The pot at the end of Rainbow Rock.

The beach at Rainbow Rock is a lively place...


...the stone cobbles have been worn smooth by constant wave action.


Even the bedrock has had hollows worn away by cobbles. We looked in several of these "pots" but there was no gold at the end of this rainbow...


...just the lovely gold lichens on its rocks.

Picnic at Rainbow Rock!

Crossing Carrickahawkie Bay at 1225 we found an eddy to be running against us though inshore slack water was not due to 1253. In the last half of the ebb you will meet many counter eddies on this trip. In the distance we could see Crammag Head and ideally it would have been nice to get round before stopping for lunch. However, the stop after the Head at Portencorkie Bay is rather unpleasant. It attracts piles of rotting seaweed and garbage. It is not the sort of place for a seakayakphoto.com luncheon.


Tony and I had a plan! Just before Slew-whan Point there is an intriguing geological feature which we call Rainbow Rock.


Its real name is Broad Stone of Portdown and it has a steep cobble beach at its foot.


Landing here can be tricky but Tony and Jim provided sterling assistance in getting me out of my kayak...


...before helping the others...


...one by one.


Soon we were all safely ashore, with the kayaks above the surf.


We were now ready for our luncheon and what a spot!

Taking in a Kindram or two on the Rhinns of Galloway

Long after we left the Mull of Galloway, we were still surrounded by its "nine tides", which are woven by an old witch. As we were paddling in the last 3 hours of the ebb, we met a strong counter eddy running east from Port Kemin.


We now crossed Carrickamickie Bay and...


...entered the West Bay of Slauchmorrie.


Now we found ourselves under...


...the great rock walls...


...of the Nick of Kindram.


Talking of Kindrams, David looked like he had enjoyed one or two Kindrams the night before!

Mull of Galloway to Gallie Craig

After the excitement of the Mull of Galloway tide race, we proceeded in a westerly direction, round Carrickcarlin Point.


Far below the lighthouse, our kayaks were dwarfed by the the yellow and ochre coloured cliffs. We paddled on under the gaze of pointing tourists...


...until we disappeared from their sight in the huge Seal's Cave hidden far beneath their feet.


From the lighthouse we wended our way...


...through a series of skerries towards the pointing rock fingers of Gallie Craig.

Destination, the Mull of Galloway

The Mull of Galloway is the most southerly point in Scotland. It juts out into the strong tides that swirl round where the Solway Firth and the Irish Sea compress into the North Channel between Scotland and Ireland. It always takes longer to get there than you think. After Stranraer, the ferry port for Ireland, the roads are very narrow and slow and the final track down to East Tarbert is barely surfaced. Last Sunday, we left Ayr on the Firth of Clyde at 0800, dropped a shuttle car at Port Logan on the way and arrived at East Tarbert, 72 miles later. We were on the water by 1040. Our planned route was to tackle the 20km between East Tarbert, round the Mull of Galloway and up the west coast of the Rhinns of Galloway to Port Logan.


First we paddled east along the north side of the Mull. The current flows east here both on the flood and the ebb.


We were approaching the Mull at the end of the 3rd hour of the ebb and the current carried us towards the race with increasing velocity. This was another occasion when we crossed a sea kayaking Rubicon. We were already committed to rounding the Mull by the time we saw the lumpy water of the race on the horizon.

P&H Cetus excels as a photography platform

Last Thursday a brand, shiny new P&H Cetus demo kayak arrived at seakayakphoto towers for a long term test. Unlike previous test kayaks that I have reviewed, which have been arranged through Ocean Paddler magazine or by local dealers, this one (and its predecessor) has come direct from P&H. In case readers might be concerned about my impartiality under these circumstances, I already have 4 sea kayaks of my own so don't need a demo kayak to go paddling. It might also be worth reading what I have said about this kayak's predecessor.

P&H boats come really well wrapped and there was not a blemish on this kayak's finish. A really nice thing I noticed is that P&H have gone back to glassing in the foot track mounting screws rather than just drilling the hull, which they have done since about 2004. The decals are also a smart new raised 3D design.

The seat was fitted much lower than the last one, with shims under the cockpit rim. I had previously raised the issue of high seats with P&H and got this reply from Graham Mackereth, boss of Pyranha, the company that owns P&H:

"Doug
I'm very sorry about the seat issue -it's an obvious point that we recognised some time ago and didn't make happen.
I went out to the N.American West Coast Sea Kayak Symp 2 weeks ago and we had some there that were just too high, so as coincidence would have it I came back and issued instructions that all moulds are to be tweaked so seats are no more than 10mm between kayak floor and the lower side of the seat, that's to include the foam support, so hopefully this will get the boats paddling again as they should be. Then I got a copy of your mail, that very nicely reinforces the point.

Anyway its in hand, though I'll no doubt get some that want it higher for performance, but at least adding foam is much easier than lowering the seat.

I really appreciate the input
Graham"
It is very reassuring that P&H are taking account of user feedback in product development.
Now I am sure you are keen to hear about the skeg. This one worked faultlessly and smoothly all day, in fact it was perfect. It hasn't been exposed to fine sand yet but the last one was stiff out of the wrapper, so this is very promising.
I will post a full review of the Cetus, once I have had more time in it. However, my first impressions are that it is very comfortable and easier to get in and out of than a Quest. It has less foot room than a Quest but the 4th hatch is just so useful and a safety feature to reduce cockpit volume. It is much more manoeuvrable than a Quest and is very stable on edge. It is also very stable when not paddling e.g. when photographing or fishing. It is extremely well behaved crossing eddy lines. It is low and handles high winds well. It looks beautiful. I prefer the Quest when on long downwind legs with following swell, as the Quest is less likely to broach and is easier to maintain a fast speed. On the big surf beaches of Coll and Colonsay I prefered the Quest for surf landings. It is much less likely to broach, though the Cetus is very stable in the broached position in front of breaking surf.
In short, there is a great to like about the Cetus. However, in this post I want to concentrate on its use as a photography platform. It is quite simply the best kayak I have ever been in for photography.


This photograph was taken with £3,000 worth of non waterproof photographic kit. Although I did not take the camera out in the race itself, I have just paddled through that race with the camera in an Ortlieb Aqua Zoom camera bag on deck. In no other boat would I be confident enough to do that in a race of this magnitude.


You can see the Aqua Zoom bag on the foredeck. Photo JLW.


Despite the swell, I took photos...


...inside this cave. Photos JLW.
The P&H Cetus is a superb photography platform.

Hiding in Lunnock Cave, Mull of Galloway

Once we had made sure that Phil and David were safely round the Mull of Galloway, Tony and I thought we had better hide in Lunnock Cave for a bit, till they cooled off!

David had done incredibly well, given it had been his work Christmas Party the night before and he had not got home till 330am. Phil had done the gentlemanly thing and driven him down to the Mull. We had told David and Phil that it might get a wee bit bumpy at the point, but David wasn't really listening, as he was trying to tune his radio into Radio 2. Apparently, he did not hear me shouting to keep close into the rocks and Phil thought the waves at the rocks were clapotis to keep well clear of. So David and Phil spent a little longer in the race than might be prudent.

The first few waves broke right over him and David said later that he never wished to wake up from a hangover that way again! The third wave imploded his spray deck and filled his cockpit with water but full of stoic, he paddled on till eventually, he and Phil broke out of the race.

This was all incredibly entertaining for the rest of us. Jim rafted up to pump David's boat out, as he regained his composure and Tony and I thought we had better retreat to the cave, where our laughter might be more discrete.


Jennifer soon found our hidey hole...


...as the race roared by at 7 knots.