A nine metre tide in Little Ross Sound

This last weekend saw 9.1m spring tides in the Solway so Tony and I drove down to Dhoon shore on Kirkcudbright Bay in the Solway. The Valley Nordkapp RM was dwarfed by the Rockpool Menai 18.


The ebb tide began to pick up as we approached Little Ross Island. Tony enjoyed the Menai 18.


We ferry glided across to the island for a spot of lunch. The Little Ross light was built by Alan Stevenson in 1843. The light flashes white every 5 seconds. In 1960 there were two keepers on the island and one murdered the other. (Thanks to Andy for the link.)


After lunch we swapped boats and went for a play in the tide race in Little Ross Sound.

29/09/2007

Holy Island of the fifth precept.

The sharp thinkers among you might wonder what on Earth thirsty kayakers like Tony and I got up to on the Holy Island of the fifth precept....


We ascended to a higher plane.

Fair wind for crossing Whiting Bay.

After leaving Dippen Head we rounded Largybeg Point.


We then had the magnificent prospect of Whiting Bay backed by distant Goatfell and, nearer to hand, the dark outline of our next destination, Holy Island. We were headed for the inner lighthouse on Holy Island. It was built in 1877 by David and Thomas Stevenson. With a force 4 wind and the tide behind us our speed was usually between 8 and 10 km/hr. Perfect paddling conditions!

Dippen Head, Arran

Leaving Kildonan we headed NE to Dippen Head. A raised beach runs round almost all of Arran.


At Dippen Head Tertiary basalt cliffs are broken by a waterfall and clothed by a beautiful, mixed deciduous woodland. Peregrine falcons swoop on their prey from ledges hidden by the tops of the trees. There is an ancient fort at Dippen. The centuries have eroded it so that it is all but indistinguishable from the surrounding rocks.

17/08/07

Ocean Paddler magazine #3

Oh look! We're in this one!

Ocean Paddler Issue 3 will soon arrive....

070817

Tha pathadh searb orm!

Paddling round Pladda was hard work. The staff of seakayakphoto.com are not hardened athletes, with the stamina for great ocean crossings or circumnavigations of continents. Tony and I are exponents of the gentler activity of "sea kayaking lite". It was now 1210 and I had been up since 4am to drive 85 miles from the Solway to Ardrossan to catch the 7am ferry to Arran.

I was feeling a bit tired. On the ferry I had intended to breakfast on porridge but the chap in front of me was cyclist with not a hint of excess flesh to strain his Lycra. He ordered porridge. I thought to myself, I am not a cyclist, I am a hardened sea kayaker! Sea kayakers eat big breakfasts, so I ordered the full trucker's special, all 4,500 calories of it.

I was just thinking that a little rest might be a good idea when all of a sudden Tony cried "Tha pathadh searb orm!" That took my mind off my black pudding which was still somewhere high above my diaphragm. I knew things must be pretty serious. Tony has little of the Gaelic and its use is limited to situations in extremis.


Seconds later we found ourselves ashore by the prominent white building, which we had been using as a transit mark to cross the seething tides of the Sound of Pladda.


No one could have been more surprised than we two, to discover it was the Kildonan Hotel, complete with pub and sea food restaurant. Our paddling wear proved no barrier to admission. The efficient and polite East European staff not only poured our pints of ice cold Guinness but invited us to be seated till the heads had settled. They then carried our refreshments to the table after the glasses had been topped up to the brim.


The hotel has recently been refurbished. The formal restaurant is within the modern timber and glass extension at the front of the hotel and is named "The Stone Garden" after this part of the hotel grounds.

Oh, in case you have less of the Gaelic than either Tony or myself, "Tha pathadh searb orm!" may be loosely translated as: "There is a bitter thirst on me!"

Health warning: in the UK, bags of peanuts now carry this message: "Warning this product may contain nuts." In the same vein, be warned that the consumption of alcohol while sea kayaking may seriously risk your own and others' well being and safety.

17/08/07

Of lighthouses and family trees.

Pladda lighthouse has two towers. It was built in the days before lighthouses had flashing lights to aid their identification. Its two towers helped to make it stand out from the other great lights at the mouth of the Firth of Clyde.


After leaving Bennan Head we turned eastwards again towards the little isle of Pladda which lies off the southern tip of Arran. It is often cut off from its larger neighbour by the strong tides and winds which accelerate round this corner of Arran. We were carried round the island by this race on its southern tip, below the lighthouse.


The light was built in 1790 by Thomas Smith. His apprentice was his stepson, Robert Stevenson, who also became his son in law. Robertson Stevenson was to be the first of a dynasty of seven Stevenson lighthouse engineers. An eighth male descendant was Robert Louis Stevenson, the author. RL Stevenson started training as an engineer but was forced to give up due to ill health.


The Pladda light is white and has three flashes every 30s.


From the south of Pladda you can see volcanic plug of Ailsa Craig on the horizon. Its lighthouse was built nearly 100 years later, in 1886, by Robert's son Thomas Stevenson and Thomas's nephew David A Stevenson. That's quite a family tree, you might need to be a geneticist to understand it.

17/08/07