Taking photos at sea ...two

You need to get right in close where the action is...

Taking photos at sea......

Taking photos in even small waves can be tricky.


Edited 18/12/06: Derrick said "ok but where's that underwater shot from when you missed your brace trying to hold on to the camera??"





Taking photos at sea......can be tricky. I rest my case.

Easdale islander initiative

The little island of Easdale (which I recently described ) has been cut off from its larger neighbour, the island of Seil for nearly a week. Winter storms have shifted the slate spoil at the mouth of its sheltered harbour. The open passenger ferry boat has been unable to access its jetty and islanders have been stranded on the mainland and schoolchildren have been unable to get to school. The local council were not making very fast progress to dredge the harbour but The Herald reports a story of great island initiative. Islander Mike Mackenzie bought a 12 ton JCB excavator on the mainland and had it shipped to Easdale on a landing craft. He then spent 36 hours excavating the harbour mouth himself and restored the islanders' ferry link. Wonderful!



Easdale has 60 permanent residents and 13 of these are children of school age or younger. The island is car free and the passenger ferry takes just 5 minutes to cross to Seil.



The harbour was built in the 18th century and its beautifully constructed walls are now protected by an architectural "B" listing. There is a great deal of interesting industrial architecture and heritage on Seil as it was once a centre for slate mining.



It is easy to kayak through the narrow harbour mouth and explore the sheltered jetties and inlets within.



The little harbour is dominated by the bulk of Dun Mor on Seil and by the initiative of the islanders.

Torridonian Giants and Dwarves.

I mentioned Torridonian old red sandstone in a recent post on Rum. Here it is in situ in Loch Shieldaig which is an arm of Loch Torridon. The distant sunlit peaks are the sand stone giants, Beinn Alligin and Liathach. The little tree capped Sgeirean Mora is dwarfed by the giants but like them it is made of old red sandstone and stands in splendid isolation. The peace was only disturbed by a mother otter playing with her cub in the kelp.

Cardoness Chapel

This is the peaceful view from Cardoness Chapel which is tucked away amongst sessile oaks on the tidal Fleet estuary on the Solway. It was built in the late 18th century by the laird of Cardoness for his wife as a place of prayer and quiet contemplation. The chapel is one of the smallest in Scotland. It is never locked and when the tide is in you can sea kayak right up to the lovely sandy cove at its feet. At low water springs the tide retreats almost 3 kilometers over the Solway sands.



I will be talking about Fleet Bay in a future podcast on Simon Willis's site. The Solway is a much neglected part of Scotland's coastline but it is full of surprises. At the moment it is coming up to the end of University term and at the hospital lots of people are wanting to be seen before Christmas. In a word, my life is frantic at this time of year. I find the view from the Chapel window helps to restore tranquility.

Odd one out at Belnahua.

Summer 2006 was a prolific year for jellyfish on Scotand's west coast. Some say it is due to global warming, some that it is a result of overfishing. However, giant swarms have always appeared; they drift north feeding on plankton. I have never been able to understand their life cycle. How do they or their polyp offspring get back south again?

In a swarm of thousands of cyanea lamarckii (the blue jelly fish) I spotted this solitary yellow one at Belnahua. Jellyfish reproduce sexually and it is likely to be an albino, caused by inheriting two rare recessive mutations, one from each parent. Albinos are seen in many lifeforms.



Looking south from Belnahua in the Sound of Luing to the mountains of Scarba.

Jura: writers and stones

It has just been announced that the British writer Will Self will be the first writer in residence at the restored Craighouse Lodge near the Jura whisky distillery. He is following in the footsteps of George Orwell who sought the solitude of Jura to write "1984" in the remote farmhouse of Barnhill in the north east of the island.




Sea kayakers are also drawn to Jura. Its famous Paps guide their crossing of the Sound of Jura. The tides can be taken advantage of and a day trip is possible.



We launched at Carsaig Bay on the mainland and landed here at Tarbert Bay on Jura's east coast. Just behind the beach is a solitary, lichen covered standing stone of great antiquity. Some standing stones might have been connected with astronomy, others with religion or sacrifice. Possibly this one was simply a meeting place. Long before the written word, our ancestors were communicating with each other round stones like these. Unfortunately their oral tradition has long been lost.

With all our technology, is it likely our blogs will generate discussion in thousands of years? I think not, our enjoyable electronic chatter is far too ephemeral. Will 1984 still be read? If it is, will its meaning be understood, so far removed from the troubled times it was written in? I wish Will Self well in his endeavours. He may find inspiration at Tarbet Bay beside the stone of our ancestors. We might not know what its message means but it has transcended 4,000 years.

PS I can thoroughly recommend the 25 year old Jura malt.