Dark skies over Ardnamurchan

We crossed the Sound of Coll slowly but steadily. At last, the tower of Ardnamurchan lighthouse could be made out against the background of the hills and mountains behind. Above the land, dark clouds began to tower into the sky.


Ben Hiant (528m) is the distant hill to the left while the ridge to the right rises to Beinn na Seilg (344m)


As we approached the lighthouse the tidal current increased and our transit between the lighthouse...


...and the hills behind was soon lost. It did not really matter as we were aiming for the next headland to the north. We were nearly home!

15/06/2009

Coll, calm and collected; crossing the Sound

By now my dislocated knee had swollen to the size of a melon and the pain was nearly unbearable. David, Jennifer and Jim carried my kayak to the water's edge and carefully lifted me in. I had a full ten litre water bag on the cockpit floor, which I used to support my knee. The others then carried their own boats through the narrow slot in the rocks of Coll. I am pleased to say that the ringed plovers and their chick were now ignoring us and we left them in to have their beach in peace. We now call this place Plover Beach!


It would take us about 3 hours to make the crossing so our initial vector had to take account of the average about 3km/hr tidal flow to our left (north). We set off towards the Sound of Mull which is some 6km up tide from Ardnamurchan point.


I did not feel like taking many photos on the crossing but I could not resist this shot of the P&H Cetus's fine bow lines. The colour of the boat also matched the conditions perfectly!


As we progressed across the Sound of Coll, the wind dropped and the skies cleared. Our passage was enlivened by flocks of swirling shearwaters that wheeled round and round us.


Despite being distracted by the pain in my knee, I was quite pleased with our ferry angle across the Sound. You can see places where we stopped for a rest and the tide carried us northwards at 3km/hr. We hit a stronger current as we approached Ardnamurchan Point.

15/06/2009

Praise the dawn of a new day on Coll

This had been the second sleepless night since I had dislocated my knee. I had run out of the various supplies of ibuprofen, diclofenac, asprin and paracetamol in our first aid kits. The pain was nearly unbearable and it was a relief to stagger to my feet (using Jim's walking pole) to greet the dawn of a new day.


In the distance Ardnamurchan could just be seen on the horizon. In my present state it seemed such a far way off.


The others were still sound asleep and I was mighty relieved to see that the ringed plovers had managed to move their chick onto the rocks to the side of the beach. The tide goes out a very long way at our destination Portuairk. The sand is very soft so I dreaded walking up to the car. I planned to arrive as close as possible to high tide but this would involve leaving by 08:30 and paddling much of the crossing of 15km at peak tidal flow.


Fortunately the others appreciated the situation and we had had breakfast and loaded the boats by 08:00. Getting into my paddling gear proved a bit of an effort but then I was ready to face the day...

15/06/2009

The guiding light of Ardnamurchan as seen from Coll.

It was nearly 22:30 by the time we found a suitable breach in Coll's impregnable NE coast. A narrow gully led to a shell sand beach with level machair beyond. In conditions of a northerly swell it would have been a trap but the weather was forecast to be fair the following day.


As darkness was falling, we put our tents up on the perfectly level machair above the beach.


Unfortunately, any time we approached the boats, we heard the alarm calls and saw the fluttering flight of a pair of ringed plovers. Then we saw their tiny black and white chick, camouflaged on some dried black seaweed in a hollow in the white sand. We wondered about moving on but it was nearly dark, so we moved the kayaks away from the chick and took our cooking stuff over the rocky headland, well out of its way.


The sky to the north glowed red well after midnight, until the distant hills of Rum became confused with the outlines of the nearby Cairns of Coll.


We lit a small fire with the logs we had bought in the Tiree Co-op shop and were soon tucking into a supper of hot-dogs with mustard and rolls, courtesy of Jim. We felt replete. Despite all the paddling, we had still managed to squeeze an appropriate number of meals into what had been rather a long day.


A peaty Islay malt was the perfect companion to the warmth and smoke of the fire. As we chatted away, every 20 seconds, the steady double flash of Ardnamurchan lighthouse reminded us that tomorrow would be our last day. The lighthouse lay 15km away to the west and Ardnamurchan is the most westerly point in the British mainland. It felt very satisfying to have been able to explore these western isles of Coll, Gunna, and Tiree by this route.

14/06/2009

Sunshine and shade in the lee of the capital of Coll

It was 8pm before we were on the water again and crossing the entrance to Loch Eatharna. Arinagour (pop~90), the tiny capital of Coll, lies on the west side of the loch but we had no time to explore it. We were now bound for the rugged NE coast of Coll which lies beyond.


There are few places to land on this coast. As the sun sank to the west we found ourselves alternately in sunshine and shade.


