Sammy the Inchmarnock otter is an imposter!.

Once we had negotiated the reefs exposed by low tide, the upper beach on the west coast of Inchmarnock was a broad expanse of cobbles.

We set up camp at the top of the beach and set to preparing our evening meal.

We had a grandstand view across the Sound of Bute to the rocky ridges of the north Sannox mountains of Arran. The notch of Ceum na Cailich, (the Witch's Step) and the granite tors on the summit of Caisteal Abhail (this means "castle of death" not "stronghold of the ptarmigan" as you may read elsewhere). A yacht was beating up the Sound into the cold northerly wind which also brought the remarkably clear air.

Due to the chill wind we wasted no time in getting the fire and...

 ...the baked potatoes on.

 This must be one of the best views in Scotland and we had it all to ourselves until...

 ...what I thought was Sammy the otter put in an appearance. He ran along the beach from where a little trickle of a burn issued into the sea.

 He made for his favourite fishing...

 ...pool where he caught several sea urchins before...

...heading home again.  What a place, we were just 50km from my house in Glsgow but there was not a sight of human habitation.

I am grateful to Ian and Ben (see comments below) for correctly identifying this animal as a mink. The first unconfirmed sighting of a mink on neighbouring Bute was in 1981 and the first confirmed report was a dead mink at the north of Bute in 1982. Since then numbers have increased. Local naturalist JA Gibson has published an account "Atlas of Bute and Cumbrae vertebrates, 1980". An update Supplementary notes on Bute vertebrates was published in the Buteshire Transactions in 2004. In it Gibson writes about the mink  "I believe it has not yet reached Inchmarnock." and "During a visit to Inchmarnock in 2001 no mink were seen and there was no obvious predation on eider nests." It is sad that the mink is now indeed on Inchmarnock.

Straight ahead for Inchmarnock, hard a-port for Portavadie.

All too soon after our lunch break David and Phil had to turn hard to port to Portavadie. For them, their trip was over.

With a fair wind Mike and I pressed on and left Loch Fyne,  passing on the inside of Skate Island.

 We met Donald on his way back from Inchmarnock then we passed the wide expanse of ...

 ...Kilbride Bay.

 We kept offshore this time and made landfall at,,,

 Ardlamont. At low tide our camp site of two nights previously would not have been an easy landing but...

 ...it was fine for a brief stop before the...

 ...eight kilometre crossing to Inchmarnock.

Inchmarnock is low lying but is a beautiful spot to camp. The easiest spots to land are at the north and the south east as there are treacherous reefs at low tide on the west side.

 This is all that remains of a wreck on the Tra na h-Uil reef.

Mike decided to practice some self recoveries then we...

  ...kept a lookout for a suitable landing place...

...and found this one. We had arrived on Inchmarnock.

Bracken time in Glenan Bay Loch Fyne.

It did not take Donald long to disappear down Loch Fyne in his SIB due to its 25HP Mariner outboard but...

...we were making good time assisted by the northerly breeze. A bend in the loch means that we could not see beyond the lochs shores but...

...there were plenty lovely bays at the foot of wooded hills to maintain our interest until...

...we rounded Eilean Buidhe and caught sight of Arran beyond the mouth of the loch.

Eilean Buidhe means yellow island and looking back it indeed looked yellow.

The wind was steadily increasing and before long we were back at Eilean a' Bhuic which stands guard at the mouth of Glenan Bay.

We had not stopped here on our way north but it seemed churlish not to do so now.

 It was spring low water so we left the boats at the water's edge and made our way to the top of the beach where...

 ...we enjoyed a splendid first luncheon as the Poravadie/Tarbert ferry plied her route with the mountains of Arran beyond.

We did not rush as we knew that David and Phil would be shortly leaving Mike and myself at Portavadie. Indeed this frond of bracken had unfolded considerably in the time it took us to finish.

The wind mills of Kintyre were birling in the north wind.

Just round the headland from our camp site, the main sweep of Kilfinan Bay is sand. As David was getting himself ready I went off for a little beach combing.

Our little beach had no sand but had these beautiful pebbles. As I was admiring their iridescent colours I heard the approach of an outboard motor...

 ...it turned out to be my brother...

 ...Donald who was out fishing in his SIB (soft inflatable boat). We swapped stories until...

 ...David was all packed and ready to go. David asked Donald if he had any oars for emergencies. Donald just laughed and pointed to the two outboards.

 Soon we were on the water and left Donald tidying his gear.

It did not take long for him to speed past us  on his way to Inchmarnock. He went on to cover 150km that day while we covered 27km!

Donald might have his two outboards but as the wind mills of Kintyre were birling in a north wind, we would have wind assistance the whole way!

Reviresco in Loch Fyne

Today Kilfinan is a remote and wild landscape but...

www.canmore.org.uk (You will need to create an account to see the mapping)

...place an archaeological map over today's map and you will discover this area was once a near metropolis. There was an ancient dun or hill fort on...

 ...the hill to the north of the beach so we decided to climb up to it...

 ...passing clumps of spotted orchids on the way.

Today the remains of the dun are largely two semi circular walls about 30m across and not much above ground level, which date from the Iron Age. They were built by Celtic people in pre-Roman times. However, the site was inhabited until late mediaeval times with a succession of wooden buildings. It became known as Caisteal Mhic Eoghainn (Mac Ewan Castle) and was the base for the Ewan of Otter clan. There were multiple, unrelated MacEwan clans in Scotland and the Ewans of Otter and their land became subsumed into the Campbell clan after their last chief, Swene Mac Ewen, died in 1493.

There is a stone memorial with...

...a brass plaque on which the clan motto "Reviresco" is displayed. This means grow green (or young) again.

Well the former Mac Ewan lands have grown green again even though that branch of the clan died out. The castle certainly had a commanding position. This is the view down Loch Fyne and this is the view...

...view up Loch Fyne. The building by the shore is a 19th century salt house. Salt was needed to preserve the prodigious numbers of herring which were once found in the loch. Other herring were preserved by smoking...the Loch Fyne kipper. One branch of my family came from here and my great great grandfather MacCallum was a herring fisherman. His sons followed him but the fish ran out and they had to fish further and further afield. My great, great uncle was washed overboard and lost at sea in the Southern Ocean.

Loch Fyne herring drifters by William Lionel Wyllie (1851-1931)

The traditional Loch Fyne herring fishermen used sail and oar powered boats and drift nets but the introduction in the mid 19th century of steam trawlers (based in Tarbert and Campbeltown) increased the overfishing and there was bitter rivalry between the two types of fishermen. Violence ensued and the Royal Navy had to station HMS Porcupine (a 3 gun wooden steamer built in 1844) on the loch to keep the peace. My great grandfather gave up the sea and moved to Glasgow where he got a job with the Caledonian Railway company.

Rip roaring yarns at Kilfinan.

 The warm evening sun soon dried our things but as the sun began to sink and the shadows lengthened...

 ...the midges came out. David had set up his fancy new inflatable luxury camping armchair by the tents. Unfortunately so ferocious was the sudden midge attack that, as he lashed out at the invisible enemy, the whole contraption exploded and collapsed, leaving him stranded like an upturned tortoise. It would have been hilarious if we had not all been scrambling round for...

...our own midge jackets. After donning them we decided to cook on the shore where there were slightly fewer of the predators. We were certainly not top of the food chain that night.

 We soon got a rip roaring fire going and gathered...

 ...round to swap yarns and...

 ...roast potatoes in the embers.

Never mind the flames or the midges, rip roaring yarns lasted long into the summer night!