Single ticket to Campbeltown please.

Calmac recently launched a new service from Ardrossan on the Ayrshire coast to Campbeltown on the distant (by road) Mull of Kintyre. It is a pretty limited service but the ferry that left at 1330 on Sunday and arrived at Campbeltown at 1630 looked interesting and avoided a crack of dawn start. We decided to leave our cars in the manned 24 hr car park at Ardrossan ferry terminal and buy single tickets to Campbelltown and paddle back to Ardrossan.

The girl at the check in desk was somewhat surprised, "You are the first people to buy single tickets. Most people want to come back from Campbeltown!"

We wheeled our kayaks on trolleys onto the car deck of the MV Isle of Arran and soon...

 ...we were steaming past Horse Island which lies off the entrance to Ardrossan harbour. Its distinctive now unlit tapered beacon was built in 1811 after many shipwrecks on the isle. It is 52 ft high and 19 ft square at ground level.

We ate an early meal on the ferry as the plan was we would paddle 28km south from Campbeltown (until about 10pm) that night. As the ferry approached the town's south pier we spotted the...

 ...slipway that we would use to launch.

 When the call came for drivers to go to the car deck, Phil, Jennifer, Mike and I ambled down to our preloaded kayaks.

 We found the slipway without difficulty, and were on the water by 17:05. HW was at 20:19 so we did not think we would be ble to paddle between tidal Davaar Island and the mainland. This would add 2km to our route.

 The new quay is a very impressive development for a small place like Campbeltown. It was built for the wind turbine factory at Macrihanish but that is now closed. It is hoped that Campbeltown might be a base for the servicing of huge offshore winfarm developments off Islay, Tiree and in the Clyde. Of course the new Calmac ferry service uses it but after the ferry left, we four sea kayakers had pretty much to ourselves.

 Soon we left the Old Quay and...

 ...the douce villas of the wealthy Victorian merchants, fish merchants, boat owners, distillers and shipyard owners of this once thriving town. It grew in the days when commerce and travel were by sea but with the development of road transport it became just too remote and its wealth faded.  Perhaps the reintroduction of the ferry service will inject new life into this lovely corner of Scotland.

As soon as we were clear of the quays a decent west wind got up and we were surrounded by diving gannets. We hoisted sails and set course for Davaar Island at the entrance to Campbeltown Loch.

Caught on the wrong foot, retreat to Ardtoe.

Leaving the north channel of Loch Moidart we ignored the tempting sight of the Small Isles, Eigg and Rum and turned to the north where...

 ...we entered a turquoise lagoon where we...

 ...stopped for a well deserved second luncheon.

 We had intended continuing north and spending the night in a bothy in the Sound of Arisaig but two events changed our mind. The first was a phone call from my wife telling me that a family member was undergoing a life threatening major surgical operation. The second was the MSI weather warning on the VHF. It warned of imminent gales and heavy snow. Although we would have chosen a bothy in a relatively sheltered position in Loch Ailort, the medical news left me no option but to turn back. Ian is such a gentleman that he made it very easy to make the decision. We looked back wistfully to the mountains in the north but we both knew that we would return.

 We passed the hidden channel of the north entrance to Loch Moidart and the...

 ...the rocky ramparts of the west end of Eilean Shona before...

 ...rockhopping among the skerries and...

 ...channels to the hidden...

 ...sands of Ardtoe...

 ...which require maze solving skills...

 ...to finally find.

As a footnote, Ian and I faced blizzard driving conditions on our separate roads home and the March snows proved to be the worst of the winter with their drifts persisting well into April. Ian returned to his work at sea shortly but we will hopefully paddle again in late summer. Ian's account of this trip can be read here, here and here.

Carbon Fibre sea kayak skeg review and test.

Paddle sailing is a particularly satisfying aspect of sea kayaking and down wind you can hit speeds of over 20km/hr and frequently overtake the waves in front. Downwind the deployed skeg is very helpful to being able to paddle sail at maximum speed as you are not having to waste energy with steering paddle strokes. Most sea kayaks are fitted with plastic skegs of varying stiffness and form. Most are parallel sided with just a token rounding at the trailing and leading edges. Skegs like this are adequate for controlling weather cocking at normal paddling speeds of 5 to 8km/hr. However, at greater speeds I have found that some skegs hum, some seem to have little effect and some suddenly loose grip.

So it was with great interest that I read of Norbert Gancarz and his beautiful carbon fibre skegs with an aerofoil section. Norbert knew I had a Valley Nordkapp LV and he contacted me to see if I would be interested in trying one of his skegs out. I jumped at the chance (metaphorically speaking, with knees like mine I don't jump!)

