my dry suit off at the end of the day I usually don't bother changing out of the Arctic suit. It feels nice and dry and remains warm even in a chill wind. (I could not do that in a previous huggy bear suit). I usually drive home in my Arctic suit. 

A great advantage of the Arctic suit is that it remains warm if it gets wet, for example if you puncture your dry suit or have a less than waterproof two piece and go for a swim. I tested this 3 years ago on a 37km mid winter paddle. At 10km we stopped for first luncheon and a pee break. My friend's kayak drifted off in the offshore wind. I waded in up to my waist and caught it but I had not done up the comfort zip. The Arctic trousers were soaked but I did not get cold. I continued on for the rest of the paddle feeling perfectly warm, if a little moist! After three winters and cold washing and drip drying after every outing there is no sign of wear or shrinkage. I tend to get arm pit rash with most under suits but I have never had a rash with the Arctic. I think that this is due to the layer next to the skin remaining so dry. I do have a friend with particularly sensitive skin who has suffered underarm abrasion with this suit. He solved this by wearing a lycra rash vest underneath. My only criticism of this combination suit is that the waist of the trousers is cut rather low for the kayaking sitting position and sometimes I get a cold gap at the back. Conversely there are four layers of overlapping cloth over your belly, which can be restrictive.

This criticism has been resolved since last winter, when fourth element introduced the Arctic one piece.  I am now using this in its second winter season. It is just as warm as the two piece but with no gaps and is much less restrictive round the waist. Compared to my old cheap huggy bear suit, it is much warmer, wicks better, is less bulky, is less restrictive, is wind proof and remains warm when wet.

The zip is double ended so males can still use the convenience zip on the dry suit. My one minor criticism on this suit is that as supplied, the alloy crimps at the top of the zip were razor sharp and cut my neck first time out. Two minutes with a nail file rounded the sharp edges. The Arctic one piece is not cheap at £189 but I think it is worth every penny.

My overall verdict is that the fourth element Arctic one piece is essential wear both for comfort and safety when sea kayaking in the Scottish winter.

A night crossing of the Firth of Lorn by kayak.

As we left Loch Buie and entered the Firth of Lorn we encountered a large swell rolling in from the Atlantic. In the distance we could see the rounded outline of Scarba on the far side of the Firth.


Once round the point, the swell subsided and we passed close under the mighty cliffs of An Garradh. Mull has a reputation among climbers for rotten basalt rock but these cliffs looked superb. I wonder if any climbers have been here? The cliffs were lit by a lovely warm light except for the tops which were in the shade of some low cloud on the western horizon.


The sun set at 1715 and a cool NE wind began to get up.


In the fading light, we continued along the base of the cliffs and paddled inside of Frank Lockwood's island. This is no more than a flat skerry. Lockwood, 1846-1897, was Solicitor General of Scotland. He and the 21st MacLaine of Lochbuie were married to sisters and the two men became good friends. I suspect the island was named as a joke, Frank certainly would not have made much of a living from it.


At 1735 the light was fading fast and we had started on the final 16km open crossing to Seil. The waves began to build as we became more exposed.


We hit a F3-4 45 degree headwind and an adverse 1 knot tide. Most of the crossing was by starlight and we could only feel and taste the waves. We eventually landed at 1940 (nearly two and a half hours after sunset) after covering a total distance of 44km.


The GPS track shows where we took two brief breaks and were carried down wind and tide. After the second break we stopped maintaining a ferry angle to keep on the GPS bearing to Seil. We could see the lights of Easdale and just paddled straight for the them. You can see how the 1 knot tide and wind then carried us off course.

The backup plan, if weather turned before we left Loch Buie, was a rather decent B&B on Mull.

We do most of our paddling in winter on day trips so we are quite used to coming home in the dark. We are fair weather paddlers and so carefully watch the weather forecasts beforehand. I checked tide times and flows and marked up our maps with the details, I also checked the times the Colonsay ferry would cross our route and made sure we were not there!

