A drink made from some unknown kind of fog!

The foggy ramparts of the Mull of Galloway were the scene of the final battle between the Scots and the last of the Picts of Galloway. The Picts had managed to repel successive waves of invaders including the Romans and the Anglo-Saxons. How could this warrior race have been defeated by the Scots? One reason for their down fall may have been their secret brew! A Scots historian wrote: "The Picts brewed some awful grand drink they ca't (called) Fraoch Leann from heather and some unknown kind of fog". The Scots king coveted the recipe for this heather ale and was determined to get it from the last surviving Picts.


The Scottish writer, Robert Louis Stephenson, was the grandson of George Stephenson, who had built the Mull of Galloway lighthouse in 1830. R.L. Stephenson had visited Galloway on a walking tour and had heard of the legend of heather ale. He composed a poem based on the story called “Heather Ale: A Galloway Legend”. In it he has a pretty good idea of what led to the Picts’ downfall.

“They brewed it and they drank it,
And lay in blessed swound,
For days and days together,
In their dwellings underground.”

After the battle, the king of the Scots tortured an old man and his son, who were the last two survivors of the battle. The king said he would spare one of them, if he was told the recipe for Fraoch Leann. The old man knew they were both doomed and blurted out, “Spare me, and I will tell you!” So the son was thrown into the sea below the Mull.



The king again demanded the recipe but the old man said, “I feared my son might tell you to spare me”. R.L.S. continues the story:

“But now in vain is the torture,
Fire shall not avail:
Here dies in my bosom
The secret of the Heather Ale."

The old man leaped over the cliff after his son and the Galloway Picts and Fraoch Leann were apparently no more....

15/12/2008

End of the road: the Mull of Galloway tide race.

After we reloaded the kayaks onto the car, we drove to the road end at the Mull of Galloway, the southernmost tip of Scotland.


Looking east on the spring ebb tide you can see the main race comes very close to the east end of the Mull but it then heads SW, out to sea, leaving most of the cliffs below the Mull standing in a relatively flat eddy.


This is the spring ebb race running against a force 4 to 6 SW wind.


Looking south towards the Isle of Man over the ebb race.


Looking west, the ebb race is well offshore...but the water round Gallie Craig is not exactly flat.


To give an idea of the scale this is Gallie Craig from the sea looking east towards the lighthouse! (17/02/2008)


The above photos show the ebb race. The flood race come much closer to the cliffs than the ebb. We went through against the flood tide, 2 hours from slack water at springs. This photo (in a similar wind to that which we experienced) shows the water state below the fog horn, 2 hours from slack water at neaps. It gives an idea of what we met. We found more broken water and the conditions persisted without a break for 2km! To give some idea of scale, the photo was taken from a height of 71m. (28/12/06)


Going east to west, on the west going ebb you have only a short 100m or so of race to cross at the east end of the Mull. After this you enter a large relatively flat eddy which extends right to the west end of the Mull and beyond.

Going east to west on an east going flood as we did, even in close to the rocks, you are much closer to the main race. From the light house you have to fight adverse currents at each headland. The red arrow highlights a submarine reef which throws up standing waves especially on the flood.

What a fun place! No wonder several legends attach to this place.....

PS Of course most people would have driven up to the road end at the top of the cliffs and looked at the race before they paddled it. Many would have decided that one look was enough! The trick with this type of paddling is not to look first! We didn't, but of course I am not recommending this ostrich type of approach to planning sea kayaking expeditions! In truth I knew exactly what it would look like as I have gazed down on the race in many different conditions but not paddled it afterwards.

15/12/2008

Myths, caves and tides of the Mull.

Let no one accuse the staff of seakayakphoto.com of being mindless thrill seekers! After our adrenaline fuelled circumnavigation of the Mull of Galloway, we set off northwards into the sheltered waters of Luce Bay on the lee of the Rhinns of Galloway. We were bound on a learned voyage to find the Cave of St Medans or the fairies!


We had paddled right past the cave because it is hidden within a deep cleft in the rocks. An outer wall was built across the open end of this cleft and roofed over to form a Christian chapel.


Sir Herbert Maxwell drew this view in 1885. The outer wall of the chapel has deteriorated over the last 123 years. In the 1825 an archaeological dig unearthed a prehistoric human tibia in the cave and in the chapel, 12th century coins from the reigns of Kings Alexander and David of Scotland.


