In the soup at Carnage Corner, Dunure.

Yesterday the Clyde forecast was for full sun and F3-4 W winds, which looked great for a blast from Maidens to Seafield.

When we arrived at Maidens, the Clyde didn't look very sunny, the wind was SW and my anemometer was averaging 28km/hr in the lee of Maidens harbour. Heavy squalls were blowing over the Arran mountains leaving dustings of snow on the high ridges.

The water was surprisingly unflat even while we were still in the shelter of the Maidens reefs. No sooner had we launched than Clyde coastguard issued a new gale warning. "Malin F8-9 imminent" and the inshore Clyde forecast had changed from "F3-4 W to F5-7 SW".

For some reason, I didn't take any photos at all on the incredible downwind blast across Culzean Bay and round Carnage Corner, off the headland at Dunure Point. My GPS showed that we were regularly hitting 17km/hr as we surfed down breaking waves. David had even put his spray deck on, which was just as well as several times waves broke over our decks and threatened to broach us. Fortunately, the sails are very good at keeping a kayak driving forward and resisting broaching.

Kayak sailing in these conditions can be quite exhausting at our age, so we decided to run into the shelter of Dunure, where it was a relief to get into the lee of the land. This view, towards Ailsa Craig, is looking back the way we had just come. As you can see there were some excellent kayak sailing conditions off Carnage Corner.

The Dunure Inn beckoned but it was some distance away as it was low tide. So first it was time for...

...first luncheon on the beach. David offer Phil some strawberries. At first Phil refused... "I'm still on my first course."

"Go on" said David, "treat it as an intercourse."

After first luncheon, we made our way up to the Dunure Inn for our second luncheon. The sea food bisque was delicious, there were bits of lobster floating about in my soup. It went terribly well with the Guinness. I've said it before, the Dunure Inn scores 12/10 as a sea kayaking pub.

A feeding frenzie and toasted footsies in Carradale Bay.

 As we left the harbour at Carradale, the Sun slowly sank behind...

 ...the hills of Kintyre leaving...

 ...a lovely pink afterglow...

 ...as we paddled towards the south end of Carradale Point.

Off the point, we saw an amazing display. Several porpoises had herded a shoal of fish near the surface of the sea and were feeding on them. Lots of noisy sea birds had joined in the feeding frenzy. I had never seen porpoises doing this before.

We rounded the south end of Carradale Point and turned to the north towards the wide strand of sand at its head. The campsite was still closed for winter so we were going to wild camp on the dunes behind the beach. However, lots of people were taking advantage of the unseasonal March weather and were enjoying the sunset on the beach. So...

...we found a little patch of grass on the headland that had been closely cropped by the feral goats. We soon had a fire going  under the light from the moon, Jupiter and Saturn. Across the bay, the lights of the the hamlet of Waterfoot twinkled as the fire sparked and toasted our footsies!

A congregation of thirsty seafarers at Carradale.

The day was drawing to a close as we continued down the Kintyre coast towards the fishing port of Carradale.

The Viktoria Viking was also heading in for the night. She was accompanied by the Sarah Ann a small landing craft that acts as the tender for the new fish farm north of Carradale.

Viktoria Viking is too large to enter Carradale harbour so she tied up at the lnew fish farm. Sarah Ann then ferried the crew into the harbour at Carradale.

 We had to slow our own approach to Carradale to let the trawler Avalon II (CN690)...

...enter the port in front of us. No doubt several seafarers would be making their way to the public bar at the Carradale Hotel. Sadly we would not be joining them. We still had to find somewhere to camp and it would soon be dark...

"Let them drink beauty rather than ale" quote: Grogport Tourist Board.

It was now 5pm and we left Grogport quite unrefreshed due to its lack of a public house. However, as we drank in the beauty of the coastline to the south of the dry little town,...

 ....the Carradale Forest took ourbreath away. Coniferous forest clung to rocky headlands which, one after the other,...

...receded into the distance towards Carradale Point.

 After a while we came to a break in the rocks where we...

...stopped to take in a brief refreshment of our own.

Somewhat pissed off in Grogport.

The remote east coast of Kintyre, between Claonaig and Carradale, is almost unpopulated having only one hamlet and is...

 ...stunningly beautiful. Of course the views...

 ...over to Arran are also superb.

We paddled along a coast where the bare bones of the Earth lay exposed, then came to a series...

...of rocky channels near Eilean Sunadale. All this voyaging proved to be thirsty work and it was with some degree of anticipation that...

