A meeting with Garnock Canoe Club in Culzean Bay.

Leaving Culzean we paddled across the broad expanse of Culzean Bay. Arran and the Holy Isle were clear on the western horizon....


.... and Turnberry Point and Ailsa Craig stood out to the south. However, our eyes were on the coast to the north. David was due to paddle south from Dunure to meet us.


Instead of a solitary David we met him with members of the Garnock Canoe Club: Duncan, Dave, Jim, Alison and Alison.


Duncan Winning OBE is a long standing member of the Garnock club which has a fine reputation for training its sea kayaking members. Gordon Brown is a former member and Richard Cree is another current member.


We had a good chat before we all paddled northwards, bound for Dunure.

Tony, David and I paddle this coast regularly but this is the first tme we have met anyone on the water! First we met Alan then the Garnock club! Sea kayaking in Scotland is a growing activity.

02/11/2008

The Culzean Coastline

From Turnberry Point we crossed Maidenhead Bay (in truth it was not our first time) and found ourselves at delightful Port Carrick at the south end of the Culzean coastline.


Long winter shadows stretched across the sands but the north end of the beach was bathed in wonderful low winter sunlight.


Port Carrick is a great place to stop for lunch. In winter you will have it to yourself but at the height of summer it can be very popular.


After a sandwich we paddled out to sea under an amazing sky. The sunset promised to be fantastic!


We turned a corner and found ourselves in a bay with a shingle beach backed by a round bath house, a ruined laundry and Dolphin House.


The next headland is dominated by the magnificent Culzean Castle. It was built for the 10th Earl of Cassillis by Robert Adam in 1770. Its great central staircase is actually built within the interior of the original square keep which is now surrounded by these newer and more ornate walls.

What a wonderful coastline Culzean is and I haven't even mentioned the caves or the blow hole!

02/11/2008

A chance meeting at Turnberry Point

Approaching Turnberry Point, we entered a maze of rock channels.


We kept our bearings as long as the distant peak of Goatfell on Arran remained in view.


We rounded the Point in calm conditions but the Stevenson lighthouse and ancient walls of Turnberry castle both told of turbulent times.


Then we met Alan from Ayr out on a solo paddle from Maidens. He has just recently started sea kayaking but has already some great solo trips round the Cumbraes and up the Bute coast to his credit. He asked if he could come along. We explained that we might need to spend some time at Dunure and then he would need to paddle back to Maidens on his own. Alan was happy to join us and we were very happy to have his company.

02/11/2008

Turnberry Bay

We set off from Turnberry beach with Ailsa Craig on the horizon.


The settled conditions promised a perfect day and the bank of cloud on the horizon promised a spectacular sunset.


We paddled below the bank of sand dunes which separate the famous Turnberry links golf course from the sea.


Behind us the Brest Rock beacon shimmered at the edge of the reflection of the low winter sun. Above us a pair of swans powered up the coast towards Turnberry point. We followed at a more measured pace.


The "Four Castles of Carrick" is one of our favourite routes. It is 23 km from the launch site at Turnberry to the landing at Seafield in Ayr.

02/11/2008

Dunure Sunset

A small ridge of high pressure announced the arrival of summer 2008 in Scotland. I expected a cracking sunset and thought a view out to Ailsa Craig from Dunure, with the castle as a frame, would be worth a trip. Unfortunately we arrived in Dunure 1and a half hours before sunset. What does one do in Dunure on a freezing cold afternoon?

The wait was worth while.


Once the sun had set the air temperature dropped rapidly.


We still had 9km to paddle back to where we had left our shuttle car at Ayr.


Once the golden glow left the southwestern sky...


We were left in the darkness of the winter's night. Before we rounded the Heads of Ayr and came to the glow of the town's lights, we had an amazing view of the stars. We did not arrive back at Ayr until 2 hours after sunset.

02/11/2008

The Sounds of Luing and Cuan

On leaving the Grey Dogs, we entered the Sound of Luing and made our way up the east coast of Lunga. This is one of the surviving houses. We then entered the maze of tidal channels between the north of Lunga and its neighbouring islands.


Returning to the Sound of Luing again, we started a ferry glide across the now flooding north going tide. We were headed for the island of Luing on the east side of the sound. Looking north we could see all the way up the Sound to Insh, Fladda with its lighthouse, Easdale and Seil.


Looking south down the Sound, the tumbling crags of Scarba were lost in the mist.


Working our way up the east shore of the Sound the tide accelerated us north past Dubh Sgeir with its light and the lighthouse of Fladda.


We found the MFV Rambling Rose tied up in the sheltered inlet of Cullipool. In 2001 she went to the rescue of a yacht which went aground in a force 8 August gale, the family were saved including their 18 month old baby. The Rambling Rose was a scallop dredger operated by brothers Eoghann and Alastair MacLachlan. The Scottish Government recently banned scallop dredging in the Firth of Lorn and she has been modified for prawn fishing.


