A castle, a port, a mill and a canal, all on the Fleet.

Under the ancient walls of Cardoness Castle, the river Fleet was bank full due to the combination of a high spring tide and the recent rains. The castle was built by the McCullochs in 1470. At that time the sea came right up to the base of the rock upon which it is built. In 1690 Sir Godfrey MCulloch shot dead a Gordon rival. He was executed in 1697 and the castle was then abandoned.


As the houses of Gatehouse of Fleet came into view, I passed the site of Port Macadam, the old harbour of Gatehouse. At one time it handled 150 ships per year to carry the trade of this planned industrial town. It produced cotton, leather, beer and copper. Much of its power came from a series of water lades that still run through the town.


This view of Port Macadam dates from the mid 19th century. Port Macadam was established after canalisation of the River Fleet in 1828. The original of this photo can be seen in the Stewartry Museum, Kirkcudbright.


This is the limit of the tidal Fleet, approaching the bridge over the river. It is just to the left of the church tower. It was built in 1730 but has been extensively updated since then.


Once under the bridge, you come to the Mill on the Fleet. This is a restored cotton mill dating from 1788. It was built by James Birtwhistle from Yorkshire and is powered by a large waterwheel, which you can just see behind the bush on the gable end. It is now a visitor and information centre. Exactly a week before this photo was taken, the river in spate breached the wall at the base of the mill!


I carried on for another 500m until the river steepened over some gravel rapids. It was very pleasant drifting back downstream to the mill.


My passage was not unnoticed.


The canalised section of the river Fleet was created rather ingeniously. A long narrow ditch was dug then the river was diverted into it. The combination of river and tide cut the new channel. The old pier supports are built on two rocks which form a natural narrowing, which was crossed by a swing bridge. In the distance is the new A75 bridge which carries the Gatehouse bypass road. Beyond it are three pillars for yachts to moor between as they are now prevented from reaching Port Macadam. On a spring ebb tide with a SW wind you can get some good standing waves downstream of the piers.


The swing bridge in the early 20th century. It had been built in 1824 following the construction of the canal but collapsed in the 1930's. It was temporarily reinstated during the construction of the bypass. The original of this photo can be seen in the Stewartry Museum, Kirkcudbright.


The fresh wind had not dropped and I had some hard paddling back to my launch spot.


Out in the bay there were some really enjoyable wind against tide conditions. It was nearly dark by the time I got home for a nice hot shower!

17/10/2008

From sea to river.

There was a definite autumn chill in the air on the Solway Firth. I set off from Fleet Bay through which the peaty waters of the River Fleet make their way to the Irish Sea.


About half of my paddling is done here but I tend not to post about it much. I enjoy the familiarity of the location but the conditions are always different. 9 meter tides and winds that whistle down from the mountains see to that! I usually paddle on my own here and that does tend to sharpen the senses with respect to changing conditions. On this day I thought I would try something different. The rivers were full with recent rain and a big spring tide gave the opportunity for some river exploration. I decided to paddle up the River Fleet.


On the way up Fleet Bay, I passed the last of the salmon stake nets that are characteristic of this part of the Solway. At one time there were six nets on this side of the estuary.


A little further on little Cardoness chapel is tucked away in a little sheltered bay behind a wooded headland.


A low autumn sun, with dark clouds inland, gave a wonderful rich light to show off the autumn colours. The SW wind picked up and was fair pushing me on up the firth.


Two swans made their way inland up the narrowing firth. On the salt marshes below, curlews, oyster catchers gulls and herons were waiting for the tide to turn and reveal their feeding grounds on the Solway mud and sand flats.

17/10/2008

A lunchtime Guinness and a quick shag!

We made surprisingly good time up the Sound of Islay. We knew we would easily arrive in Port Askaig in time to catch the ferry so we decided to stop for some lunch. We drew the kayaks up this remote and delightful beach. Our boots made satisfying crunching noises in the pebbles as the tides in the Sound of Islay swept by.


As the sun had crossed the yardarm, some 20 minutes past, it seemed appropriate to wash our sandwiches down with our favoured libation.


