To Arran via Ailsa Craig

We had originally intended going to Colonsay last Friday night but the easterly winds were up to 35 knots. The forecast for the Clyde on Saturday was for force 3 easterly and on Sunday force 3 southerly so we thought we would go on a little 42km trip to Arran via Ailsa Craig. We met at Lendalfoot on the south Ayrshire coast.


Of course the forecast wasn't quite right and we had a fresh northerly on Saturday. At nearby Campbeltown airport it got up to 19 knots. It made for a bumpy crossing and I thought that we would need to abandon our attempt on Arran. You can see from our track to Ailsa Craig where we got blown down wind on two occasions when the wind really got up.


Instead, we decided to paddle round the Craig. On the sheltered southerly side we had amazing views...


... of thousands and thousands of nesting gannets and....


... amazing rock architecture like here at Stranny Point.

18/04/2009

On location Arran

David is quite tired out by his exertions and we still have 10km to go... 19/04/2009

On location in Arran

Yesterday paddled 40km across from Ayrshire via Ailsa Craig and Pladda. David holed double on Ailsa last 20km with flooded centre hatch. Arrived in dark! 19/04/2009

In search of the Nith bore!

Easter Monday dawned fair over Fleet Bay in the Solway Firth.


Time for an adventure! I drove to Southerness where I met Mike and left a car before driving on to Dumfries. The farm land round Southerness plays host to thousands of overwintering barnacle geese from Svalbard archipelago, high above the Arctic Circle.


We were off in search of the Nith bore. The Nith is one of the few rivers in the world to have a tidal bore. As you can see in the aerial photo, a funnel shaped estuary concentrates and accelerates the incoming tide into a narrow river mouth. High tide at Hestan Island (further west on the Solway Firth) was at 14:47 BST and I reckoned that the bore would arrive in the narrow section of river mouth near Glencaple about 2 hours before this.



This photo was taken by Dr Werner Kissling in 1958. He describes it thus "At Glencaple, close to the mouth of the river Nith, on the north shore of the Solway the flood tide, under certain conditions, comes in as a bore which may move at a rate of five knots, or even more."


We couldn't wait!

13/04/2009

En route to Bute, in the mist.

After our recent crossing from Loch Ranza on Arran back to Portavadie on the mainland, we thought it only decent to paddle back across to Arran. Our choice of route was from Portencross (to the NW of Ardrossan) over to Little Cumbrae then across to Bute, then across the Sound of Bute to Sannox on Arran and finally down the east coast of Arran to Brodick. The ferry would then take us back to Ardrossan where we had left a shuttle car.


There was not a breath of wind when we left and we were half way across Fairlie Roads before Little Cumbrae loomed out of the mist. We kept a sharp ear open as we crossed the shipping channel as some of the biggest bulk carriers in the world frequent these waters.


At gull point all the gulls were roosting with their heads under their wings. Perhaps they had heard about the forecast for a force 5 westerly by lunchtime!


We made our way up the SW coast of Little Cumbrae before heading off on a compass bearing for our next destination, the as yet unseen island of Bute. Just as we were about to cross the shipping lane the thudding of a heavy engine announced the arrival of a bulk carrier which was making her way up the Clyde. We were pleased to let her pass.


Our landfall on Bute was at the cobble beach of Port Leithne where we enjoyed a first luncheon. Of Arran, our destination, there was as yet no sign!

21/03/2009

A Fyne cetacean sunset

We made our way steadily up Loch Fyne as the sun was setting. We could not resist stopping at this little shingle beach which was guarded by a ring of boulders.


Setting off once more, we were accompanied by a school of porpoises as we paddled up Loch Fyne. We knew we would not see the dolphins again that night as porpoises keep well clear of them.


As the day day slipped away...


...the sky and the sea turned to gold.


By this time the wind had died completely and...


...only our wakes disturbed the surface of the sea.


Even the courting eider ducks and oyster catchers fell silent and the only sound was the dripping of our paddles.


The embers of the wonderful day that been finally died away in the west and we finished our journey in darkness.

What a day!

19/03/2009

Alan's sunset view of Bute!

Alan, a recent addition to seakayakphoto.com team, as just sent this photo by MMS into Seakayakphoto Towers. He was disappointed not to be able to join our recent windy sortie to the Little Cumbrae at the weekend so he has headed off on a solo trip today and is camping on the Little Cumbrae tonight. He originally planned to go round Bute in two days but has changed his plans due to increasing swell. He is currently on the beach enjoying a whisky by the camp fire. I hope my text with tomorrow's forecast of force 6 southerly doesn't spoil the enjoyment of the moment.

His photo shows the south end of Bute with Arran and Kintyre in the distance.

Updated 09/04/2009:
Alan is now spending a second storm bound night on Little Cumbrae. Today ferry traffic on the Clyde was severely disrupted by winds of up to 37knots. Hopefully the wind will drop tomorow.