I have been posting little snippets of various trips concurrently. For those who would like to follow the thread of a single trip, I hope this index will be useful.
Less is more round Lismore!
27/12/08
What a carry on round the Mull!
15/12/08 The Mull of Galloway
Another West coast sunset! Firth of Clyde
14/12/08 Bute from Portencross,
Dunure from Maidens, Firth of Clyde
06/12/08
The Four Castles of Carrick, Firth of Clyde.
02/11/08 Turnberry to Ayr
The River Fleet from Fleet Bay
17/10/08
Loch nan Ceall and the Sound of Arisaig
13/09/08
14/09/08
To the Corryvreckan
30/08/08 Seil to Scarba via the Corryvreckan
31/08/08 Scarba to Seil via the Grey Dogs and the Cuan Sound
The Mull of Kintyre
26/07/08 Macrihanish to Sanda via the Mull
27/07/08 Sanda to Davaar Island
To Islay
12/07/08 Claggain Bay
13/07/08 Traigh Bhan
14/07/08 An Claddach
15/07/08 Port Askaig
To St Kilda
30/05/08 Loch Roag
31/05/08 Taransay
01/06/08 Monach Islands
02/06/08 Hirta and Dun
03/06/08 am Village Bay, Hirta
03/06/08 pm Boreray and the stacks
04/06/08 Loch Reasort to Scarp
05/06/08 Pabaigh Mor and Bhacsaigh
To the Garvellachs
10/05/08 Seil to the Grey Dogs via the Corryvreckan
11/05/08 Grey Dogs to the Garvellachs and Seil
Lady Isle
08/05/08 A busy night at Troon
Ailsa Craig
05/05/08 Gannets and granite
Fleet Bay
02/05/08 Solway sunshine
A misty Firth of Clyde
27/04/08 Maidens to Ayr
Arran
18/03/08 Portencross to Brodick via the Wee Cumbrae, Bute and Glen Sannox
Mull of Galloway
17/02/08 Ardwell Bay to East Tarbet
Dorus Mor
12/02/08 Craignish through the Dorus Mor to Crinan and Loch Craignish then back through the Dorus Mor as the sun set.
The four maritime castles of Carrick
20/01/08 Turnberry to Ayr.
The Cumbraes and Bute
12/01/2008 A day trip in the Clyde from Largs
Monday, September 08, 2008
The west coast of Hirta in the St. Kilda Archipelago
We emerged from the threatening darkness of the Hirta/Soay gap and made our way south down the west coast of Hirta.
Looking back to the north, Soay was still wreathed in its cap of cloud.
The cliffs on this side of Hirta were no less impressive than on its north side.
From the summit of Mullach Bi (358m) the great headland of Carn Mor plunges into the sea.As we approached we thought we could see light coming through what appeared to be a cave.
It turned out to be a long tunnel which made its way right through the headland from the west to the south coast of Hirta. It is called Geo Creag an Arpaid and we were lucky enough to be there when it was calm enough to paddle right through!
02/06/2008
Sunday, September 07, 2008
Fair Guirasdeal
From most angles it looks like Guirasdeal is impossible to land on but there is one chink in its armour through which we made our way to this stony beach below its rocky tower.
There are no sheep on Guirasdeal so we found this meadow of delightful wildflowers.
From the top, looking SE we caught sight of the Grey dogs tide race between Lunga and Scarba.
Turning to the SW we saw distant Jura beyond Scarba. The Great Race of the Corryvreckan lies between.
To the north we had a wonderful panorama of the Slate Islands.
We set off for the Grey Dogs as dark clouds closed in cutting off the only blink of sun we were to see that day.
30/08/2008
Thursday, September 04, 2008
By Lunga to Guirasdeal
From Fladda we headed for Rubha Fiola, a tidal islet at the north end of Lunga. This is at slack water. On the full ebb you can find a swirling whirlpool here.
We then followed the west coast of Lunga. The summit of distant Scarba was lost in glowering clouds.
At last, after battling into the wind, we caught sight of our next destination; the fair isle of Guirasdeal.
Guirasdeal is one of the smallest of the Slate Islands but its rocky little summit is 32m high and makes one of the finest viewpoints in the area. Not only that, it was time for lunch!
30/08/2008
Wednesday, September 03, 2008
Fladda lighthouse
Fladda is one of the Slate Islands in the Sound of Luing. It is a considerable hazard to navigation as it sits right in the middle of the fairway and is surrounded by swirling tides.
The lighthouse was built by David and Thomas Stevenson in 1860. The light flashes every 9 seconds. To the east the light flashes white but is unlit to the west.
30/08/2008
Tuesday, September 02, 2008
Hot Dogs in the Grey Dogs
Before we ventured near the Gulf of Corryvreckan, Tony and I thought we had better go for a warm up in the gentler waters of the Grey Dogs at the north end of Scarba. To ensure most benefit of this exercise, we timed our arrival for full spring flood conditions. It has to be said that we were not disappointed. There were a few standing waves in the fairway of the Grey Dogs.
We had been here before but we were quite impressed by the size of the waves in the race. We were headed for the west coast of Scarba which is round the headland on the right, on the far side of the wave train.
Our GPS track of the weekend shows some exploration of the various tidal bits of this most interesting area, the Sound of Luing, the Cuan Sound, the Grey Dogs and of course the Daddy of them all, the Great Gulf of Corryvreckan.
30/08/2008
Sunday, August 31, 2008
The bittersweet taste of salt and adrenaline.
We went for a pleasant bimble round the coast at the weekend.
Salt and adrenaline is a heady and addictive mixture.
30/08/2008