At the other end of the beach, the local shags remained unmoved by our presence as they squabbled among themselves for possession of the highest perch. One of the shags was much quicker than the others and always seemed to end up having ownership of the favoured ledge. This lovely spot, at the edge of the white capped waters of the Sound of Islay, is overlooked by the Paps of Jura, which heave towards the NE sky.

15/07/2008

Rockpool Menai 18 in the Sound of Islay

Photo T Page.

On our Islay trip, I left my Quest at home and once more borrowed the Rockpool Menai 18 expedition kayak from the good folk, Geoff and Anne at Kari-Tek. I had previously borrowed it in autumn 2007 and used it for day trips on the Solway. I really wanted to use it as intended when loaded with camping gear and Guinn...I mean supplies! This boat is beautifully made and did I mention huge? Despite its size it is not too heavy and I have never had such an easy time with packing! It's also incredibly comfortable with the usual Rockpool ergonomics in seat, thigh braces and foot rest. The little fore deck hatch is so useful for items you want to get to quickly. It is a fast boat. If Tony and I are both in Quests, I can't keep up in a sprint. In this boat on a long sprint, to see who would get the best seat in the bothy, I was able to just keep in front of Tony's Quest. (It's a pity he can leap out of a kayak so quickly, as he still got through the bothy door first!)


Photo T Page.

We had a lot of wind on our visit to Islay and the Menai 18 was very easy to trim to any course with Jeff's really excellent Hydro skeg rudder system. When it was really blowing, it was best to use this in skeg mode rather than rudder mode. It has a low deck profile for such a large boat. This reduces windage but the low back deck makes it a very easy boat to roll for those that favour lay back rolls.


For big crossings and expeditions I think the Menai 18 is outstanding. Its only drawbacks (when compared to smaller day boats such as its sibling the Alaw) are a comparative lack of manouverability and a tendency for the long flat bottom section to slam on short steep waves. However, my friend Alan tried it as a dayboat on the Solway. Alan is 6'5" and a very muscular 19 stone. He raved about its comfort, fit and manouverability and has now bought one second hand. Its lighweight former owner has now bought an Alaw Bach.

Unless you have a similar build to Alan, I would not recommend it to use as a single kayak, if most of your trips were day trips with just the occasional weekend or week long expedition. However, as a dedicated expedition kayak the Menai 18 has it all: practicality, carrying capacity, speed, handling in strong winds and most of all comfort, day after day.

And where better to test a kayak than on Islay's varied coastline with views to Jura?

15/07/2008

The fastness of south east Islay.

After the night's rain, the day dawned fair in the Sound of Islay. Due to the Clyde Coastguard industrial action we did not get our usual MSI weather forecast. Fortunately my Pocketsurfer 2 was able to get reception, even in this remote place. XC weather was forecasting westerly winds of force 7 for the rest of the week, so sadly, we decided that this would be our last day.


The south going tide was already well established and this yacht was making full use of it as she slipped away to the SW past distant Jura. To return home we would need to go north against the tide to the ferry terminal at Port Askaig. However, there are plenty eddies along the Islay coast in a south going tide and we decided not to wait for the tide to turn. By leaving when we did, we could make the afternoon ferry back to the mainland.


The south east coast of Islay is very beautiful with lonely hills tumbling into the Sound of Islay. In the 18km from Claggain Bay to Port Askaig no roads breach this fastness. I can feel the call of this wonderful land and I know I will return.

15/07/2008

Water, fire and peaty smoke on Islay!

Paddling across great leagues of ocean and battling against katabatic winds had left us hot tired and sweaty. We noticed a waterfall of bracing cold mountain water which rushed down from the hills above and tumbled over a small cliff almost into the sea. We found shelter in an old cottage nearby and took turns to enjoy a natural shower. At the back of the waterfall there was a thick bank of soft moss to lean against while the fresh water cleansed the salt. It was very brrrracing!


We soon warmed up beside a blazing fire, fuelled by a log which Tony had brought from one of our stops.

Uncorking a bottle of the great Ardbeg, we swapped sea kayaking yarns late into the Islay night as the wind and rain lashed the outside of the bothy. Although we were burning logs, the room was filled by a peaty aroma from the Ardbeg.

