A cunning navigational plan.

 Last weekend Mike...

 Phil, Andrew,...

 ...Colin and I met at Portencross on the Ayrshire coast. Regular readers of this blog will have realized that most of my recent trips have been local. I am sorry for the lack of variety but my knee problems mean I don't like a long car journey, especially after a day in the kayak. However ,I hope to show that you can enjoy great paddling even though you have visited an area many times.

The forecast looked great and I was delighted to see that the wind was due to veer from WSW to NW. We kayak sailors could take advantage of this, by launching to the south of the Cumbraes and circumnavigate clockwise with the hope of sailing all the way.

HW at Millport was at 0730 so normally paddlers would have started further north at Largs and paddled south to take advantage of the ebb tide down the inside of the Cumbraes, followed by the flood tide up their outside.

Colin and Andrew were supposed to be sitting their 3* assessment but Bruce their coach had suffered a bereavement. So we decided to give them a good workout...

keeping up with the sails. Mike (a Quest paddler since 2002) had borrowed the Cetus MV. That's always a (financially) dangerous thing to do...

Soon we were approaching Gull Point at...

 ...the south end of Little Cumbrae. In the distance, the hills of Bute rose above our first intended stop at Glencallum Bay.

 It was a close thing but the kayak sailors managed to close reach...

...round Gull Point on a single tack from Portencross. It looked like my navigational plan would work.

Emerging from the mist on the way to Ayr.

 From the sandstone ledges of Carlandcheek we headed for...

 ...the dark basalt ridges of the Heads of Ayr.

Offshore, banks of low cloud obscured Arran as we caught every small...

 ...wave and sped on to Ayr.

The unmistakable outline of a type 45 destroyer loomed out of the mist. Recently, we had got used to seeing HMS Dragon on her sea trials but this is her younger sister, HMS Defender.

In no time the kayak sailors had passed Greenan Castle on...

 ...their way to Ayr, leaving...

 ...Jim and I to enjoy the day's brief blink of sunshine. This brought another wonderful sea kayaking trip to a close.

The World is full of natural and man made disasters and troubles and in comparison what we do might seem trivial. It is true that our little trips are nothing more than inconsequential escapism. Well the World needs a good deal  more triviality and  much less trouble. In case you think I have lost my marbles, we were just wondering how many sea kayaks you could get for one type 45 destroyer?

Free fall at Carlandcheek..

Our afternoon sojourn at Carlandcheek lasted sufficiently long enough for the tide to retreat from the base of the cliffs. We made our way...

 ...round to a wonderland of wave cut...

 ...caves and rock platforms.

I was quite happy to keep my feet on the ground as the others clambered athletically over the rocks.

 Then we spotted the waterfall...

 ...it poured over a lip of hard rock onto a steep slab of sandstone below.

Fresh from his success scaling the cliffs to the caves, Phil now turned his attention to the waterfall. He managed to climb a third of the way up the steepening rocks but, all of a sudden,  he lost his grip and slithered back down the slippery slope. Amazingly he managed to stay upright, till he hit the bottom. Picking himself up, he nonchalantly made his way back to the kayaks.

Back at sea level, I enjoyed the beauty of the sandstone. Carlandcheek is a fascinating place but if you do a Google search for it, you will only find it here!

The tide being right for jaw-jaw at Carlandcheek.

 VHF proved useful to get Phil and Mike to take a breather at...

 ...the caves and waterfall of Carlandcheek near the Heads of Ayr.

There is a break in the volcanic rocks that predominate on this coast.

 Weathered sandstone cliffs rise steeply from the beach.

 At full spring tide you can't land here. At low water, a reef prevents landing.

We took the opportunity of the tide being right to take second luncheon and sample some 10 year old Jura followed by a 12 year old Glenfiddich. We then spent a pleasant post prandial jaw-jaw on the beach at Carlandcheek. We revelled in our healthy, athletic lifestyle.

How not to get your sheets in a twist.

We emerged from Dunure feeling refreshed and ready to face the afternoon.

A cracking breeze awaited us but David and I fell a bit behind as he had gybed the sail round the mast when he pulled the kayak up at Dunure and now his sheet was wrapped round the mast causing his sail to flap uselessly.

Phil and Mike paddled like demons and with the wind in their sails, they...

...disappeared over the horizon leaving David (with his sheets now untwisted),...
 

...Jim and I in their wakes.

The wise men of Dunure.

A long finger of rock projected from the Carrick coast.

It seemed to have a magnetic attraction for David and Mike and guided them straight into Dunure Harbour.

The boys tumbled into the remains of the village Nativity scene but it proved not to have a licence and so...

...David, being that wisest of men, led the way round the corner.

Group control on the Clyde...

 Coming out of Carrick Cove...

...all the kayak sailors were now shipshape, Kayak Skippy's boom was now rigged in a more efficient, Northern Hemisphere orientation.

 At first our intention was to hug the coast below Culzean Castle...

...but we succumbed to the temptation of heading well offshore where the wind...

 ...was both stronger and steadier.

The kayak sailors drew steadily ahead...

..leaving Jim (in the sail-less Taran) and I in their wakes. I stayed with Jim by "tacking" downwind (broad reaching on alternate tacks) behind him.

Conventional sea kayakers will by now be horrified by our group control... all I can say in our defence is: "Kayak Skippy, Kayak Skippy, Kayak Skippy, this is Kayak Sula" and... we all knew where we were going... the pub at Dunure!