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!

The Mull of Galloway, Scotland's most southern coast.

From Lunnock Caave  we paddled towards Carrickcarlin Point which...

 ...lies below the Mull of Galloway lighthouse and its foghorn.

 A characteristic feature of the Mull of Galloway cliffs is the bright yellow lichen. In spring and early summer this is spattered by the white of the sea bird colonies guano.

 Carrickcarlin Point is one of the four most southerly points in Scotland.

 The south coast of the Mull runs east west and from Carrickcarlin Point in the east this is the view...

...to the west showing Lythe Mead, Gallie Craig and just the shoulder of Carrick Kee.

 I paddled out to get a decent view of...

 ...the lighthouse which is hidden from the base of the cliffs.

 Below the foghorn is the entrance to...

...Seals Cave which is big enough to drive...

...several double decker buses in. The depths of the cave were very colourful.

Lythe Mead lies directly below the visitor centre and unsurprisingly they claim this to be the most southerly point in Scotland.

This is the view from Lythe Meade back east to Carrickcarlin Point.

Beyond Lythe Mead there is a deep geo called Foxes Rattle. This is looking out at Lythe Mead and the stack Inchshannoch.

This is the head of the Rattle and...

...this is a cave in its north west wall.

The next headland we came to was Gallie Craig.

Beyond the Craig the tide was already running strongly towards the west.

This is the view from Gallie Craig looking back...

...towards Lythe Mead and Carrick carlin Point.

At the Gallie Heughs we got our last view back to the lighthouse which is hidden from view from...

...the fourth headland at Carrick-Kee. So which of these headlands is the furthest south? Well it is a close run thing but the sea was so calm I was able to touch each headland. These are the northings from my GPS unit:

Carrickcarlin Point   N54 38.026
Lythe Mead              N54 38.013
Gallie Craig              N54 37.999
Carrick-Kee              N54 37.989

So Carrick-Kee just makes it as the most southerly point in Scotland based on latitude. That is further south than the mouth of the River Tees on England's east coast!

Note that the OS grid north is canted with respect to true north and the most southerly point with respect to grid north may be different.

Beyond Carrick-Kee the interest continued with more cliffs...

...and caves.

At Carrickcorrie you will turn NW and see the north shore of West Tarbet Bay. When the west going stream is running along the south coast of the Mull of Galloway you will encounter an adverse SE going eddy at this point. If it is windy from the NW it can be hard work breaking through this.

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.

Are the raised beaches of West Loch Tarbert, Jura Slartibartfast's crowning achievement?

From Cairidh Mhor in Jura's West Loch Tarbert , Tony and I paddled west through the outer tidal rapids, the Cumain Mhor. A F4 easterly wind had got up (as forecast*) and together with the ebb tide accelerating through the narrows we went through at a fair lick. At the point the above photo was taken, I  had to suddenly divert to port as I was heading directly for a rock at 12km/hr. Just as the sail gybed over, the GoPro camera got knocked off by the rock but fortunately I always tie it on.

 We landed shortly afterwards at...

 ...what must be Slartibartfast's crowning achievement...

...it is one of Jura's most amazing raised beaches. Each year, for over 10,000 years, more and more of it is exposed as the land has slowly risen after the Ice Age ice sheet melted.

 Clean, sea worn pebbles and cobbles stretch upwards as far as the eye can see and at the summit...

This photo September 2009.

...the tide last went out 10,000 years ago. It has taken that long for these few patches of vegetation to establish.

It is at the summit of the beach that the largest cobbles are found. These have ancient colonies of lichens growing on them.

This photo September 2009.

The situation and scale of this beach makes it a unique feature of the British coastline.

The huge raised beach retains a fresh water loch, Lochan Maol an t-Sornaich, but despite the high rainfall in the area no visible river flows out of it.

Instead, innumerable springs like this one issue from its base and as the fresh water mingles with the salt water of West Loch Tarbert it creates swirling patterns of refracted light in the sea.

The ebb tide was still pouring out of the Cumain Mhor as we made our way back to the waiting  boats.

*The forecast wind was why we were here in the shelter of West Loch Tarbert. Our original plan for this time during the trip was to be crossing the west end of the Corryvreckan, to the north of Jura. This would have held less appeal given the force 4 gusting 6 easterly wind, see below...!

This is approaching the west end of the Gulf of Corryvreckan from the north in August 2008. Jura is straight ahead. It is the last hour of the west going flood tide (travelling at 8 knots left to right) and the F4 easterly wind is blowing with the tide. We are in the calm waters of an east going eddy (also 8 knots). It is quite a committing place!