The sun still lit the summits of Meall nan Uan and Meall na h-Iolaire. The rugged grandeur of their slopes tumble sheer into the sea and belie their modest heights of only 73m and 79m.

14/06/2009

Upstanding seakayakers meet cormorant family in Port Dubh, Coll.

The SE coast of Coll has many inlets and it was a joy to explore them rather than go from headland to headland. We were still in sunshine while great anvil headed cumulonimbus clouds grew and towered over the distant mainland.


Some inlets were in dead ends but the light in Port Dubh was just wonderful and completely belied its Gaelic name which means "dark harbour".


If we hadn't explored this little inlet, we would not have found this cormorant family, sunning themselves in the late afternoon sun.


All this exploration meant that the hours had passed rather too quickly. It was now 19:10 hours and we decided to pull into the little inlet behind Gharbhaird (rough point) for a break. The ground support team carried the boats while I watched. We then prepared a small evening banquet which was washed down with more red wine and followed by some excellent mature Stilton cheese. In case anyone is concerned about our fitness to paddle, we were all considerably more upright and upstanding than the submarine telecommunications cable marker post on the Aird behind!

14/06/2009

Sammy seal is found alive and well on Coll.

After our luncheon we paddled slowly up the SE coast of Coll.


There were many nooks and crannies among the skerries and islets.


We found Sammy seal resting among the barnacles and seaweed. He is a grey seal pup probably born last October so he has long since lost his white coat.


At each small headland our kayaks rose and fell with the easy heave of the ocean swell.

14/06/2009

Hardened athletes brave Coll's rugged south coast.

Our late luncheon consisted of a full three course cooked dinner, taken in the sheltered recess of Ban Ghlac on Coll's south coast. It seemed sensible to lighten our laden craft and so we washed the lot down with some preprandial red wine and some postprandial Guinness.


My knee was very sore so Jennifer volunteered...


...to nip up the hill behind the beach to catch the view of the distant Treshnish Isles and Mull beyond.


The towering cumulonimbus clouds were giving Mull a thorough soaking, while we basked in the late afternoon sunshine.

14/06/2009

Basking sharks and castles of Loch Breachacha, Coll

At the mouth of Loch Breachacha two magnificent 6m basking sharks cruised past our stationary kayaks.


The water was full of plankton and after cruising past each of us in turn, the sharks resumed their feeding.


At the head of Loch Breachacha there are two castles. The new one on the left was built in 1750 as a more comfortable mansion house for the MacLean chieftain. In 1773 Boswell and Johnson were guests of young Coll while they were storm bound on the island for ten days. Boswell wrote in his diary "On our arrival here, we felt ourselves very comfortable".


The nearby original Breachacha Castle dates from the early 15th century and was the seat of the MacLeans of Coll. In 1590 their rivals, the MacLeans of Duart in Mull invaded Coll and a fierce battle ensued. The Coll MacLeans were victors and tossed the heads of the fallen Duarts into the nearby Allt nan Cean: Burn of the Heads!

Even in the 1950's it was still one of the best preserved tower house castles in Scotland. It was restored for use as a private house in 1965 by a descendant of the Coll MacLeans.

14/06/2009

Paddling by the shifting sands of time on Coll

Leaving the Sound of Gunna, we entered the great sweep of Crossapol Bay at the SW end of Coll. The shifting dunes (white dunes) between here and neighbouring Feall Bay, to the north, have been designated as a Special Area of Conservation (SAC).


This magnificent dune system is one of the largest in the Inner Hebrides and is maintained by a plentiful supply of beach sand and the high average wind speeds (nearby Tiree averages 18mph, the top end of force 4).


There are burial grounds at both the west end and the east end. The Maclean clan owned Coll from the early 15th century until 1856. This isolated burial enclosure, at the east end of the bay, was built in 1802 by Alexander MacLean, the 15th chieftan, for his wife and himself. The traditional burial ground of MacLean chieftains was at Killunaig Church on the north coast but Alexander feared that shifting sands would expose or bury the graves there.

14/06/2009

The Sound of Gunna

Eventually the suppoprt team carried me and my boat to the water and lifted me into the cockpit. The return leg was about to begin.
















The turquoise waters of the Sound of Gunna slipped away beneath our keels.
















As our shadows flitted over the sands below, we came upon...















...one white sand beach...














...after another.

14/06/2009

Gneiss cowries on Gunna

The following morning none of us were in a hurry to leave Gunna. We slowly gathered our things...


...and had a leisurely brunch on the sands of Gunna Sound. Of David there was no sign, all that Tiree water must have disagreed with his constitution.


Still in no hurry we wandered the strands collecting shells.


I spotted a perfect ledge in the ancient gneiss.


It was just the place to display Jennifer's collection of cowrie shells. I love the way the pink and white of the shells blended with the rock and sand.

14/06/2009