Rounding the northern end of Luing, we paddled east into the Cuan Sound between Luing and Seil. We eddy hopped through the Sound against the west going flood spring tide.


Turning round, we blasted back down the Sound..


...until we were ejected into the Firth of Lorn. The Island of Mull provided a backdrop as we made our way back to our starting point at Ellenabeich on Seil.

What a fantastic weekend in the tides between these glorious islands.

31/08/2008

The low brace.

Photo Clark Fenton.

Every sea kayaker should practice the low brace. (I used to work in an A&E department and seeing dislocated shoulders has sort of dampened my enthusiasm for the high variety but the low one is a really useful stroke.

Here we were playing in big Atlantic surf crashing onto the western edge of Cearstaigh off the north coast of Scarp in the Outer Hebrides. There was a big undercut hole which John had backed into, you can just see his yellow bow. A much bigger set came through and I thought I might get a good shot of John battling out with my Sony U60. Then a huge one came in, everyone out shouted Murty. I got ready for the shot. Then Allan, in his rush to leave the premises at closing time, ran right over my foredeck. I felt myself going over, I dropped my camera and grabbed my paddle and whacked a cracking low brace as far out as I could. Amazingly I stayed upright so yes, I am very fond of the low brace.

04/06/2008

The east coast of Scarba

After camping overnight on Scarba we were attacked by billions of midges. Although they feasted on what was left by the ticks, we had no breakfast, went hungry and hurriedly packed. We launched without delay and made our way west into the Corryvreckan again. We paddled as far as we could into the east going ebb tide. It was a good warm up and the wind blew the midges away!

We then retreated and made our way up the Sound of Luing along the east coast of Scarba.


Scarba has a lot of red deer and initially I thought these were red deer fawns because of their white patches (though I did think they were quite large fawns!) I am indebted to Lucy who correctly identified them as fallow deer. There is a small herd of fallow deer on Scarba and also on Mull and Islay. Fallow deer were present in Scotland before the last ice age but became extinct during it. They were probably reintroduced by the Normans. The herds on these Scottish islands will have been introduced by owners of deer estates.


The east coast has beautiful mixed deciduous woodlands which make their way right down to the rocky shore. It is quite a contrast to the exposed west coast. High above the shore and the trees stands lonely Kilmory Lodge, a shooting lodge. Watch out Bambi!


We eddy hopped up the Sound of Luing against the south going ebb tide. In the distance we could see Fladda lighthouse.


The Scarba pier provides a good place to stop. We went right to the end of the pier to escape the midges and enjoyed a bacon roll.


We could not resist paddling right through to the west of the Grey Dogs tide race then running back east with the tide again. It was much calmer than the previous day.

31/08/2008

Another evening by the Corryvreckan.

On our trip through the Corryvreckan we set up camp on the wild isle of Scarba. Its rough crags tumble straight into restless waters of the tidal gulf below. After setting up camp, we trekked into the hills by following the valley of this little burn.


Even from the heights we could hear the roar of the east going tide.


We contoured along the edge of some cliffs until we could see right through the Gulf of Corryvreckan to the Atlantic beyond.


One by one, the grey hills and ridges of Jura receded until they were lost in the distant mists of the horizon. We looked down on the waters of the Corryvreckan by which we had come. These are what pull us back here, time after time. This is world class sea kayaking, it's on our doorstep and we had it to ourselves.


It was twilight by the time we made our way through tick infested brascken back to the shore and got the fire going. A sleeping seal snored, coughed and grunted in the bay. The fire crackled and sparked in the cool breeze. Some Guinness and Isle of Jura malt whisky saw the night steal around us as we recounted this year's fantastic adventures and plotted those yet to come....

I am grateful to Rebecca from My Kayaking Buddies blog for linking to this post and being inspired to write her own piece on thewonderful Corryvreckan.

30/08/2008

Leaving the "Angel's Share" on Islay.

As we continued up the Sound of Islay, the Carraig Mor light announced our imminent arrival at Port Askaig.


The Eilean Dhura ferry was in port. This ferry connects Islay to Jura. Vehicular traffic for Jura needs to arrive on Islay first then transfer to Jura.


Our ferry had not yet arrived so we decided to let the now north going tide carry us on past Port Askaig to the Caol Isla distillery. It was very enjoyable sitting there in the offshore wind savouring the "Angel's Share!"


It was a short paddle against the tide back to Port Askaig.


There is a very convenient beach and slipway by the conveniently situated Port Askaig Hotel which boasts the oldest bar on Islay! Unfortunately a full review will need to wait for another visit....


..as our boat, the Isle of Arran, had come in!


Sadly this brought our visit to the island of Islay to an end but we had made lots of new friends and we will return!

15/07/2008