A lone watcher on the cliffs and a horrid murder.

From Dove Cave we allowed the flood tide to propel us along an incredibly convoluted coast of upended greywacke strata.

The contrast with the open expanse of Wigtown Bay could not have been greater.

Near Borness Point we saw a lone figure who watched or progress along this apparently wild coast. Up on the cliff tops all is not so wild, it is a golf course!

There was superb rock hopping as we weaved through narrow channels at the base of the cliffs.

To the east of Brighouse Bay the cliffs were covered in beautiful golden lichen but our attention was caught...

...by the Little Ross lighthouse, which appeared through a gap in the rocks.

The lighthouse is actually situated on an island that sits in the mouth of Kirkudbright Bay. The Little Ross light was built by Alan Stevenson in 1843. The light flashes white every 5 seconds. In 1960 there were two keepers on the island and one murdered the other. This link is an incredible first hand account by David Collin, one of the local people who found the keeper's body.

We had made such good progress along the coast that we now decided to see if we could paddle up to Kirkcudbright or fish and chips. The tide however was about to turn...

No wonder the doves like it.

As we passed the Meikle and Little Pinnacles, I saw the guys ahead take a sharp left.

 I knew they had found Dove cave. Jim was getting his camera out...

...while Tony had paddled straight into the recesses of the cave...

...from which there is a wonderful view out to Wigtown Bay. No wonder the doves like it.

Keeping in line on the Solway.

Back in October, Billy, Jim, Phil, Tony and I convened at Carrick shore in Scotland's deep south, the Solway.

We planned to take the flood tide east to Little Ross Island and Kirkcudbright Bay.

A nice NW breeze soon had the Flat Earth sail filled and I was flying away towards Barlocco Isle.

It is just as well that the wind dropped or we would not have been able to practice five abreast formation paddling...

...on our way to Meggerland Point.

Sea kayaking desktop wallpaper calendar 2011

I wish a belated Happy New Year to all visitors to seakayakphoto.com. As way of a celebration of the last year and in anticipation of sea kayaking adventures yet to come, here is the 7th annual sea kayaking desktop wallpaper calendar from seakayakphoto.com. The above link will lead to high resolution photos in four different desktop sizes.

January, Arran, Firth of Clyde.

February, Loch Creran, Firth of Lorn.

March, Mull of Oa, Islay.

April, Rhuvaal, Islay.

May, Loch Drumbuie, Morvern.

June, Paps of Jura from Gigha.

July, Dove Cave, Solway Firth.

August, Gigha from Cara.

September, Kirkcudbright, Solway Firth.

October, Loch Goil, Firth of Clyde.

November, Loch Long, Firth of Clyde.

December, Loch Linnhe, Firth of Lorn.

River Clyde, Glasgow Green to Port Glasgow

Glasgow Green to Erskine.

Erskine to Port Glasgow.

A 33km day paddle on the tidal reaches of the river River Clyde from Glasgow Green to Port Glasgow.

The Arc frames the Glasgow Tower.

HMS Dragon undergoing final fitting out at BAE Systems yard at Scotstoun.

Tides

HW Port Glasgow: +0010 HW Greenock

HW Glasgow: +0020 HW Greenock

Streams turn about local HW and LW.

We launched at 2 hours before HW Glasgow, 5 days before springs. We took 7 hours 40 minutes to complete the trip as we spent a lot of time on the first section to Renfrew. The ebb current became noticeable at 1 hour after HW Glasgow about 8km down stream at Scotstoun. It was moving at 5km/hour and persisted at this rate until 2 hours after HW, by which time we were 17km downstream at Erskine. Beyond Erskine the ebb remained about 3km/hr until we reached Port Glasgow, 30 minutes before local LW.

Note that large ships will manoeuvre on the section up to the KGV dock, timing their arrival or departure for HW Glasgow. There is plenty to keep you occupied further up river before then, so that you pass KGV dock well after HW.

Until recently, Clyde Estuary Control would only let a yacht proceed further up than Bowling with advanced written permission. Canoes and kayaks were only allowed to make the trip as part of an organised "Annual Clydeport Paddle" trip with safety cover provided by the Glasgow Humane Society.

