Threading the Needle's Eye with the Cetus LV!

The staff of seakayakphoto.com are currently puting the P&H Cetus LV through its paces for Ocean Paddler magazine. So far we have taken her to Mull in the Inner Hebrides, Loch Creran in the Firth of Lorn, the Mull of Logan in the North Channel, Ballantrae on the Firth of Clyde and here at the Colvend coast in the Solway Firth. We have been particularly keen to see how she compares with other kayaks such as the Rockpool Alaw Bach.


From Gillis Crag we continued eastward past Port o' Warren...


...and oyster catchers waiting for low tide at Portling, all on our port side,...


...with Skiddaw, 931m, and the mountains of the English Lake District on our starboard side, until...


...we arrived at the magnificent arch called the Needle's Eye!


Once through the Eye, we soon came across another of the Solway's treasures. This little cove is not named on modern maps and is completely cut off by steep red cliffs at high tide.


I discovered it is named Piper's Cove on the OS 6" to 1 mile map published in 1854. A cave nearby had green stains of malachite on its walls and was once a copper mine. The name Piper's Cove could equally apply to the cave as in old Gallovidian "cove" could mean cove or cave.


Piper's Cove, what a fantastic name for a special place. What hardships we have to endure, keeping up a busy testing schedule!

More to see on the Colvend coast

At the Bogle Hole the tide turned and started to ebb. If we wanted to travel east with the Canada geese we needed to leave before the full spring ebb was established.


So we slipped out of the recesses of the Bogle Hole and entered the expanse of the Solway beyond.


We soon came to the monument to the wreck of the schooner Elbe, which was wrecked near this point in December 1867. A storm had broken her rudder off in a cross offshore gale but Captain George Wilson, his father Captain Samuel Wilson and 5 crew managed to steer her by trimming her sails so that she nearly came into the rocks. With each wave her bowsprit overhung the top of the rocks and in turn all seven men leaped to dry shod safety. The wind then carried the Elbe out into the Solway where she was lost.


Next we came to the red rock cliffs of the Cow's Snout.


The cliffs tumble straight into the sea but in some gullies you can still see green deposits of malachite which was mined for copper.


By now the ebb was well established and we had to push on to the next...


...line of cliffs at Gillies Crag.

Any port in a storm #2

All round the Scottish coastline, even in the remotest parts, there are place names such as Port Bhan or White Port in either Gaelic or English. These signify little coves in which our seafaring ancestors could land a small boat, if caught by a storm.


Needless to say, these make ideal places to stop for either a late breakfast or an early luncheon.


In this case, it was just past 11am, so it was an early luncheon. Phil was most concerned as he momentarily couldn't find the Glenlivet anywhere and a luncheon without Glenlivet... why, it is no luncheon at all. Indeed, it should only be considered as a late breakfast!


David then spread our victuals out. A bottle of fine vintage port, some extra mature Stilton, some pheasant pate and crackers.


We scoffed the lot, then washed it down with the Glenlivet and all before the sun had passed the yardarm.

From this day hence, let this cove be known as PORT STILTON!

The Bogle Hole, Colvend.

Once through the narrow cleft in the rocks we entered...


...the most delightful hidden cove...


backed by a lovely sandy beach. I have previously mentioned this hidden cove in my Solway podcast with Simon Willis.


Photo T Page.
My knee injury did not allow me to hop around the rocks to take photos from above...


Photo T Page.
...but Tony took my camera and leaped round the rocks like a mountain goat and took these two cracking photos. If you ever paddle the Solway coast, make sure you don't paddle past the Bogle Hole!

A first paddle in the Cetus LV

This was to be Jennifer's first paddle in the new P&H Cetus LV. We did not want to let her off lightly, so we chose a little 44km trip from Seil over the Firth of Lorn to Mull. We entered Loch Spelvie, portaged into freshwater Loch Uisge then portaged back into the sea again at Loch Buie.
Here we are at the foot of the remote and bold cliffs of An Garradh, Mull at sunset. We still have a 16km open crossing of the Firth of Lorn before returning to our start point of the Isle of Seil.


Most of the crossing was done in complete darkness with a F3-4 wind at 45 degrees to our bows and an adverse current of 1 knot. In the darkness, we could only feel and taste the waves.

There are very few untried kayaks you would trust using for a trip like this. The Cetus LV proved to be one. Jennifer found it to be completely comfortable and its behaviour in the dark and in challenging conditions, to be completely predictable and confidence inspiring. Her only criticism was an over stiff skeg adjustment.

I hope I will be able to wrest it from her hands before we finish testing it for issue 20 of Ocean Paddler magazine.

A mysterious cleft at Gutcher's Isle

We left Balcarry Point and the expanse of Auchencairn Bay far behind as the flood tide...


...carried us eastward past the seaward cliffs of Hestan Island. The lighthouse is a recently built tardis design.


We then made swift progress across the mouth of Rough Firth and past Castlehill Point, where many oyster catchers were waiting for the tide to turn.


At high water, we entered a bay called Gutcher's Isle.


At the back of the bay there was a narrow cleft in the rocks, less than a paddle breadth wide. Where would it lead?

Mud, tides and windmills on the Solway

Back at the end of January, we drove south to Auchencairn Bay on the Solway Firth. We parked behind the hotel and trollied the kayaks down a delightful lane to the shore. In the distance, beyond the shoulder of Hestan island, our destination, the Colvend coast, lay tantalizingly on the far side of Auchencairn Bay .


Launching here is very much controlled by the tide. The window extends for about 2.5hrs either side of HW Hestan Island. If you arrive and see the mud is still exposed, don't even attempt to cross it, it is glutinous, evil smelling stuff that you will carry round with you for many weeks to come. Being the Solway, the tide will come in very quickly, so be patient and wait just a little until it is covered.


On launching, we first turned west along the cliffs of Balcarry Point. In the spring and early summer, these cliffs come alive with thousands of sea birds such as guillemots, razorbills and fulmars. Today...


...all was quiet as we explored the stacks at the base of the cliffs....


...before turning east to cross Auchencairn Bay. To the south, the windmills of the Riders Rigg wind farm were silhouetted against the distant snow covered mountains of the English Lake District.