Another World on Lady Isle, just three miles from home!

Last Wednesday evening we found ourselves drifting round Lady Isle in the Firth of Clyde. Far to the SW the great rock of Ailsa Craig was merging into the twilight.


The lighthouse beam flashed white every two seconds. It was originally built in 1903 and was gas powered. It was refurbished in 2004 and converted to an electric light powered by batteries charged by solar panels. More of the early history of beacons on Lady Isle can be read here.


As we drifted round the island in the fading light Hundreds of herring and common gulls flew in from every direction to roost on the isle. When I was a member of Troon Sailing Club in the sixties and early seventies there was an annual race around the isle in dinghies. It was a fundraiser for the RNLI which has a lifeboat based in nearby Troon Harbour. In those days there was a large colony of terns on the island but these have now disappeared. Judging by the number of gulls which followed the fishing fleet into Troon, maybe the gulls came and displaced the terns when the fishing fleet moved from Ayr to Troon in 1996.


Although the isle is now rocky it was once covered with beautiful sand dunes backed by grass. Unfortunately early 19th century attempts to improve the pasture by burning the vegetation and introducing rabbits destroyed the dunes which were washed away by winter storms. There are still supposed to be rabbits on the isle but I have never seen any. Remarkably, there is a small freshwater spring on the island.


It was a wonderful atmospheric experience, with the mournful calls of the gulls filling the late evening sky above.


Slowly the lights of the Ayrshire coastal towns came on and the eastern horizon glowed with the orange of sodium lights.


It was now time to return. We lit our head torches as we did not want to be run down by the still returning fishing fleet.


Our lights made crazy reflections as the little waves danced in the darkening waters of the Firth of Clyde.


The night closed round us and we were soon in Another World, but Tony's house was less than three miles away! When sea kayaking, the adventure begins within minutes of wherever you launch from, especially here on the wonderful West Coast of Scotland!



01/04/2009

Luncheon in the banqueting hall of Little Cumbrae Castle followed by force 6 in The Tan!

Yesterday was cold, pouring wet and windy. The coastal forecast for the Upper Clyde was Force 4 SW increasing to WNW 6 by afternoon, with gusts to 37 knots. Max air temp was 6 degrees Celsius but with windchill was only -1C.

It was just the sort of day to go sea kayaking! Phil has been paddling a double for the last 4 months but has only paddled a single kayak for 3 weeks. It seemed like a good opportunity to extend his comfort zone. We assembled a little late at Fairlie on the Clyde coast, a gust of wind on the Irvine bypass had nearly caused Phil's new Quest to part company with his roof rack. Our plan was to take luncheon in the great banqueting hall of Little Cumbrae Castle!


Soon our little band was making slow but steady progress down the Fairlie Roads, into the teeth of the wind and rain.


An ebb tide against a force 4 SW wind gave some good conditions for the paddle over to Little Cumbrae.


All was calm in the lee of the island as we made our way...


...into the little bay to the north of the castle.


The castle provided fitting shelter to the cold, hungry staff of seakayakphoto.com.


We worked our way down the east of the island as we thought we had better take a look round Gull Point at the South end. Phil got his head down for the slog into the wind.


As we cleared the point, we met some interesting conditions. These impressed Phil so much that he managed to turn his kayak without falling in.


Looking back, even the high hills of Arran were obscured by great lumps of water, which were bearing rapidly down on us.


It was time for a sharp exit and we slid down the waves at high speed.


In the lee of Gull point again, Tony came over so we could check each other's GPS scores. Rats! He whopped me with his maximum speed of 16.8 Km/hr.


After a breather in the lee of Little Cumbrae we had to cross The Tan, a narrow body of water, which separates it from its greater neighbour. The west wind was whistling through the gap.


We crossed at a high ferry angle of 350 degrees. Look at the map and see how far we got blown downwind. Note the kinks in our track as the squalls hit us.


Phil made steady progress and learned how to adjust his skeg to prevent weather cocking.


Soon we were in the shelter of Millport Bay and we stopped to replenish depleted body fat reserves on the Eileans.


At first the crossing back to Fairlie was calm as we were in the lee of Great Cumbrae.


By the time we were in mid channel the wind had swung round to the NW against the now flooding tide. Again conditions were quite interesting. Unfortunately, when nearly back at Fairlie, Phil took just a tiny little swim but he held onto his paddle and we had him back in his boat in a jiffy. It was just as well a wave did it because Tony and I were going to throw him in anyway (just for educational purposes, you understand).