Although this trip was carried out with the permission of Clydeport on the day and the knowledge of the SCA, it should be seen as a trial run. Details have yet to be finalised but it is hoped that trips by competent individuals will shortly be allowed. It is likely that the protocol will be similar to that which we followed on the day, which is outlined below. The SCA will post final details on their website once they are informed by Clydeport.

Before setting off, you should contact Clyde Estuary Control on VHF channel 12, tel: 01475726221, who will inform you of any shipping movements or whether seaplanes are expected to land/take off and warn of areas to avoid, which side of the river to follow etc..

You can download the Clydeport Marine Leisure guide from their website.

You should also contact Clyde coastguard on channel 16, tel: 01475729988 and contact them again once you are off the water. You need to carry a VHF and listen for warnings on channels 12 and 16. You also need to leave your VHF call sign with the coastguard.

Launching/landing sites:
The access gates at Glasgow Green below the tidal weir are locked with a combination padlock. The current combination can be obtained from the Scottish Canoe Association or Sue Hilder, Glasgow City Council Outdoor Access Officer. Tel: 0141 287 8585.

From Glasgow Green, there are no places to land until you get to the slipways at Renfrew and Yoker, which are in use again by the current landing craft style ferries. The ferry crew did not object to a small group of three kayaks landing there for a break, because we kept well to the edge of the slip. I would not choose to stop with a large party, launch or take out there due to the ferry operations.

The next suitable launch and landing sites are at the Erskine and Old Kilpatrick slipways of the old Erskine ferry.

Downstream the traditional kayak launching site at Bowling (Canoe Boys) is now very difficult since the canal basin was redeveloped, unless you have a trolley and are prepared to drag the kayak through the woods on a dog walkers' track beyond the cycle shop in the old railway arch. However, it is an excellent place to stop for a break.

Downstream at Dumbarton Rock park near the Bowling club where you can launch at mid to high tide. At low tide you can launch into the Leven on the NW side of Dumbarton rock. The mud flats east of Dumbarton Rock are part of the Inner Clyde SSSI and are a special protected area (SPA). They are supposed to be important winter feeding areas for waders such as red shank and oyster catchers but anytime I have been there at low tide, I have seen none, though we saw plenty higher up river towards Bowling from our kayaks.

Still on the north bank park and launch here at Ardmore Point at high tide or trolley along the path at low tide.

On the south bank Kelburn Park near Port Glasgow is good at mid to high tide. Newark Castle (Lamont's) slipway is good at all states of tide. Still in Port Glasgow, Coronation park slipway is good at mid to high tide, not sure about low tide.

I would not leave a car overnight at any of these locations.

Sea kayaking from a dear green place.

Sea kayaking the River Clyde: Glasgow Green to the Merchant City.

All Greatness Stands Firm in The Storm.

Famous for not being able to walk in a straight line.

The Clyde, a river of change.

Forward paddling, through the years, on the Clyde.

A tale of two Clyde Titans; one is still standing.

Duncan takes a final curtsy on the Clyde.

Life and death on the Clyde.

Bowling down the Clyde in the Comet's wake.

Clyde built: tough ships, tough people.

Photo Album map.

Clyde built: tough ships, tough people.

From Dumbarton we set off on the final leg of our Clyde paddle to Port Glasgow in a snow storm. At times the snow was falling so heavily that there was near zero visibility and we lost sight of the channel markers, even though they were only 600m apart. We were rather anxious not to be run over by a ship in the night, so we navigated by keeping to the north of the channel markers, then crossed the channel at right angles, before continuing well to the south of the channel markers.

As we approached Port Glasgow, we passed row after row of black stakes sticking up out of the mud flats. You can just see them along the snowy beach behind Phil. These were the "timber ponds", which stored green timber until it was seasoned for the ship building trade. They were constructed in the early 18th century as timber began to be imported from Europe and North America. The ponds reached their peak, importing 28,000 tons per year in the 1830's but began to decline with the import of pre-seasoned timber and increasing use of steel in shipbuilding. Use of the ponds finally ceased by the outbreak of WW1 in 1914.