For the crossing we had 5 head torches for the three of us and spare batteries, VHF radios and listened on 16 for the MSI weather broadcasts, EPIRB, rocket flares, daynight hand flares, laminated maps, compasses and mapping GPS. For most of the crossing we paddled three abreast for ease of maintaining contact.

We all had dry suits, goretex fleece lined mountain caps and pogies and carried spare neoprene gloves and balaclavas. Under the dry suit I wore Fourth Element Arctic gear which is a thick double fleece.

In case there was a problem after we left Loch Buie, we also carried spare Buffalo jackets and trousers and a 4 man bothy bag and foam mats to sit on. Spare food, water, stove, lighter, dry kindling, first aid kit and boat repair kit. If the wind did get up (we also had an ebb tide to contend with) and we could not get uptide and upwind to Seil, we could have made a run for the east coast of the Garvellachs and bivvied there or, if it was open, used the bothy on Garbh Eileach.

If the weather got right out of hand, we had short tow ropes with which we could have maintained a raft and run before it, towing a drogue. If real s**t had happened I could have let the EPIRB off but it would have had to be pretty bad to do that, after all I didn't let it off when I dislocated my knee on Gunna!

Better days: knees in the sand

My eye was caught by this old boat which was lying at the high water mark in Scarinish Harbour Tiree. She was lying as she was when she was driven here by a winter storm but her function can still easily be discerned from her near complete form.


In contrast, little remains of this sad relic of former days the Mary Stewart. Only the stumps of her timber knees project from the sand, hinting at the once proud lines, which carried the essential trade of Tiree.


I wonder if she was this masted sailing ship, photographed by Erskine Beveridge in Scarinish harbour in 1898? Note the hotel building in the background, which has since been considerably extended. Old photographs like these make us realise that our lives are very transitory things compared with places and the environment. All the more reason not to leave a mess!

Better days is also a metaphor for my own current situation. It was the 13th of the month. I dislocated my knee on the sands of Gunna at the south end of Coll. It gave way when I turned to take a quick photo. As I lay there crying out for my mummy, I could see my lower leg was at a funny angle and that my knee cap had slipped round the outer side of my leg. Our mobiles didn't work, I had been unable to get the coastguard MSI broadcasts on the VHF, we were on an uninhabited island but I did have a GPS EPIRB....


The thought of the big red and white Coastguard helicopter emerging from the heat haze on the horizon (with a "wump, wump, wump" and March of the Valkyries blaring from the in flight entertainment system) had a certain appeal. I do love the smell of kerosene in the evenings.

However, I was enjoying our little trip, apart from the screaming agony in my knee, and the prospect of being untimely ripped from the bosom of Gunna was rather upsetting. "Oh dear" I thought, "I had better get myself out of this mess." So I waved the helicopter boys away, took a deep breath, dug my heel deep into the sand and levered my leg straight. I couldn't breathe with the excruciating pain but it went back in with a sickening clunk. I then hyper-extended my knee (to take the tension off my quadriceps) and used both hands to lever the tendon and the knee cap back into place. I screamed at the watching seals as the patella scraped its way over the bones. I nearly blacked out but it is was done. "Oh bother! That smarted some!"

I took a handful of Diclofenac and then strapped up my knee, which was now the size of a melon, with duct tape. I wish I had had the foresight to shave my leg before putting the duct tape on... I was really looking forward to the therapeutic effects of some 16 year old Bowmore distillate and poured us all some snifters, as the others were all looking a little white, even David the vet. Unfortunately the Diclofenac had hurt my stomach, so David ended up with my Bowmore!

What now? Well Jim had brought a walking pole, so I used that to hobble about and direct the others to load and carry my boat down the beach. I filled a 10l water bag and put it in the cockpit floor beneath my knee. Jennifer held my kayak steady in the surf and David and Jim lifted me into the cockpit. It was only 56km back to Portuairk and if we left now it would be high water when we got there and that would save a 500m walk back to the car!