This is the present day view from the door of the chapel, just where the figures in Maxwell's drawing are standing. Apart from the corner wall of the chapel, which has crumbled so that you can't see where the window and door were, the only change is the low roof of the Gallie Craig visitor centre which is right on the horizon of the Mull, to the right of the lighthouse.


Tony explores the cave at the back of the chapel.


Modern but rusting ironwork supports the door lintel. The cave was remarkably warm and dry.


The oldest inscription we found was AD 1850.

Of course the Christian Church has long built on ancient superstitions and pagan places. The cave was originally known as the Fairy Cave. Sailors of old would leave offerings of food to ensure fair winds and tides for a safe passage round the Mull. It was not advised to wait for the fairies to come out of the darkness of their cave and watch them gather these tokens of maritime respect. The mere sight of a fairy, by even one sailor, could prove bad luck for an entire ship. Apparently a hermit led a pretty comfortable and very well nourished life in the cave for many years. I threw the last of my lunchtime sandwich towards the mouth of the cave but a hungry gull proved faster than any fairy!

We had of course planned this day all wrong. We should have paid our (edible) respects at the cave before starting our voyage round the treacherous tides of the Mull. Frankly, after such disrespectful behaviour towards the fairies' nutritional needs, we were lucky to get round the Mull in one piece but we learned a lot!

15/12/2008

What a carry on at Tarbet!

Made it! Our relief at rounding the Mull was palpable. We landed in west Tarbet Bay and there was a unanimity in our decision not to head further north to Port Logan, where we had left the shuttle car. The forecast was for force 4 to 6 winds gusting to 37 knots by evening but the front had obviously arrived early.


There are several places in Scotland called Tarbet or Tarbert. It comes from the Gaelic word Tairbeart. In modern Gaelic this means isthmus but its origin lies in "over carry". These isthmuses were where the Vikings carried their longships overland from one side of a peninsula to the other.


Olaus Magnus 1555

This often avoided a dangerous voyage round a headland but it was also a way of claiming land! The Vikings reached a truce with the Scots, which allowed them to rule any "islands" they could sail (or drag) their boats round!


Olaus Magnus 1555

From a distance the Mull of Galloway looks like an island as the Tarbet is low enough to be under the horizon. The day was yet young so we decided to carry our kayaks Viking style over the 0.45km distance and 21m height of the Tarbet. It was hard work, as unlike the Vikings, we had set off unarmed and were so unable to persuade any locals to assist us in our endeavours.



The boats were soon on the beach of east Tarbert Bay but we needed some lunch before heading out again!

15/12/2008

Southern exposure round the Mull of Galloway.

The Mull of Galloway is a bold headland which juts out into the North Channel of the Irish Sea. It is Scotland's most southerly point. It is a magnet for sea kayakers due to its notorious nine tides!

Tony and I set off from the East Tarbet of the Mull of Galloway 2hrs and 30mins before the end of the east going flood. We planned to use a west flowing eddy that runs close into the cliffs. Unfortunately this eddy does not run round each of the many headlands on the Mull and we were prepared to battle round these into the teeth of the east going flood. The freshening SW wind began to make its presence felt. Cats' paws spread out on the water as the wind dropped over the cliffs.

We soon picked up an east going eddy which runs along the north coast of the Mull. It carried us effortlessly to the east point of the Mull.


Here in the shelter from the wind, and out of sight of the race, we enjoyed a calm moment enjoying a view of the Isle of Man. Calm was not a word we would use again on this trip!


As we worked our way round the corner, the water became livelier...


... and the wind began to increase.


This photo was taken in the last of the calm water before we entered the race. The water then got a bit rough and I found myself quite unable to take further photographs....

We were in the disturbed water from below the lighthouse to the entrance of West Tarbet bay. Most of the waves were only about 5 feet, crest to trough, but they were short, steep, breaking, very irregular and coming at us from all angles.

As the wind shrieks round their jagged ramparts and as the surf thunders at their base, no one can hear your screams far below the cliffs of the Mull of Galloway!

