"So, what's your verdict on the Solway, Jim?"

In the Solway the tide goes out for miles leaving either sand or mud. When we arrived at Needle's Eye these salmon stake nets were nearly covered. We knew we had little time left so we paddled out...


...into the Firth to take full advantage of the ebb tide...


... which carried us across the mouth of Rough Firth back to Almorness Point which marks the entrance to Auchencairn Bay. Unfortunately we did not have time to stop at yet another of the Solway's jewels: the little sandy cove at White Port.


We then passed between Almorness Point and Hestan Island. We could tell the water was getting shallower here over Hestan Rack, which joins the island to the mainland at low tide.


It was a relief to get back into the deeper water of Auchencairn Bay again. But our relief was short lived. In the third hour of a spring ebb, the Solway tide moves very quickly and as we paddled towards our launch point, acres of deep glutinous mud were being exposed before our eyes! The firm upper beach was already half a kilometer away on the other side of the mud and I knew my injured knee would not have a hope of surviving wading through it. Strong men and horses have lost their lives in the Solway!


It was time for a plan "B" and I only did this because of my injury. At the entrance to Auchencairn Bay there is an old slipway which led up to a gate through on to the drive to the Tower which is a private residence. I do hope we did not disturb the residents. We quietly loaded the kayaks onto the trolleys and...


...wheeled them past the snowdrops back to the cars.


If we had had time we would have paddled up Rough Firth to Kippford (here there are a couple of pubs) but we drove round. Initially we were disappointed that the Anchor Hotel had closed only the day before because the lease had run out. We did not remain thirsty for very long however. It was but a short walk to the Mariner Hotel.


"So, what's your verdict on the Solway, Jim?"

Threading the Needle's Eye with the Cetus LV!

The staff of seakayakphoto.com are currently puting the P&H Cetus LV through its paces for Ocean Paddler magazine. So far we have taken her to Mull in the Inner Hebrides, Loch Creran in the Firth of Lorn, the Mull of Logan in the North Channel, Ballantrae on the Firth of Clyde and here at the Colvend coast in the Solway Firth. We have been particularly keen to see how she compares with other kayaks such as the Rockpool Alaw Bach.


From Gillis Crag we continued eastward past Port o' Warren...


...and oyster catchers waiting for low tide at Portling, all on our port side,...


...with Skiddaw, 931m, and the mountains of the English Lake District on our starboard side, until...


...we arrived at the magnificent arch called the Needle's Eye!


Once through the Eye, we soon came across another of the Solway's treasures. This little cove is not named on modern maps and is completely cut off by steep red cliffs at high tide.


I discovered it is named Piper's Cove on the OS 6" to 1 mile map published in 1854. A cave nearby had green stains of malachite on its walls and was once a copper mine. The name Piper's Cove could equally apply to the cave as in old Gallovidian "cove" could mean cove or cave.


Piper's Cove, what a fantastic name for a special place. What hardships we have to endure, keeping up a busy testing schedule!

More to see on the Colvend coast

At the Bogle Hole the tide turned and started to ebb. If we wanted to travel east with the Canada geese we needed to leave before the full spring ebb was established.


So we slipped out of the recesses of the Bogle Hole and entered the expanse of the Solway beyond.


We soon came to the monument to the wreck of the schooner Elbe, which was wrecked near this point in December 1867. A storm had broken her rudder off in a cross offshore gale but Captain George Wilson, his father Captain Samuel Wilson and 5 crew managed to steer her by trimming her sails so that she nearly came into the rocks. With each wave her bowsprit overhung the top of the rocks and in turn all seven men leaped to dry shod safety. The wind then carried the Elbe out into the Solway where she was lost.


Next we came to the red rock cliffs of the Cow's Snout.


The cliffs tumble straight into the sea but in some gullies you can still see green deposits of malachite which was mined for copper.


By now the ebb was well established and we had to push on to the next...


...line of cliffs at Gillies Crag.

Any port in a storm #2

All round the Scottish coastline, even in the remotest parts, there are place names such as Port Bhan or White Port in either Gaelic or English. These signify little coves in which our seafaring ancestors could land a small boat, if caught by a storm.


Needless to say, these make ideal places to stop for either a late breakfast or an early luncheon.