13 days later I am still laid up. Yesterday my calf and foot swelled up and became very hot and painful when I was visiting my wife Alison, who was just out of theatre having had a hip replacement (I was supposed to be her gopher, a very serious loss of Brownie points)! When I hobbled into her ward on crutches, the sister said " I'm sorry we were not expecting you." "That's a pity." I replied "My wife and I thought you had a 'two for one' offer on this week!"

My daughter insisted on dropping me off at the local Casuality Department (Glaswegian for A&E or Emergency Room). It was 8:30pm. I could see it was going to be a long night, in fact, I thought she had dropped me off at the local Police station! It was 5 hours before I was seen but the floor show was better than "Big Brother"!

It turns out I have developed a deep vein thrombosis. Untreated, these can be somewhat troublesome little things (but at least 90% of people don't get a big pulmonary embolism and die). I was quite pleased when the young doctor offered an anticoagulant jab. I'll need a few more of those if I don't want to end up like those boats in Scarinish harbour; on my knees in the sand, at the end of my seagoing days....

I'll be back!

13/06/2009

Pocket Surfer 2 review

Photo by JLW

Sea kayaking in remote places is very weather dependent. The weather forecast is therefore vital in safe route planning. On the wild parts of the west coast of Scotland you are lucky sometimes to get AM or sometimes even FM radio reception but the times of the main shipping forecasts are at the unholy hours of 0048 and 0520 hours. A marine VHF transceiver will pick up the coastguard MSI broadcasts every 4 hours, if you are in range (and if as at present the coastguard are not on industrial action and therefore not making the broadcasts). I invariably find I remember the weather forecast time just as it finishes!

Imagine, were ever you were, if you had full Internet access, even to feature rich graphical web sites such as XC weather? If you are a gadget freak like me, you will have tried WAP on a 2G phone and decided that it is hopeless. You will also know that there is no 3G coverage on almost all of the west coast of Scotland.


Pocket Surfer 2 has full Internet access in this remote spot.

Let me now introduce to you the Pocket Surfer 2 from the Canadian Datawind company. I have been using it since December 2007 with great success. Pocket Surfer 2 connects to the Internet using the 2G GPRS network via a built in SIM and antenna. This is not the WAP version of the Internet but the full version. Even complex web pages with hi res photos will download in less than 30 secs and text rich pages will often download in a few seconds. This is done by connecting to the Internet via Datawind's servers which compress the page before transmitting it to the Pocket Surfer over the GPRS network. This does mean that the photos are very grainy and that videos will not download but other multimedia such as Flash and Java do work. As you are accessing the Internet through Canada, you get the Canadian version of Google by default but this is a minor quibble.

Features and functions
It is a slim, clam shell gadget which when open reveals a 640x240 pixel colour screen and a full qwerty keyboard which is easy to operate with two thumbs. The keyboard is illuminated so the device is usable in the dark. The "mouse" pointer is navigated by a group of four direction keys. Sometimes you might loose sight of the "mouse" pointer but if you direct it to a corner of the screen, it is easy to find again. It is a surprisingly practical solution to navigating web pages on a compact, hand held device. The only type of web site I have had difficulty with is where a drop down menu has a long list of options, which extend below the bottom of the screen. The device will not let you drag a scroll bar down by left clicking and dragging the bar. An example is MagicSeaweed's surf locations. I have got round this by creating a web page with multiple hyperlinks direct to the each of the surf location pages I regularly access.

The device has a built in LION battery (with a mini USB charge socket) which lasts about 4 hours per charge. It comes with a mains to mini USB charger but you can also charge it from a computer USB socket with a USB cable. I have also charged in the wild with a wind up mobile phone charger with a mini USB socket. It is a dedicated Internet browsing device and so cannot make phone calls or be connected to a computer for USB data transfer. By concentrating on this function it does so in such an efficient manner that it will download web pages even quicker than a G3 iPhone in the city! Actually it has another function. There is a built in GPS receiver which shows your current position on Google maps. You can then click for information on a variety of local attractions!