As darkness fell, we were nearly back at Port Glasgow. The Ferguson shipyard crane above Newark castle acted as our guide. Just to the left of the green navigation light, through the gathering gloom, you can just make out the last of the Clyde's four surviving Titan cranes. It stands 3.5km to our west at Greenock's James Watt dock. It was built by Sir William Arrol in 1917. The dock is named after a Greenock man, James Watt 1736-1819, who made the steam engine practical and economic by inventing a separate condenser. This meant that the cylinder did not need to be wastefully heated and cooled with each piston stroke.

Either an eddy or an early flood tide was sweeping through the pillars of Lamont's pier at Newark. Jim went through first but crossbeams were just under the surface and he was caught fast, rocking on his Sea King's V bottom. Much bracing and reversing saw him extricated from the pier.

We landed beneath the walls of Newark castle. Parts date from 1458 and were built by George Maxwell. The castle was built here to control the highest point of navigation on the Clyde. Prior to the river being dredged, all goods bound for Glasgow needed to be off loaded here. Until recently the castle was hidden away between two shipyards, Ferguson's to the west, which is still there and another huge yard, Lamont's, to the east. When I first visited Newark Castle in 1972, we had to walk down a long, narrow close between two high ship yard sheds. The joke at the time was "only in Port Glasgow could they build a castle in such a well hidden spot"! Lamont's built several CalMac ferries, including the MV Jupiter in 1973. She plies the nearby Gourock/Dunoon route to this day. Lamont's built their final ship in 1978. The yard was then cleared in the 1980's and east half of the castle reemerged into a post industrial dawn.

We emerged from the kayaks in a frozen state, our dry suits were stiff as boards. We had landed on the old slipway of the Lamont's shipyard. In the distance, behind the castle, the crane and lights mark Ferguson's shipyard, which is the last surviving yard on the lower Clyde. Most of the current CalMac fleet (even the larger ships such as MV Isle of Lewis 101m, 1995 and MV Hebrides 99m, 2000) were built at Ferguson's). The "tower block" to the right of the castle is actually Ferguson's most recent construction, a huge barge, the ASV Pioneer, which is an accommodation and service vessel for the oil industry.

The steel hulled sailing vessel Glenlee, which we saw higher up the Clyde, was also built in Port Glasgow, in 1896 at the the Anderson Rodger and Co Yard.

In 1812 Henry Bell chose to have his paddle steamer Comet built in Port Glagow, at the yard of John Wood in Shore Street (a little to the west of Ferguson's Yard). Comet was a wooden steam paddle passenger steamer. She served on the Clyde and on the Glasgow/Fort William runs. In 1820 she was shipwrecked after being caaught in the Dorus Mor tiderace and dashed onto the rocks of Craignish Point. Wood's yard later became Lithgow's East yard, which closed in 1972. In 1962 the apprentices at Lithgow's built a full sized replica of the Comet, which is on permanent display in the centre of Port Glasgow. The site of Wood's/Lithgow's yard is now a Tesco supermarket, which says a great deal about the British economy.

Lamont's slipway has seen countless ships trundle  down into the sea to commence their voyaging. This night it was treacherously slippy as we ended our voyage and I was very grateful for Phil and Jim's help to get my kayak up to the cars.

It was so cold we could hardly feel our fingers doing up the straps on the roof racks.

It was strange to reflect upon how much I had discovered about my home city by sea kayak! We passed within 10km of my house, within 300m of my workplace and within 1.3km of Jim's house and right by several yards where Jim has worked!

On the other hand, the river had made Glasgow and allowed her to develop as a maritime trading city and centre for ship building. Perhaps then, a sea kayak is the very best way to discover a city like Glasgow! We were passing through the Clyde in a period of post industrial change. Yes there were still areas of industrial wasteland but these were outnumbered by those areas of regeneration with new financial, media, educational, hospital, retail, recreational and residential buildings. It was nice to see the preservation of some of the industrial machinery such as the Clydebank Titan crane and I am sure the new Transport Museum will be superb. I sincerely hope the three surviving shipyards are enough to remind a post industrial city of shoppers that their city was once a cradle of the Industrial Revolution and of the significance of the words "Clyde built".

