Brownies, saints and crispy bottoms on Cara.

As we pulled our kayaks up the beach on Cara we saw the first and only glimpse of sunshine on our whole trip. Across the Sound of Gigha, the long sandy strand at Rhunahaorine Point on Kintyre became illuminated by a beautiful warm glow, which contrasted with the dark shaded hills behind. Yet another pair of otters had just swum behind the skerry in the foreground bringing our tally for the day to well into the teens (there had been such a surfeit of otters that we lost count).

Then the sun made a flitting appearance on Cara. It was shining between the narrowest of gaps in the clouds and by the time...

 ...I turned it was already fading but I could still just see my long shadow fading into the sand. Ian was quicker and got some nice sunlight photos here.

Before it got dark we thought we had better nip up to Cara House and pay our respects to the Brownie. Cara House was built in 1733 by the Macdonalds of Largie for their tacksman. It was last used by a resident on Cara in the 1940's when the tenant farmer left. I have written 24 posts on Cara in the past and you can read them here. Despite the large windows the house is a grim looking place and makes a fitting residence for the troubled spirit of the Brownie.

The house has a third attic floor and it is within this that the Brownie has set up residence.

Immediately next to the house lie the remains of Cille Fionnlugh (St Finla's chapel). I have previously written about the mistaken location of St Fionnlugh's chapel but the...

...splayed inshot windows and floor measurements of this building match the description in the Old Statistical Account of Scotland (1793).

We returned to the beach to cook our evening meal (forward planning reserve rations) to make up for the lack of lobsters at the Boathouse. We then got the fire going. We had brought well seasoned logs but had also managed to scour driftwood from the beaches and reefs of Gigha and Gigalum. Then an hour after sunset a remarkable thing happened. The NW wind increased and as it did so the clouds began to clear. We were left with a night sky of stunning clarity. Seldom have we seen the Milky Way shine so brightly. Satellites moved steadily across the sky and meteors left long but short lived trails through the constellations. We had to move back as the wind whipped up the intensity of the flames. I now have a pair of trousers with crispy leg bottoms! Needless to say we baked sweet potatoes and toasted our good fortune with some Jura Origin malt whisky which originates from its home on Jura just on the other side of the Sound of Jura.

The log boat from Gigalum made its way slowly through the skerries.

 The SW coast of Gigha is a delight, offshore skerries and shallow waters with...

 ...a sandy and weed covered bottom create a marvellous environment to journey through.

Ian could not resist landing on a reef to get a little more height for getting photographs of the sea bed. Unfortunately there was still no sign of the sun which would have made his photographs zing!

 As we paddled south, back towards our temporary base on Cara...

 ...there was just a hint in the west that the sun might break through but...

 ...the gap in the clouds was only fleeting. Then...

 ...low grey clouds gathered in as both kayakers and the fishermen on OB595 (Blue Angel from Tarbert) were making their respective ways home. The Gigha community windmills were rotating steadily in a chilling NW breeze. We were glad that yesterday's T shits had been replaced by thermals and dry suits. Once on shore we knew it was going to be a cold night unless we could find some more firewood.

After leaving Gigha we had one further delight. With the haunting calls of curlews, the pip, pip, pipping of oystercatchers and the raucous croaking of a couple of squabbling herons ringing in our ears, we had yet another chance to paddle through the skerries at the...

...south end of Gigalum Island. I even managed to find...

...some decent bits of firewood within the rocky recesses of the skerries.

 From Gigalum Island the white shell sand beach below our camp was now just a kilometer away across the Sound of Cara. We landed just before 6pm. We had only covered 30.4km since leaving that morning but the circumnavigation of Gigha had proved to be full of interest. Although we may not have had the sun, we had enjoyed light winds and only the slightest of swells. This meant we had been able to explore some nooks and crannies on the exposed west coast that would have been all but impossible at most times of the year, never mind in October when the West coast of Scotland is normally blasted by equinoctial gales sweeping in from the Atlantic. On landing again on the shore of Cara, we did not forget to greet the Brownie in the proper and appropriate manner. On Cara one must take nothing for granted...