It is also easy to access your email including attachments such as word docs, access online storage, remotely access your work computer etc. but I do not! You can use https sites for banking. Datawind claim that the link over GPRS is encrypted but I have not trusted my bank details yet. Maybe in an emergency I might and my data would probably be less likely to be hacked than in an Internet cafe. It will not work with video or audio or online games because of the compression used before a web page is sent over the GPRS network. What it does do it does very well indeed. It allows you mobile access to Internet information in places with no WIFI or 3G and it accesses it faster than any other GPRS or 3G device I have seen.

Where does it work?
For outdoors people who need Internet access for weather forecasts, the Pocket Surfer 2 has no competition. It has worked on islands off the west coast of Lewis and Harris. The Monach Islands, half way to St Kilda, Skye, Arisaig, Scarba, the remote SE coast of Islay, Sanda and the Solway. Sometimes you might need to climb a small hillock to get a signal, other times it will work at sea level. On our recent trip to St Kilda on MV Cuma, the skipper Murdani, who has a lifetime experience of working these waters, was delighted to be able to access his favourite weather web pages. We were waiting on the Monach Islands for a break in the weather to get out to St Kilda. He said "In all my years I have seen nothing like it, who would have thought it? The Internet on the Monachs!" I have also used it while waiting at airports and railway stations. On a moving train it works great until you go into a tunnel!

Cost
Now the catch, what about the cost? I bought mine for £180 and it is now £160. Well, now the really good news: this also includes 20 hours per month browsing. In subsequent years you get 20 hours a month browsing for £40 per year.

Support
What about after sales support? After 9 months, mine developed a minor fault with the screen that made it difficult to read the menu bar. An email to the UK support site was answered within 5 minutes. They said it was a known fault with some of the early models and replaced it under warranty. What more can you ask for?

Conclusion
I cannot begin to tell you how much I appreciate such easy access to the Internet in wild places. I know some purists will say they go to the wilderness to escape from all that but accurate weather forecasts are a great contribution to safety and I am a cautious sea kayaker.

The Pocket Surfer 2 is a unique device. It may not be perfect but nothing else comes close for full Internet access in wild places, so I am afraid I will need to award it 12/10!

A sudden tidal surge on Scarba

When we left Guirasdeal we went into the Grey Dogs tide race (against the tide) for a little fun.


Somewhat scared witless, we proceeded down the NW coast of Scarba.


The photo above shows the nice calm conditions which we found there, after the mayhem of the Dogs.


We landed for a short break and carried the boats well up the beach (about 3 boat lengths on a steep beach).

We only turned our backs for a minute while I attempted to get a weather forecast on my mobile phone. (The coastguard were not broadcasting the forecasts due to industrial action.)

In that moment a tidal surge came in and carried the boats off the beach where they were bashing around the rocks. The strong offshore wind threatened to take them to the Garvellachs. We leaped into the sea and recovered them just in time.

We knew about these surges in this complex tidal area but had not been careful enough. Be warned and carry your kayaks above the high water mark on even a short stop.



Despite our apprehension of what conditions would be like in the Corryvreckan, we left the storm beach on Scarba wiser and somewhat relieved!

30/08/2008

An unexpected swim.

A force 6 NE wind was blowing down the loch and whipping a frenzy of white horses over its dark cold waters. It is the end of the Scottish winter but the summits of the mountains on Arran and the Galloway hills were still shrouded in a white covering of snow.

Despite the cold we were sweating in our high tech clothing as we battled into the teeth of the wind. All three of us were wearing helmets which shows how seriously we were taking the conditions. We were making slow but steady progress when all of a sudden Tony went over.