In comparison, the Valley skeg is just a flat piece of plastic. The Valley skeg is pretty low aspect and as it is made of thick plastic, I don't think the standard one will bend much anyway. However, what I would really like to see is Norbert making a high aspect skeg to replace the P&H one, which I think is too flexible. P&H kayaks like the Delphin and Aries have proved to be outstanding for paddle sailing and I think they are crying out  for a stiffer skeg. Over to you Norbert....

Norbert's skeg has a similar outline to the standard Valley skeg but has a beautiful aerofoil shape and the standard of finish is stunning. I was very frustrated after I had fitted the skeg because further knee problems restricted my ability to paddle but after some highly successful physiotherapy following my last encounter with the orthopaedic knee surgeon I have taken to the water again (albeit maybe not for long as I have to see the shoulder surgeon next Wednesday and the knee surgeon in six weeks!)

On the water Norbert's skeg adjusted very easily, felt very positive and did not hum even at speed. When paddle sailing, the course could be adjusted with even a small movement of the skeg. Later in the summer I will be able to do back to back tests with another diolen Nordkapp LV (though sadly this does not have sail fittings) monitoring speed with a GPS.

Although I think Norbert's skeg feels more positive when paddle sailing, to be honest, I am not convinced it is much faster. However, if it prevents even one broach, you will be at least 100m ahead of your broached pal. Anyway what would you rather have hanging down from the stern, this beautiful skeg or a lump of grey plastic? 

Any problems? Well when carbon fibre skegs started to appear on windsurfers there was a spate of torn out fin boxes as the existing design could not cope with the high lateral load of a fully powered up windsurfer travelling at high speed and a stiff unforgiving skeg. (In windsurfing you are balancing the full force of the sail by driving the force to the board through your feet. A great deal of the load goes through the back foot, which is usually very close (fore and aft) to the skeg.)

I don't think this will be a problem for sea kayak skeg boxes such as those made in the UK or the Cobra factory in Thailand as sea kayak skegs are much smaller and the speeds are much less than in windsurfing. 

I can see that paddle sailors would be a market for skegs such as these. Also those people who buy carbon kevlar kayaks with beautiful clear hulls would surely love to have a matching skeg. I suggest Norbert contacts Valley!

I wish Norbert every success and if you would like to buy a carbon fibre Valley skeg you can contact Norbert on norbertga@o2.pl .

High and dry in Loch Moidart north channel.

At the east end of Shona Beag, the ebb tide was running strongly back down the south channel of Loch Moidart. once we rounded the end of the island we could see that the tide in the north channel was running east and joining the west flowing ebb in the south channel so I was pretty sure that the bar in the north channel would be dry.

My assumption was correct. High water in Loch Moidart was 08:54 and it was three days after springs. At 13:21 we were able to paddle right up to the causeway that the "road" runs over to Eilean Shona.

 Looking west down the north channel from the causeway.

Looking east up the north channel after the short portage across the causeway. For any future trips I am pretty sure that 3.5 hours either side of high water in Loch Moidart should see you through without a portage. No time was to be wasted, not even for a drop of The Singleton. We remained quite dry as we raced to beat the tide.

The north channel was emptying quickly and water was extremely shallow for a considerable distance below the causeway...

 ,...so it was a great relief to enter deeper water.

The Sgurr of Eigg acts as a focal point at the far end of the north channel which is...

 ...hemmed in by steep rocky slopes. We called this balanced rock "the Mushroom".

 The opening to the north channel is blocked by a series of low reefs and...

 ...green lagoons interspersed with...

 ...coral sand beaches.

Then we were clear, into the Sound of Arisaig with magnificent views to Eigg and the snow covered Cuillin of Rum beyond. Time for a swally *

* swally (n) a quenching of one's drouth.

Fifty shades of grey in Loch Moidart.

 It was with some reluctance...

 ...that Ian and I dragged ourselves away from the environs of shoe bay but...

 ...the ebb tide was now running strongly out of the south channel of Loch Moidart and we hoped to circumnavigate the tidal island of Eilean Shona.

We hugged the coast of the isle and looked...

...enjoyed the open views over Loch Moidart to the...

 ...distant grey mountains beyond.

Basking grey seals blended with the grey rocks but we passed at a respectful distance and they did not slither into the water.

 The grim grey walls of Tioram Castle (pron. Cheerum) seemed to grow...

 ...out of the grey rocks of its tidal island.

It really does seem to be part of the grey landscape of Moidart. In Scotland we are lucky to have not just wonderful sea and landscapes but to have these historic castles as well.

As we paddled through the inner recesses of Loch Moidart the isles and coast became thickly wooded...

 ...but the trees had been badly damaged by winter storms and many fallen trunks were greying as they weathered.

At last we reached the eastern end of Eilean Shona which is called Shona Beag. In a moment we would discover if the north channel was dry...