As a postscript, many friends have asked "what about the water quality"? Well the water was fine. We found seals, herons and cormorants right in the heart of Glasgow. In the whole length of the Clyde, we only saw a few pieces of plastic rubbish. I have seen much more on a single small beach on Skye. We didn't even have a brown ring round our hulls, which you can still get in some apparently remote highland lochs where the villages have inadequate sewage treatment.

The last few photos were taken handheld long after sunset and in freezing conditions, they are included just to portray the atmosphere of a cold night on the Clyde, they are a bit shakey!

Bowling down the Clyde in the Comet's wake.

From Erskine we crossed to the north bank of the Clyde yet again. In the mid distance, Dumbarton Rock stood out darkly against the snowy mountains of Argyll beyond.

We were bound for Bowling at the entrance to the Forth and Clyde canal. The canal opened in 1790. We had to keep a high ferry angle as the ebb tide was fair bowling us along.

There are two sea lock gates but this one is no longer used and the lock behind is occupied by...

... a beautifully restored steel trawler MV Seahorse.

Nowadays Bowling is a graveyard for small ships. In the harbour a number of old wooden and steel hulks lie rotting, like this one, waiting forlornly for a caring owner like Seahorse's. Unfortunately she has seen better days, as has the whole of Bowling harbour. At one time, the Scotts of Bowling yard was the birthplace of many fine wee ships, until its closure in 1978.

Downstream of Bowling, we came to the Henry Bell monument, which has stood at Dunglass since 1838. Bell (1767-1830) was a steamship pioneer who launched the SS Comet in 1812 at Port Glasgow. He established a steam ship passenger service, which undoubtedly helped catalyse the development of the shipping industry on the Clyde. Unfortunately he wasn't much of a businessman and he died in poverty but even shortly after his death, his peers recognised the importance of his contribution nto the marine developments on the Clyde and elsewhere in the World. He assisted American, Robert Fulton, to introduced a steamboat service in New York

The monument stands in the grounds of Dunglass castle which dates from 1380. As we slipped down river below Bell's monument, it was humbling to think of all the human endeavour, the ships,  the seafarers and passengers, that had passed this way in the wake of the Comet.

By now it was snowing heavily and we made our way through the many freestanding dolphins of the abandoned Esso oil terminal. It continued in use till the 1980's but has been made redundant by bigger tankers and the deep water terminal at Finnart in Loch Long.

In the distance, behind Phil, you can just see the Lang Dyke. This 750m long wall was constructed in mid river by John Golborn in 1773. It directed the flow of the river, away from the shallows to the south, towards the north shore and natural scouring deepened the channel.

We were quite close to Dumbarton Rock  before it loomed out of the snow storm. We had paddled past extensive flats before reaching the rock. These were covered by countless feeding waders and despite its proximity to the city is an important winter ground for birds like red shank and oyster catchers. The whole of the Clyde estuary from Clydebank down to a line between Helensburgh and Greenock has been declared a site of special scientific interest, SSSI.

Dumbarton Rock is a 73m high volcanic plug formed of basalt. It forms an ideal defensive position with the Clyde on one side and the River Leven on the other. From the south, Dumbarton Castle can be seen nestling in a cleft in the rock. It is one of Britain's longest used defensive sites. Roman wine amphora have been excavated here, though nowadays you are more likely to find empty bottles of Buckfast,  some things do not change over the millennia. The building at the shore with the snow covered roof is the Bowling Club and its car park is one of the recognised water access points for kayakers on the Clyde estuary. The derelict ground to the right of the Bowling club was a Flying Boat factory in WW2, it made 260 Short Sunderland Flying Boats. Only the slipway remains.

To the west of the rock lies the mouth of the River Leven. Until recently, this area bristled with the high cranes of numerous shipyards on both sides of the Leven. Now no cranes remain, though the last was moved up to the BAE Systems yard at Scotstoun. Many famous and innovative ships were built here, the clipper ship Cutty Sark in 1869 and the World's first steam turbine driven passenger ship, the TS King Edward. The final Dumbarton yard was Denny's, which closed in 1964 after a foray into hovercraft producing the Denny D2, the World's first commercial passenger hovercraft the "hover bus" in 1963.

There has been so much innovation on the Clyde and so many World firsts and all in the wake of the Comet. Now a snowy winter afternoon, the only wakes on the river were those of our three kayaks....