He disappeared from sight under the dark water. He had instinctively gone into the roll position but it failed and he was unseated. After what seemed like an age, he eventually surfaced. He was gasping with the cold cold and he couldn't get out of the water. Mike and I manouvered into position on either side of him and we each grabbed a shoulder strap and hauled him out like a fish. Water spewed from his nose, his mouth and his helmet but thank God he was still breathing, though he had completely lost the power of speech.

All the high tech windproof clothing and fleece was completely saturated with icy water. The NE wind chilled him to the marrow. It was a serious situation. Tony was already hypothermic and we were 28km from the nearest shore at Lendalfoot on the Firth of Clyde.

How did we get out of this mess and get ourselves home from this Scottish version of Deep Trouble?

Please scroll down for more....

Adventure begins at home!

At the weekend I got thinking about adventure on the water. In Scotland we have what must be some of the best paddling in the world, mostly within a day's drive/ferry trip from the main cities.

On Sunday we paddled past three ancient castles, old harbours, small coves, wide surf beaches, caves, stacks, headlands and waterfalls plunging off cliffs into the sea. We had great views of an ancient volcanic island rising sheer out of the sea and the western horizon was filled with another island's lofty granite ridges disappearing into the clouds. Seals followed us while the air was filled with flocks of oyster catchers and sandpipers. Curlews, herons, geese, mallard ducks and swans were feeding round the shoreline and rafts of eider duck were forming offshore.

The waters ranged from flat calm (where we were sheltered from the southerly winds of up to force 5) to quite interesting round the headlands. There was even a pub that serves dry suited thirsty paddlers at the half way point! All in all just about a perfect days paddling. Had we driven far? Had we flown to another land? Had we burned large amounts of precious hydrocarbons getting to this exotic location? Well the photo above is just 50km from my front door and our landing spot was 30 minutes drive from home.

I guess the message is that we do not always have to traverse the planet to look for adventure, sometimes its on your own doorstep. The other side of this coin is that you should never become complacent sea kayaking on your home waters. As soon as you leave the beach you enter another world and you should be prepared for adventure. All my unexpected "epics" have been on home waters on the Firth of Clyde.

Cailean and Michael have also written (more timely posts) on environmental themes, I meant to post this yesterday but was up all night preparing documents for work.

Blog Action Day was yesterday!

Glorious Galloway!

The Rhinns of Galloway really are superb. We launched from Port Logan in the lee of its ancient jetty. In the excellent Scottish Sea Kayaking, Cooper and Reid recommend launching from the fish pond car park which is marked on the map at 096104 (I presume they mean 096410) but access to the beach from here is down a steep wooden staircase with a right angled bend. I would suggest launching from another car park which is not marked on the map but is right beside the beach, 094404, in the shelter of the quay.



Approaching the Mull of Logan you will hopefully find yourself in the strong push of the tide. If not, you might need to brush up on your tidal planning. Close inshore, the north going ebb starts 3 hours before local high water at Portpatrick.



The Mull of Logan is riddled with caves, stacks and channels. It is easy to lose sight of your friends in the maze.



As you can see, David had an enjoyable swim in a cave. A swell shoved him in sideways till his bow and stern got jammed on the narrowing sides. When the swell receded he was left momentarily hanging, until gravity exercised its inevitable effect. A Palm Stikine dry suit and Fourth Element Xerotherm Arctic under suit meant that his swim in 9 degree Celsius water was a jolly jape and not a serious incident. This happened just 3km into a 27km day but it did not spoil our day.



In fact we spent so long exploring the Mull of Logan's fantastic arches that the tide turned against us for the last 7km.

The Rhinns of Galloway has tides with overfalls, surf beaches, rocky coves, caves, arches, isolation, ancient castles, quaint harbour villages and towns. It even has excellent sea kayaking pubs and ice cream shops. Tony and I have paddled extensively on Scotland's west coast. A lot of Scottish sea kayakers would say the Garvellachs area is their favourite, but this coastline really beats the islands of Lorn. Paddle it before the crowds arrive!