Close to the rocks the clapotis was fearsome but the tide was less strong. After being side surfed by several waves we kept away from the rocks as much as we could. As a result we found ourselves in the stronger adverse current further out. It took 40 minutes from the east to the west points of the Mull. It is only 2.5km so we actually managed to average 3.75km/hr. It really was sustained maximum effort all the way. The worst bit was 1.5km to the west of the lighthouse. My GPS showed I was going backwards at 1km/hr on several occasions before I got round that one! The maximum speed I hit was 14.5km/hr (while still paddling) in the eddy to the south of the lighthouse.

The wind was still increasing and any thoughts of continuing up the west coast to Port Logan were abandoned. We made for the shelter of West Tarbet Bay and prepared ourselves for a Viking style portage over the Tarbet ...

15/12/2008

Tempestuous seas!

I would like to extend a very warm welcome to Trans Atlantic readers of this blog from Newfoundland and Labrador! Thank you for the link Alison.

These hardy souls have to endure some of the most challenging sea kayaking conditions on the planet and are obviously envious of us Scots, sitting here in the balmy Gulf Stream!

However, I would like to point out that it is not all glassy calm seas and glorious sunsets! Somewhat embarrased by Alex's reference to "Tempestuous Seas" (greetings Alex :o) ), today Tony and I decided to salve some Scottish pride and go where the water is seldom glassy calm... the Mull of Galloway! After all, it is just about the shortest day, there was a windchill of minus 2C, a big spring tide and a force 4 to 6 SW wind, what better way to spend a few hours than rounding the Mull of Galloway?



15/12/2008

Another west coast sunset

Earlier today....

14/12/2008

Introduction to Hirta, St Kilda.

The morning of 3rd June 2008 dawned with a freshening SW wind blowing across Village Bay on Hirta in the St Kilda archipelago. The forecast was for a force 7 and Murdani, the skipper, of the Cuma said he would like to leave by 14:00.


The Cuma's RIB shuttled us into the jetty on St Kilda as all the other boats left!


We were met by Bill Shaw, the friendly National Trust for Scotland ranger. He explained important Dos and Don'ts for our visit.


It was with some excitement that we ascended the steep stone flags which led up from the jetty..


With Dun in the background, Bill took some group photos before we started our explorations of this extraordinary remote place which has been inhabited for over 3,000 years!.

03/06/2008 am

Paddling with planets.

We launched from the shingle beach at Dunure just as a pink glow appeared behind the cold snowy ridges of Arran. Although the sun had set 15 minutes before, the summit ridge of Goatfell was still catching rays from below the horizon.


We set off for Maidens guided by light from Venus, Jupiter and Turnberry lighthouse. We were surrounded by six other lighthouses: Ailsa Craig, Sanda, Davaar Island, Pladda, Holy Island outer and Lady Isle but the first three were unseen as they were below the horizon like the now departing sun.


As the light faded the horizon darkened from deep orange to blood red.


An hour and fifteen minutes after sunset the horizon still betrayed the long gone sun. Flocks of sea birds swirled out of the darkness on their way out to sea but the slow shutter speed (1/6s) has all but failed to capture them. Ailsa Craig still dominated the land and sea but its bold outline was soon to merge with the darkness above. Far from land, the clear skies gave one of the best views of the Milky Way we have ever seen.


We landed at Maidens two hours after sunset. It was very dark and minus three degrees Celsius but what a fantastic time to be out paddling!

06/12/2008

At the end of the day, in Dunure

We emerged from the Anchorage Bar into the chill of the gathering night.


Our timing was impeccable, the sun was just kissing the horizon to the south west.


David offered to run us back down to Maidens to pick up the car....


....as the golden glow on the horizon grew ever more intense.


Ailsa Craig looked so enticing we decided to paddle back to Maidens, even though we would not arrive until 2 hours after sunset.

06/12/2008

All along the watch tower at Dunure.

Sea kayaking is a strenuous activity, which places many demands on the fitness, nutrition and hydration of participants. The success of a major sea kayaking expedition often depends on the shore based support crew.


Last Sunday David was unable to join us on the water as he was on call for his veterinary surgery. He drove down to Dunure and walked along the cliff path to the old WW2 watch tower. There he kept a concerned eye open for our approach from afar.


As we came round the headland and wended our way through the skerries below, he waved before heading down to the pub to put in the order for the Guinness.


He then helped us carry the kayaks up the beach beyond the two pint mark. Such selfless sacrifice is an essential requisite in any expedition's support crew.

A toast, a toast! Here's to the unsung heroes!

06/12/2008