In this case, it was just past 11am, so it was an early luncheon. Phil was most concerned as he momentarily couldn't find the Glenlivet anywhere and a luncheon without Glenlivet... why, it is no luncheon at all. Indeed, it should only be considered as a late breakfast!


David then spread our victuals out. A bottle of fine vintage port, some extra mature Stilton, some pheasant pate and crackers.


We scoffed the lot, then washed it down with the Glenlivet and all before the sun had passed the yardarm.

From this day hence, let this cove be known as PORT STILTON!

The Bogle Hole, Colvend.

Once through the narrow cleft in the rocks we entered...


...the most delightful hidden cove...


backed by a lovely sandy beach. I have previously mentioned this hidden cove in my Solway podcast with Simon Willis.


Photo T Page.
My knee injury did not allow me to hop around the rocks to take photos from above...


Photo T Page.
...but Tony took my camera and leaped round the rocks like a mountain goat and took these two cracking photos. If you ever paddle the Solway coast, make sure you don't paddle past the Bogle Hole!

A first paddle in the Cetus LV

This was to be Jennifer's first paddle in the new P&H Cetus LV. We did not want to let her off lightly, so we chose a little 44km trip from Seil over the Firth of Lorn to Mull. We entered Loch Spelvie, portaged into freshwater Loch Uisge then portaged back into the sea again at Loch Buie.
Here we are at the foot of the remote and bold cliffs of An Garradh, Mull at sunset. We still have a 16km open crossing of the Firth of Lorn before returning to our start point of the Isle of Seil.


Most of the crossing was done in complete darkness with a F3-4 wind at 45 degrees to our bows and an adverse current of 1 knot. In the darkness, we could only feel and taste the waves.

There are very few untried kayaks you would trust using for a trip like this. The Cetus LV proved to be one. Jennifer found it to be completely comfortable and its behaviour in the dark and in challenging conditions, to be completely predictable and confidence inspiring. Her only criticism was an over stiff skeg adjustment.

I hope I will be able to wrest it from her hands before we finish testing it for issue 20 of Ocean Paddler magazine.

A mysterious cleft at Gutcher's Isle

We left Balcarry Point and the expanse of Auchencairn Bay far behind as the flood tide...


...carried us eastward past the seaward cliffs of Hestan Island. The lighthouse is a recently built tardis design.


We then made swift progress across the mouth of Rough Firth and past Castlehill Point, where many oyster catchers were waiting for the tide to turn.


At high water, we entered a bay called Gutcher's Isle.


At the back of the bay there was a narrow cleft in the rocks, less than a paddle breadth wide. Where would it lead?

Mud, tides and windmills on the Solway

Back at the end of January, we drove south to Auchencairn Bay on the Solway Firth. We parked behind the hotel and trollied the kayaks down a delightful lane to the shore. In the distance, beyond the shoulder of Hestan island, our destination, the Colvend coast, lay tantalizingly on the far side of Auchencairn Bay .


Launching here is very much controlled by the tide. The window extends for about 2.5hrs either side of HW Hestan Island. If you arrive and see the mud is still exposed, don't even attempt to cross it, it is glutinous, evil smelling stuff that you will carry round with you for many weeks to come. Being the Solway, the tide will come in very quickly, so be patient and wait just a little until it is covered.


On launching, we first turned west along the cliffs of Balcarry Point. In the spring and early summer, these cliffs come alive with thousands of sea birds such as guillemots, razorbills and fulmars. Today...


...all was quiet as we explored the stacks at the base of the cliffs....


...before turning east to cross Auchencairn Bay. To the south, the windmills of the Riders Rigg wind farm were silhouetted against the distant snow covered mountains of the English Lake District.

Clearing fog, Ganavan Bay to Kerrera

A 29km day trip from Ganavan Bay round Kerrera, Firth of Lorn, January 2010.


Fog lifting in the Sound of Kerrera.

Ganavan, a launch site for sea kayaks and seaplanes

The fog on the Lorn...

Better Days: the wreck of the Hyacinth

Black and white in the Sound of Kerrera

Better Days in The Little Horseshoe Bay

Fleeting wraiths of fog in the Sound of Kerrera

Gylen castle and the Brooch of Lorn

Blowing the cobwebs away in the Firth of Lorn.

The strange case of the missing calves at sunset.

The liquid canvas of the sea.

Embers of a Kerrera day


Photo album map.

A tour of the Clyde Lochs and rocks

A tour of the Clyde lochs and rocks from Lunderston Bay, Firth of Clyde, 30km, January 2010.


