Lions, geology and elves.

At the south east corner of the island of Great Cumbrae, in the Firth of Clyde, there is a peculiar rock formation (mimetolith) known as Lion Rock. It is composed of a very hard and fine-grained type of basalt only found on the island and is known as cumbraite. It is a volcanic dyke that dates from the relatively recent Eocene period. The dyke reappears on the other side of the Fairlie Roads near Hunterston power station. The deep water channel in the Fairlie Roads, which allows huge ore carriers access close to the shore, was cut by glaciers in the Ice Ages.

Of course the locals do not believe a word of this. Apparently the Lion was made by the bad elves. Elves are not known for their good sense and apparently they are terrified of lions. To this day, no elves can be found on the east side of Great Cumbrae though, if you know where to look, they are still quite populous on the west side.

12/01/2008

Wonderful winter light on Fairlie Roads

The sun rises through the mist on the Fairlie hills.


Crossing Fairlie Roads to Great Cumbrae.


Hunterston B nuclear powerstation steams gently in the sunrise.


Fairlie Roads.


Portencross Castle stands on the end of the distant headland.

12/01/2008

Of pencils, blossoms and atoms.

Saturday dawned fine behind the priapic pencil of Largs. A small ridge of high pressure intervened between two massive low pressure systems to give us a small weather window for a 30 km paddle on the Firth of Clyde.


We set off just as banks of fog were lifting. It started very cold but warmed as the day progressed. I suffered a very heavy fall when I slipped on ice just outside my front door.


We set off from the industry of the Ayrshire coast. The Panamanian bulk carrier, Lotus Blossom, was unloading the last of her cargo at the Hunterston ore terminal. In the background the twin magnox reactor towers of Hunterston A nuclear power station have produced no electricity since 1990. They generated electricity for 25 years but their decommissioning will take much longer than that.

12/01/2008

Nuclear winter

Yesterday on a cold January day Billy, Tony and I went for a little 30km paddle over to the island of Bute. You would think we would have had the place pretty much to ourselves but this Royal Navy Vanguard class nuclear (powered and armed) submarine was making its way home to Faslane on the upper Clyde. By the look of her paintwork, she had been on a long World cruise and I am sure that the families of her crew will be overjoyed by her return.


Having not crossed the bows one of these particular vessels before, we were unsure of protocol. Should we stop and let her past? Should we dip our Red Ensigns? Should we welcome her home by the firing of flares? Should we call out greetings on Channel 16 followed by a chorus of "Rule Britannia"? Should we ask "What ship are you?" (She could be the Vanguard, Vigilant, Victorious or Vengeance but boats like these do not have name plates.) Should we attempt to surf her bow wave?


Having left our maritime protocol books ashore, we decided to stop and let her past.

12/01/2008

Sea Kayaking Desktop Calendar December 2008

Soft winter sun on Ayrshire's remote and lonely Atlantic coast.

If you would like to download the December desktop, it is available in sizes of 1920x1200, 1280x1024, 1024x768 and 800x600.

For best results, do not use the photos from this blogger site but visit the Scottish Sea Kayaking Photo Gallery and click on the size of your desk top. Most visitors to this site use 1280x1024 or 1024x768. You can check your desktop size by right clicking anywhere on it then left click properties then left click settings.

Well that brings the 2008 calendar to a close. This year, six of the photos were taken in my home waters; the Firth of Clyde. The 2005 calendar had one Clyde photo, the 2006 had one and the 2007 none. I have made a concious effort to do my bit for the environment by consuming less energy in getting to sea kayaking trips :o). Sometimes it is easy to overlook what is close to home, today we paddled over 30 km from a launch site less than 1 hour's drive from Glasgow. We visited 3 islands and saw a huge bulk carrier's coal cargo being unloaded, two nuclear powered stations (one decommissioning, a wind farm, an oil fired power station (mothballed), snowy mountains, eider duck, two ancient castles, a tide race, a Fleet Auxiliary vessel and finally a Vanguard class nuclear submarine returning to its base from a World cruise!

Sea Kayaking Desktop Calendar November 2008

Winter sunset behind Ailsa Craig, Firth of Clyde.

If you would like to download the November desktop, it is available in sizes of 1920x1200, 1280x1024, 1024x768 and 800x600.

For best results, do not use the photos from this blogger site but visit the Scottish Sea Kayaking Photo Gallery and click on the size of your desk top. Most visitors to this site use 1280x1024 or 1024x768. You can check your desktop size by right clicking anywhere on it then left click properties then left click settings.

December to follow....

Sea Kayaking Desktop Calendar October 2008

Stormy autumnal skies over Huisinis, Isle of Harris.

If you would like to download the October desktop, it is available in sizes of 1920x1200, 1280x1024, 1024x768 and 800x600.

For best results, do not use the photos from this blogger site but visit the Scottish Sea Kayaking Photo Gallery and click on the size of your desk top. Most visitors to this site use 1280x1024 or 1024x768. You can check your desktop size by right clicking anywhere on it then left click properties then left click settings.

Other months to follow....