The forests of Loch Fyne.

From Kenmore south to Furnace we entered a wild paradise, a quite exceptional coast to explore by sea kayak.


Steep rocks plunged into the deep waters of Loch Fyne.


These rocks had been smoothed by the glacier that had created Loch Fyne, the longest sea loch in Britain.


Round every corner there were new vistas...


...which brought smiles to our faces. On the far side of the loch great swathes of commercial forest plantation have recently been harvested and transported by sea to Troon.


We had never seen such an abundance of mussels.


Great trees grew right beside the sea and ...


...their boughs stretched out over us, giving temporary shade from the sun.


This verdant coast line is not seen from a passing car and we relished it...


...particularly the maritime sessile oaks...


...until all too soon the trees petered out leaving a bare rocky peninsula announcing our imminent arrival at the village of Furnace. This was named after an iron furnace which was established here in 1755 taking advantage of the abundance of trees that could be used to make the charcoal for the smelting process. The furnace closed in 1813 but was replaced in 1841 by a powder works which also used charcoal from the trees to make gunpowder. This factory came to a very sudden end in 1883. Also in 1841, a granite quarry opened, which supplied cobbles for the streets of Glasgow. The quarry is still in production today.

I am pleasantly surprised that there are any natural trees left.

The Mountain Minstrel of Loch Fyne!

We stuck to the west shore of Loch Fyne and David whistled some wind up.


The Flat Earth kayak sails strained to the wind and our ears also strained as...


...David burst into spontaneous song, which echoed round the hills!


Near the settlement of Kenmore we came across a monument standing on the rocks that form the shore here.


It is to commemorate local Gaelic poet, Evan McColl, who was born here at Kenmore in 1808. He died in 1898 and this monument was unveiled in 1930 by the Duke of Argyll. He was the author of "Clarsach nam Beann" - the Mountain Minstrel.

So is David is the modern day mountain minstrel?

Indecision on Loch Fyne...

Ftom Inveraray we set off down the west side of Loch Fyne.


Despite its size, Loch Fyne is seldom paddled. Many sea kayakers drive for some way along its shores on their way to the west coast of Argyll and never think of stopping....


...perhaps because they think they can see it all from the road. Nothing could be further from the truth. Between Dalchenna and Furnace there is only a track by the western shore and the tree covered hillsides tumble right down to the shore.


We decided to take a break at a little spit of land with a view back up the loch...


...towards distant Inveraray and the mountains beyond.


We enjoyed a fine luncheon of humous on oatcakes and stilton cheese on Latvian rye bread...


...while trying to decide when to cross to the far shore, where we had left the shuttle cars.

A gelati and a free crossing to Inveraray for peasants, the blind and pilgrims.

Leaving Inveraray Castle, we drifted down the River Aray and reentered the sea at Loch Shira, a side arm of Loch Fyne. Loch Fyne is a deep indentation of the Firth of Clyde which stretches 137km into the mountains of Argyll from the mouth of the Firth. The delightful town of Inveraray was a planned town built by the 3rd Duke of Argyll in the latter half of the 18th century.


For the first couple of centuries much of Inveraray's communication and transport depended on the sea. There is a maritime museum based at the town's pier.


We paddled towards two of the ships that are current exhibits. In years gone by the pier would have been several thick with Loch Fyne skiffs, which were used to catch herring which were at one time plentiful in the Clyde. My great, great grandfather's brother was a herring fisherman on Loch Fyne but he drowned when his skiff sank in a storm with the loss of all hands. The bodies were never recovered.


This three masted schooner was built in Dublin in 1910 as a lightship called the LV Penguin. She was converted to a sail training ship in 1966 and renamed the Arctic Penguin. She has been at Inveraray since 1995. The smaller ship is the last of the Clyde puffers, the VIC 72 built in 1944. She has been renamed the Vital Spark after the Neil Munro novels about Para Handy, a puffer captain. Her original name was Eilean Easdale and she operated between Ayr harbour and the Isle of Easdale through the Crinan canal. VIC stands for Victualling Inshore Craft. These were designed to go through the Crinan canal and so had to be less than 67 feet long. They had flat bottoms so that they could be beached at communities without a harbour and unloaded when the tide went out.


We now paddled round to the south side of Inveraray's pier and saw another of the town's museums. The solid looking building at the left of this photo is Inveraray courthouse and jail.


It was built in 1820 but closed as a jail in 1889. The courthouse remained in occasional use until 1954 when the Sheriff Court moved to Dunoon. Inveraray's importance to Argyll had declined with the fishing fleet and better road links to other centres.


We decided to land to the south of the pier. We walked up to West Main Street and Mr Pia's ice cream parlour where we purchased some gelati, which we consumed upon the shore of Inveraray.


We looked over Loch Fyne to St Catherine's, whence we had come. There was a regular ferry between the two towns from 1680 until 1963. The steam ship pioneer David Napier put the SS Argyle on the route in 1856. The ferry's charter stated that it should provide free crossing for "peasants, the blind and pilgrims".

The lawns of Inveraray Castle.

It was not long until we had launched on Loch Fyne. The head of the loch is surrounded by the mountains of Argyll.


I had lent David my Quest LV as he was keen to try my new Flat Earth kayak sail.


We spotted the 16th century home of the MacNaughton clan, Dunderave Castle, on the far side of the loch...


... but we were heading to the south and the entrance to Loch Shira which is marked by this enormous Royal Navy mooring buoy. The loch is about 80m deep here so fairly big ships can tie up.


On the NW shore of Loch Shira we spotted Inveraray castle, the family seat of the Duke of Argyll, the chief of the Campbell clan. Inveraray means the mouth of the river Aray. Unlike the grim tower of Dunderave, the present castle was built as a grand residence between 1720 and 1789. It is a mixture of Baroque, Palladian and Gothic styles.


It was spring high water...


...so we decided to paddle up the river...


...and pay our respects at the Duke's front lawn...


...after which we drifted back downstream and under the road bridge to Inveraray town.

Seakayaking desktop wallpaper calendar, September 2010

September, Traigh Ban, NE Colonsay, Inner Hebrides.

If you click on the photo you will get the 1920x1280 size. I will post other sizes at the weekend.

No otters at Otter Ferry, Loch Fyne!

David, Phil and I arrived at Otter Ferry which is about half way up Loch Fyne, one of Scotland's longest sea Lochs at the head of the Firth of Clyde. There is an excellent pub here just by the sea shore.


We were welcomed by the pipping of the resident oyster catchers at the end of the old pier.


Otter does not refer to the furry mammal but to "oitir" a long spit of shingle that extends for a long way across the loch just under the water.


Leaving one car at Otter Ferry we drove up to St Catherine's jetty near the head of the loch to launch. The sharp witted reader will have already sussed our route in this long narrow loch!