14/07/2008

Of lighthouses and lenticulars!

We were completely exhausted by the time we rounded McArthur's Head so we decided to take a breather by the lighthouse jetty. This lighthouse, though on the mainland of Islay, is so remote that it was supplied by sea.


While David rested, Tony and I decided to climb up to the lighthouse. There were quite a few steps!


The boats were soon left far below.


Then there were more steps and we got a great view up the Sound of Islay.


After some further steps, we finally made the lighthouse gate. We were just grateful we did not have to carry supplies on our backs, as the light keepers of old had to do.

Dougie MacDougall was one of a family of Islay boatmen who served the lighthouse. You can read more about him over on Islay Weblog.


McArthur's Head lighthouse was built in 1861 by Thomas and David Stevenson. The light shows two flashes every 10s, and is red from NW to NE an white from other directions. The light is 39m above datum.

We were struck by the very unusual looking clouds which had formed downwind of the headland.


These are lenticular clouds. These are caused by warm moist air blowing over mountains and form as standing waves down wind of high ground. Once formed, air rises very rapidly round the clouds and this sucks even more wind into the system. The result is very strong winds at the surface, which is what we experienced crossing Proaig Bay. The wind would also have been accelerated down through the mountains in Proaig Glen.

14/07/2008

Blowin' away the cobwebs round McArthur's Head!

Aroused from our slumbers, we paddled the SE coast of Islay under some very unusual clouds.


As we approached a headland, the wind steadily increased.


Round this point Tony tried to paddle straight across the bay into the wind but at times he was going backwards, straight out to sea. We were now very much awake, as we battled our way into the wind by hugging the shore. At times our progress could be measured in inches.


Only once we were in the shelter of McArthur's Head did we finally escape the blast of the wind. McArthur's Head is an interesting place. This detatched stack has a cave running right through it to the narrow channel behind.

14/07/2008

Siesta on Islay

Refreshed after our stop at Ardbeg, we made our way north east, hotly pursued by a fresh west wind.


We had covered leagues of ocean and were becoming exhausted by our exertions.


Just in time, we spotted an idyllic white shell sand beach which was sheltered from the wind by wooded slopes above.


We found ourselves in yet another stunning location with a view under brooding clouds to the great Sound of Jura..


On our travels we have been greatly inspired by tales of great Spanish navigators. Taking our lead from them, we decided it was time for a siesta!

14/07/2008

Sea kayaking in search of the Holy Grail: the Ardbeg distillery, Islay

We continued to paddle with a tail wind along the SE coast of Islay. As a result, we had no olfactory warning of the delight that lay round the headland. Tony sprinted ahead leaving David and I in his wake.


We decided to the tie the kayaks up as we thought we may be spending some time on land. The essence of our trips is exploration but this one was more of a pilgrimage.


The clear Celtic symbols left us in no doubt that we were now on hallowed and spiritual ground. We had arrived at the Ardbeg distillery, home and birth place of the Lord of the island malt whiskies.


Tony was quite relaxed as he waited for our arrival outside the temple of the old drying kiln. He was still licking his lips as we approached, a clear sign of a quick one!


We entered the great shrine of Ardbeg and prepared for worship of a palatial kind.


But first we were delighted to find that the old drying kiln now served sustaining food and drink for the faithful. As we placed our order, the serving staff did not bat an eyelid at our dripping kayaking gear. As the sun had not yet passed the yardarm, we decided to wash a bowl of delicious soup down with a pint of bottle conditioned Finlaggan Ale from the Islay Ales brewery. Afterwards we found the facilities to be warm and spotless. Only after a ritual washing the salt from our faces did we feel prepared to sample the great Ardbeg....

14/07/2008

Dun roamin', the return to Hirta.

Emerging from the Great Arch of Dun for the last time, we headed for Village Bay on Hirta. It was 21:30, the end of a fantastic day.


As we paddled under the ramparts of Dun, showers of puffins emerged from their burrows and launched themselves over the cliffs to splash into the sea around us. Photo JLW.


Finally we landed on a small sandy beach revealed by the low tide. We had finally circumnavigated Hirta and landed on Village Bay!

02/06/2008