56.9 degrees North, the coral sands and the green lagoon of Arisaig.

We now entered the calm water inside the Arisaig skerries. The flood tide was now pushing us in augmenting the pull of the sails.

We decided to stop for third luncheon on a little tidal beach of coral sand on Eilean an Fhraoich Beag, which had a view over...

 ...the lagoon to Luinga Mhor.

The coral is made up of the  bleached skeletons of the red algae, Lithothamnium calcareum.

It did not take long to get the stoves and flasks out.

 Then we were off  again, threading through the maze of skerries and the...

...crystal clear, green waters of the Arisaig lagoon.

A cold, grey winter day round the Arisaig skerries.

After hugging the Arisaig shore to get out of the cold SE wind we  paddled out round...

...Eilean Ighe before...

...crossing the North Channel of Loch Nan Ceall. We passed Fraoch Geal (White Heather) CY67 as she was lifting her pots.

We now entered the maze of the Arisaig skerries and promptly stopped on a white shell sand beach on Luinga Beag for a quick second luncheon before paddling on...

...past basking seals towards the...

...open sea through a narrow channel on Luinga Mhor.

We now enjoyed a bouncy ride round the outside of Luinga Mhor. The 5D mk3 stayed firmly in its bag! The extreme wide angle of the GoPro camera tends to flatten the sea. Fortunately Ian (in the kayak behind me) managed to...

Photo by Ian Johnstone

...get this shot which gives a better idea of the conditions!

Luncheon with Local Hero at Camasdarach.

On leaving Morar Bay, we turned south into the Sea of the Hebrides. We passed more white sand beaches but diverted seaward round the black line of Rubh' an Achaid Mhoir which...

 ...we rounded then turned in to the magnificent beach...

 ...at Camasdarach which is backed by some high sand dunes. This beach featured in the film "Local Hero".

As it was spring low water we had plenty of opportunity to explore kelp gardens...

 ...on our way to our first stop at Portnaluchaig.

 We walked over the sands to...

 ...the shelter of some rocks as the  wind was already increasing from the south.

 After our luncheon we left Portnaluchaig and entered another maze of skerries.

Two herring gulls were eating something that was bright red and still wriggling. At the time I thought it was a red gurnard but now I am not so sure.

The bar at Morar was not dry.

Morar Bay is famous for its dazzling silvery white sands but it was a rather grey...

...day and, together with noise from the road, the train, a chain saw and...

...even a passing Hercules, I was concerned that Ian and Mike might not get the best impression of this beautiful spot.

So as we passed one of the stunning beaches on its north shore I described to them what it was like when the sun shone. This was on a previous trip and I enjoyed wonderful views to the Small Isles of Eigg and Rum (Canna is just visible to the left of Eigg) across the dazzling sands and turquoise water.

As the current carried us down between the sand banks the sounds of civilisation faded away leaving only the calls of the many wading birds. The mournful call of the curlew contrasted with the pip of the oystercatchers.

The ebb was running strongly at the shallow bar across the mouth of the bay where it met the incoming wind it created some standing waves. Normally at this point you would be captivated by the outline of Eigg on the horizon (just visible through the mist) but this time we concentrated on...

Photo by Ian Johnstone

...having fun in the small waves. We certainly got our faces wet on Morar bar.

A fall too far at Morar.

With an extra day to spend in the Arisaig area it seemed natural to spend it in the Arisaig skerries but how best to get there? We could launch from our overnight accommodation at the Glenuig Inn  and cross the Sound of Arisaig but we paddled half way across the Sound of Arisaig in our attempt to view the eclipse of the sun. Then I discovered that Ian and Mike had never paddled in the estuary of the River Morar surrounded by its famous silver sands. Plan made! We would launch at Morar paddle south to the Arisaig skerries then take advantage of a forecast increasing southerly to paddle sail back.