...we approached the promisingly named hamlet of Grogport. Now if you do a Google search for Grogport you will find that this is a hamlet bursting at the seams with facilities: "Estate agents in Grogport", "Banks in Grogport", "Businessess for sale in Grogport", "Budget hotels in Grogport", "Singles in Grogport", "Swingers in Grogport" etc etc...

One can only imagine our disappointment, not to mention thirst, when we discovered that this pseudoeponymous clachan had not even one, solitary bar.

Our pilot is feeling very healthy today.

While we enjoyed a postprandial rest at Ravens Bay on Kintyre, we were entertained by an interesting conversation on VHF channel 6. An irate local householder was complaining to the Norwegian captain of the live fish carrier (well boat) Viktoria Viking about the noise from a helicopter (G-PGDF an Eurocopter (Aerospatiale) AS350, chartered from PGD helicopters) that was flying out to the ship.

He was clearly very upset about the frequent low level flights that were carrying live fish from fish farms out to the well boat on such a nice calm day (just about the first decent day in 2012). The Norwegian captain explained the pilot was flying  today because he needed good weather. He also said the helicopter needed to keep low to avoid de-pressurising the fish. The householder then demanded that the Viktoria Viking should move away somewhere else.

Captain, "I can't do that, the helicopter costs £800 per hour, it would be cheaper for you to go and spend the rest of the day in a nice hotel."

Householder: "Are you saying you that you will pay me to do that?"

Captain: "No, you would need to contact the company, here is their number....."

Householder: "Just how long are you planning to carry on flying that helicopter?"

Captain: "Well our pilot is feeling very healthy today so we will carry on till near sunset..."

The Captain was just doing his job and we admired how he kept his Nordic cool when dealing with the irate householder. However, helicopter noise is just another facet of fish farm pollution, so we also understood the householder's position.

A Kintyre sojourn at Uamh nan Calman and Ravens Bay.

South of Eascairt Point on the Kilbrannan Sound, we passed a low line of cliffs and came to a dry sea stack at the mouth of a great cave called Uamh nan Calman or Dove Cave.

To the south of the cave...

...there was a delightful pebble beach called Ravens Bay.

Its waters were crystal clear and as the beach had such a marvellous view of Arran, it was undoubtedly a suitable venue to partake of our third luncheon of the day.

Paddling South in the Kilbrannan Sound.

 At first, when we left Claonaig, our eyes were still captivated by...

 ...the rugged grandeur of the mountains of Arran...

 ...on the far side of the Kilbrannan Sound.

 Then as we made our way south, we gradually came to appreciate the more gentle ...

...beauty of the Kintyre coastline. The single track road runs high on the hills above the coast and remote, sandy coves, backed by deciduous woodland, offer a plethora of wild camping opportunities.

Cetus MV at Claonig

We landed on this lovely beach to the south of the ferry jetty at Claonig. I should say something about the P&H Cetus MV, which I have had on loan for the last 7 months. It has proved to be an outstanding, comfortable, all round kayak, just as at home loaded with camping gear for a week as rock hopping on a day trip or blasting with a sail. Despite class leading stability, it is still an incredibly manoeuvrable hull. The new skeg slider works perfectly but I am less happy with the elastic skeg down haul. The elastic is not strong enough to pull the skeg down in high wind and wave conditions, especially when sailing when it comes up. Overall, I like the Cetus MV so much that it will be my next kayak.  But I will order it with a wire skeg. I let Mike try it for a windy day kayak sailing and he has also already ordered his own new Cetus MV, but like me with a wire skeg.

Something fishy going down at Claonig.

We made landfall on the Kintyre peninsula at the ferry jetty at Claonaig.  It was still March and the ferry does not start running on the Claonig to Loch Ranza route until 1st April. This cormorant had just emerged from the water with a fish tail sticking out of its mouth. It flew up to its perch on the jetty and made several attempts to swallow the fish, whose tail was still wagging vigorously back and forth.

As we enjoyed our second luncheon (of mackerel fillets in tomato sauce spread on oatcakes) the view from Claonaig across the Kilbrannan Sound was outstanding. The whole of Arran lay before us.

Dreamtime on Kilbrannan Sound

 As we left Arran the wind...

 ...dropped away to nothing...

 ...leaving the middle of the Kilbrannan Sound like a millpond.

Our eyes were on the Kintyre peninsula to the west and gradually...

 ...details like Skipness Castle emerged from the haze...

 ...as we drew nearer our destination, Claonaig.

However, we could not help frequently stopping on the crossing...

...to look back...

 ....as the amazing view of Arran unfolded behind us.