Kayaks at dawn in the Ballachuillish narrows.

 We spent a very comfortable night in the excellent Ballachuillish Hotel. We planned to launch from the hotel and so started to load the boats in the car park.

 It was minus 12C though elsewhere in the Highlands it had fallen to minus 13.7. Whatever it was a bit nippy on the hands.

Although the loch side was still in darkness the summit of Garbh Bheinn, 885m, was catching the first rays from the rising sun which was still well below our horizon.

We trolleyed the kayaks a short distance to the jetty of  the old BalLachuilish Ferry. The bridge was completed at the end of 1975 but, before that, a vehicle ferry ran across the narrows from 1903. These were flat bottomed turntable ferries and used the slipways in the shallow water at either side of the narrows. One of the last of these ferries was the Glenachulish. She was built in 1969 at the Ailsa yard at Troon on the Firth of Clyde. She served the Ballachulish crossing until the bridge opened, then she was moved to Kessock and then Kylsku to serve as the relief ferry until those crossings were replaced by bridges in 1982 and 1984. After this she moved to Glenelg for the Skye crossing where she still serves today. The Ballachuilish crossing at the peak of a spring tide always provided an entertaining ferry glide.

We planned to go up the north side of the loch to catch what little sun might make its way down to the loch through the steep mountains. The ebb tide was pouring out the narrows at 5.5 knots. Mike decided to take the eddy well up under and beyond the bridge before ferry gliding across the narrows further up.

I decided to just tough it out by ferrying across the fastest flow at the bridge. I had to PLF and was very warm by the time I got to the other side but at least I could rest while I watched Mike...

... come across into a small eddy then watch...

...Ian make his way across.

It really was a struggle against the current...

...we stuck to the shallow water...

...where the current was running slower but...

...it was literally an uphill  battle until we ...

...reached the calmer waters of the broder loch beyond. After a brief rest we

...set off on our exploration of Loch Leven.

Gradually the sun rose above the mountains and...

as we rounded the natural rock walls of An Dunan (site of an Iron Age fort) we...

...entered the natural harbour of Poll an Dunain in full sun.

A long journey north.

The Scottish winter has been pretty tough so far but at last a break in the weather caused Mike and I to meet up with Ian on the west coast. For various reasons revolving round orthopaedic surgery, I had not been far north of Glasgow since early 2013, so I was rather looking forward to this trip.

We had a much easier drive than Ian who was travelling over from the north east.Our route over Rannoch Moor and...

 ...through Glen Coe was thankfully clear of snow. Mike took these photos as I was keeping my eye on the road.

 The mountains were looking in great condition.

 I took up sea kayaking because I was finding mountaineering increasingly difficult due to painful dislocations of my knees. I had last been high in these hills in early 2001 when I climbed one of the gullies high in the summit cliffs at the head of the corrie in the middle of this photo.

Unfortunately my knee dislocated twice during the climb of SC Gully and so it became my last winter climb. It had also been one of my first winter climbs in 1973. I have missed getting into the winter hills. I spent last winter...

  ...learning how to climb stairs...

...after my second knee operation.

 Anyway it was too late to go out on the water so after we met Ian, we decided  to nip up a little hill...

 ...called Ardsheal Hill. It is only 263m high but I was really quite pleased to get up (and down) it.

 Being on the shores of Loch Linnhe it had wonderfull views to the NE and...

 ...the SW.  The islands of Eilean Balnagowan,...

 ...Shuna and Lismore looked very inviting. We made plans while we descended in the winter gloaming.

You can follow our winter adventures in stereovision by also following Ian's blog.

Big boats and little boats in Brodick Bay.

As we paddled into Brodick Bay in the sunset, we were not alone. A Royal Navy type 23 frigate was exercising in the Firth. She is possibly HMS Somerset who has been involved in tracking a Russian submarine in the approaches to the Firth of Clyde.

 Next we came across two tankers. Askholmen and...

 ...Bro Deliverer. Both were waiting to go up to the terminal at Finnart on Loch Long.

 We slipped unnoticed along the hull of Bro Deliverer from stern past...

 ...midships...

...to her bow. From her anchorage it was only a short distance to the...
 

 Brodick ferry terminal. We did not have long to wait until our ferry home, MV Caledonian Isles, arrived at her berth.

It had been a fantastic winter day during which we had covered 30km and introduced another paddler, Maurice, to paddle sailing. It could not get much better, or colder...or could it?

Despite the approach of darkness and the ferry, we stopped to savour the view of the mountains.

We launched from the sands of Sannox with the hope that we might be able to paddle  sail all the way down the east coast of Arran to Brodick.

 By the time we got to Corrie the sun was setting behind the hills and as it did so...

 ...the wind dropped and wood smoke from village stoves hung in the air. The flood, north going tide can make this stretch take longer than planned and we had a ferry to catch!

For a while we paddled in the shade of the North Goatfell ridge and the temperature plummeted. From here we got a good view of the lip of the hanging valley or corrie after which the village of Corrie takes its name.

The mountains fell away as we reached Merkland Point, the northern limit of Brodick Bay and the sun reappeared for...

 ...a few precious warming minutes.
 

 As we swung round into the openness of the bay...

The soaring south ridge of Goatfell rose above the trees.

Although we needed to press on to catch the ferry it was...

 ...hard to resist the temptation to repeatedly stop, look back and savour the view of snowy mountains that had dominated our day.

Splendid, snowy, soaring scenery, serenity and successful paddle sailing to Sannox on a Sunday.

 As we approached Arran...

...the snow topped granite ridges of Glen Sannox soared higher and...

...higher above us. You could travel half way round the globe and still not find scenery to match, yet it is right here on our doorstep. It is not just the scenery that delights the eye on this crossing. On this occasion we saw porpoises and on previous crossings to Arran, we have seen common dolphins, bottlenose dolphins, minke whales and basking sharks not to mention numerous otters round the shore..

In the lee of  the Cock of Arran, Sannox Bay was like a millpond. It was hard to believe we had so much fun out in mid channel.

The winter storms had stripped a lot of the sand off the beach since our last visit but all was calm when we arrived.

We wasted no time in unpacking our things for as well deserved second luncheon and a dram of 10 year old Jura to celebrate Maurice's successful induction to the world of paddle sailing!