What an excellent day out and didn't Phil do well?! He joins a distinguished band of seakayakphoto.com staffers who have gone for a little dip off the Cumbraes...D____d, D____d, C___k and A__n!



04/04/2009

Nightfall over Lady Isle

Last Wednesday night we left work and the city behind.


We were bound for Lady Isle in the Firth of Clyde.


We launched from the Ballast Bank in Troon just as the High Speed Ferry from Northern Ireland came in. Fortunately the returning fishing fleet left smaller wakes.


They were also bound for Troon Harbour.


As the sun sank in the west, the light breeze dropped away and Lady Isle and the rocky dome of distant Ailsa Craig seemed to float on a sea of liquid gold.


The kink on our route on the way out was to slip behind the stern of the above fishing boat.

01/04/2009

Fularia Orientalis weed in Loch Fyne

As we paddled up Loch Fyne, David began to lag behind. The bottom of his boat had become coated with the sticky filaments of Fularia Orientalis. Unlike the harmless Fularia Caucasica, which is a native to our waters, this Pacific invader (also known as wireweed, japweed or Sargassum) has no natural predators in the Atlanic.


It first arrived in the Clyde in 2004 and has thrived in Loch Fyne, where it poses a real hazard to kayakers, fishermen, fish farms, oyster beds and yachtsmen. It has a predilection for growing on smooth fiberglass hulls and given good sun light, the filaments can reach 5mm in about 6 hours. This does not sound much but it makes paddling very hard work indeed.

David capsized his boat and got his pan scourer out and scrubbed the bottom of his kayak till it was gleaming. He then found his second wind and disappeared over the horizon!


Sea kayaking visitors to the Clyde (and Loch Fyne on particular) are advised to equip themselves with a scourer before setting off. Don't just get any one out the supermarket as it will be too abrasive and spoil your gel coat. Look out for the ones advertised for cleaning non stick pans. Kari-tek, the west coast sea kayaking business, can supply especially suitable large ones, these double up as bailing sponges.

Remember to keep your bottom clean. Sea kayakers could spread this unpleasant invader to further, as yet unaffected, waters.

19/03/2009

Of Kintyre buzzards and giants.

We lazed on the sands of Skipness for some time but finally, a dipping sun told us it was time to depart.


The Kintyre peninsula north of Skipness is a road-less wilderness, which tumbles from the hills into the sea. This buzzard was quite unperturbed by our passing.


Eventually we came to a sign of previous habitation. Winter storms kept carrying away the end of the wall which separated the Campbells' lands from the wilderness. Their livestock would escape each spring and be devoured by the beasts that roamed the wilderness. Eventually the Campbells approached the famous giant, Finn McCool, and asked if he could build a wall strong enough to resist the force of the winter waves.

After much deliberation (giants are not particularly quick witted) McCool said he could build such a wall but the Campbells would need to supply him with six red haired maidens, fifty buckets of mutton stew and one hundred and fifty buckets of heather ale. The Campbells agreed, the deal was sealed and McCool built his wall in just a day. He then fell asleep, partly due to his labours and partly due to the effects of a large meal and full strength heather ale. The maidens escaped quite unharmed.

McCool's wall still stands to this day.

19/03/2009

Sands of time run out in Skipness Chapel graveyard.

Just behind the beach at Skipness is the 13th century Skipness Chapel. It is also known as Kilbrannan Chapel and is dedicated to St Brendan.


The graveyard is pretty full and is still in use. There are five medieval recumbent slabs amongst the more modern stones.


This one dates from 1721 and, quite clearly, the sands of time have run out for AJ and AM.

19/03/2009

Skipness Castle

We chose the shortest crossing of the Kilbrannan Sound and made for the low lying Skipness Point, which extends for about a kilometre into the Sound.


The approach to the beach is dominated by the bulk of Skipness Castle.


Our approach was hindered only by by a strong eddy which was making its way south in the bay, despite the north going flood out in the Sound. The water here is crystal clear and we floated above our shadows, moving steadily over the rippled sands below.


We landed below the Castle and it was obvious that its builders had chosen this position to control the Kilbrannan Sound (between Kintyre and Arran) which is the approach to Loch Fyne and the upper Firth of Clyde beyond.


The castle was built in the 1200's by the MacSweens as a defence against raiding Vikings. It then became part of the fiefdom of the Lords of the Isles and was extended several times until the Lords of the Isles' lands in Kintyre were forfeited to the Crown in 1476. The castle then passed into the hands of a branch of the Campbell family, who were loyal to the Crown. They built the tower house in the 16th century. The Skipness Campbells finally abandoned the Castle in 1867 when they fell on hard times.

19/03/2009