The River Morar is only 800m long but it drains Loch Morar the 5th largest loch in Scotland and with a maximum depth of 310m it is the deepest body of fresh water in the British Isles. It is actually deeper than the Atlantic continental shelf! Like Loch Shiel, it was a sea water loch after the Ice Age but as the land has risen, the glacial shelf at the mouth of the loch (where the glacier melted as it reached the sea) has risen and it has been fresh for thousands of years. From the loch, the river  falls 10.1m to the sea. Technically it would have been possible to launch into the river and run the falls but we did not much like the zigzag nature of the rapid, nor the big volume of water in it , nor the somewhat frightening noise it was making. So we launched from a lay-by on the south side of the estuary head. If it is busy you can drop the boats here and park a short way away up the hill overlooking the estuary. First we paddled under the new road bridge that carries the bypass round the village of Morar.

We launch we had a stiff paddle against the current and up a considerable slope to the final rapid which is crossed by the old road bridge and the large arches of the railway bridge. The railway from Fort William was built in 1901 to carry fresh fish from the fishing port of Mallaig (which at one time was one of the biggest herring ports in the UK) to London.

White water kayakers might consider this rapid rather good sport but...

 ...for us, one look from the bottom was enough, it looked even worse than the falls on the river Shiel. so...

 ...we turned tail and drifted leisurely downstream...

 ...on the nicely sloping water that had caused us much sweat just moments before.

We were soon back at the silver sands of our launch point. This old dive boat wasn't going anywhere but we were bound for the Arisaig skerries!

For the full sea kayaking stereovision experience, you can also read Ian's account starting here.

The finishing bell at the end of the round, in Loch Ailort.

Beyond the narrows in Loch Ailort we paddled directly below the steep slopes of Roshven (Rois-Bheinn 878m). The clouds had started to gather again and the wind became increasingly gusty culminating...

 ...in some heavy downpours...

 ...that swept through the wild Highland landscape of the loch before...

 

...the wind died away and...

 ...the mountain sides were dappled by an occasional blink of sun. Despite it being well past local low water, the tide was still ebbing strongly through the Eilean Dubh islands.

At last the public slipway and pier at the head of Loch Ailort came into view. Our near complete circumnavigation of the lands of Moidard was nearly over but there was a final sting in the tail...

 ...It was spring low water on one of the biggest tides of the year. The slipway was high and dry so we...

 ...had to manhandle the boats up onto the slip.

Then it was with some sadness that we unpacked our things after a fantastic winter trip and ran the shuttle. For those contemplating a similar trip it is only a 16km shuttle from Inverailort to Glenfinnan. If you only have one car you can even get the train from Lochailort to Glenfinnan!

It had taken just 46 hours to paddle the 64 kilometres from Glenfinnan to Inverailort through some of the most dramatic and historic Highland scenery. We had paddled on fresh water and salt water and had even dragged our kayaks one kilometre over land. We had camped under the stars and stayed in the excellent Glenuig Inn. We had even rung the thousand year old St Finan's Bell! To cap all that we had enjoyed excellent company. You can read Ian's account of our trip which ends here.

BUT our trip was not over yet, we had decided to stay for two nights at the Glenuig Inn! We had another day to spend in this wonderful area...

Paddle sailing wind over tide in Loch Ailort.

After our eclipse luncheon it was time to set off on the last leg of our journey round the lands of Moidart. Ian did a much better job of launching than I did, I filled mine up with water. Unfortunately for Ian he got his sail tangled and I managed to get my boat pumped out while he made a brief stop in the next bay to sort it out.

 It was really worth having the sails because it was one of the biggest spring tides of the year (eclipse might have had something to do with that!) and the ebb was pouring out of Loch Ailort like a river.

 Fortunately we got some respite from the tide in the bays and...

 ...made good time past Peanmeanach bothy but

...as the mountains closed in and the loch narrowed, the tide increased again.

 We noticed some nice active water so decided to pass on the outside of...

Photo by Ian Johnston

...Eilean a Bhuic to make the most of it. Once we were past...

the island, the view back across the wind over tide waves was really rather fine!