The Cloch lighthouse.

Two iconic, but ultimately impotent, towers on the Clyde

Keeping an eye open for ferries at Gourock

Little and Large on the Clyde: Ocean terminal and Kilcreggan pier

A warm glow in a wintery Loch Long

The number 475 bus and an occasional sea kayaker

A nice shade of grey, in Hunter's Quay

Dunoon, and her unused new pier

The Gantock Rocks

Passing ships in the night.


Photo album map.

Arran West Coast to Carradale

A day trip from Dougarie on the west coast of Arran to Carradale on the Kintyre peninsula, Firth of Clyde, 25km, January 2010.


A distant Ayrshire coast and Ailsa Craig from near Carradale.

An early morning wardrobe malfunction.

"Bru'd in Carradale from girders"

Torrisdale Bay in the Kilbrannan Sound.

Time to go in the Carradale Water

Return to Dougarie


Photo album map.

Seakayakphoto.com trip index 2010

2010 running total distance: 1235km

Ayr to Dunure, Firth of Clyde, 20km
Arran west coast to Carradale, Firth of Clyde, 25km
A tour of the Clyde lochs and rocks from Lunderston Bay, Firth of Clyde, 30km
Ganavan Bay to Kerrera, Firth of Lorn, 29km
Auchencairn Bay to Needle's Eye, Solway Firth, 21km
Ballantrae to Portandea, Firth of Clyde, 19km
Port Appin to Loch Creran, Firth of Lorn, 33km
Seil to Laggan Deer Forest, Mull, Firth of Lorn, 44km

Portpatrick to the Mull of Logan, North Channel, 33km

The Mull of Oa, Islay, Inner Hebrides, 26km

Holy Island from Brodick, Firth of Clyde, 20km

Loch Feochan to Loch Etive, Firth of Lorn, 36km
Ailsa Craig from Lendalfoot, Firth of Clyde 32km
Loch Fyne, St Catherines to Otter Ferry, Firth of Clyde 36km
Loch Fyne, Portavadie to Otter Ferry, Firth of Clyde 21km
Circumnavigation of Morvern, Firth of Lorn to Loch Sunart 115km
North Islay and west Jura, Inner Hebrides 82km
Islands of Fleet and Kirkandrews Bay Solway Firth 14km
Heads of Ayr from Seafield, Firth of Clyde 14km

Lunga and Scarba from Crinan, Sound of Jura, 47km
Fleet Bay, Solway Firth 21km
Rhinns of Islay, Inner Hebrides 47km
Mull of Oa, Islay, Inner Hebrides 44km
Sound of Islay 15km
Fleet Bay Solway Firth 39km
Gigha and Cara 46km
The Garvellachs from Seil, Firth of Lorn 32km
Cumbraes and Bute from Largs, Firth of Clyde 34km
Fleet Bay, Solway Firth 11km
Kirkcudbright from Fleet Bay, Solway Firth 43km
Fleet Bay, Solway Firth 5.5km
Portavadie to Colintraive via the Kyles of Bute, Firth of Clyde 33km
Derwent water, Lake District, England 11km
Arran from Portencross, Firth of Clyde 31km
Loch Long to Loch Goil, Firth of Clyde 25km
Loch Eil to Loch Linnhe, Firth of Lorn 30km
The Cumbraes from Largs, Firth of Clyde 25km
Seafield to Maidens, Firth of Clyde 21km
Arran from Portencross 2, Firth of Clyde 31km
Glasgow Green to Port Glasgow, Firth of Clyde 33km

Embers of a Kerrera day

Long after the sun went down, we could still see the open Atlantic horizon between Kerrera and the steep cliffs of Mull.


After a while the gold in the sky turned to red and in the distance...


...the monument to David Hutcheson stood out on the Kerrera skyline. In 1835 he was one of the founders of the Burns shipping company, which ran the first steamers up the west coast of Scotland. His brother in law, David MacBrayne continued to develop the routes and the company grew into Caledonian MacBrayne runs most of the the ferries on the Scottish west coast.


We were enjoying the night so much that we continued on past the car into the gathering darkness to the north east.


Eventually, as the final embers of the day were dying, we retraced our wakes back to Gallanach. Ahead we could see the lights of the CalMac ferry from Mull slipping into Oban harbour before us.