Seil Sound under threat.

We visit Seil and its Sound regularly. We have been three times in the last year. My first visit by kayak and sailing dinghy was in July 1967, so I do like the area a great deal.

This view is towards the NE from Bagh Lachlainn at the north end of the island of Luing.

On the east side of the Sound (on the right horizon) lies...

...the delightful little bay of Port na Morachd which is just to the north of...

 this band of trees and under the steep slopes of Dun Crutagain (273m).

I was dismayed when I learned from the Save Seil Sound campaign that a Polish company plans to build a huge fish farm consisting of 12 cages, each 32m  in diameter, covering an area of 4 football pitches on this very spot. There will also be a service barge 18m by 26m with a two storey building on top. When it is running it will contain 450,000 adult salmon and you can imagine the effect of the pollution and parasites which a farm of this size will release. Seil Sound is very enclosed and shallow and I am sure that the wild life will suffer even more than the view.

Speaking of the view, this is looking SSW down the Sound towards Torsa, Luing and Scarba.

This is looking NW towards Seil with the mountains of Mull behind. We have seen porpoises, seals, otters, herons, cormorants, shags, terns, guillemots, black guillemots, razorbills, oyster catchers, eider duck, geese, swans, eagles, buzzards and hen harriers here. I will be very sorry if this wild place is industrialised in this way.

If you wish to make a comment, either for  or against the proposed fish farm, to the Argyll and Bute planners you can do so here.

If you support the campaign to save Seil Sound, you can join them on Facebook here.

A flying crossing from Bute.

From Garroch Head on Bute we set off for...

...the Little Cumbrae island in perfect sea kayaking conditions. We had sun, a following wind and helpful waves. My maximum speed was 13.6km/hour and for most of the stretch from the Little Cumbrae to Portencross, we kept up 8-11km/hour.

We were soon back at Portencross Castle on the north Ayrshire coast..

Garroch Head can just be seen in the distance, behind my mast.

This was definitely my fastest time for this crossing which is one of our regular trips.

With views like this to Arran, you might understand the frequency of our return visits.

This little trip was 34km and was less than an hour's drive from Glasgow. I highly recommend it if you are ever in the area. From the south end of Bute, the view over to the mountains round Glen Sannox on Arran is superb, easily a match for the more famous mountain and sea view over Loch Scavaig to the Skye Cuillin from Elgol.

Any port in a storm.

As Jim and I approached Garroch Head on Bute, we were looking for a suitable spot to have a second luncheon...

... and perhaps to weather out a thunderstorm, which threatened to spill over the Sound of Bute from Arran.

 We found this little cobble beach...

...in a break in the lava beds of Garroch Head.

The lava bed rock had been worn into amazing pinnacles and channels by a combination of wave action and the cobbles.

 We enjoyed the view...

 from a little platform...

...above the beach. We wondered how many of our fellow seafarers and ancestors had been grateful for the shelter offered by this little beach if caught out in a storm.

 However HMS Dragon seemed unperturbed by the weather...

...and at last the sun broke through and shone down on Gen Sannox again. It was time to move on.

Of electrifying paint jobs and atmospheric conditions!

 After an excellent luncheon, Jim and I started our return journey from Scalpsie Bay to Portencross.

You certainly will not miss Jim's new Taran on the water.

My all white kayak is really rather plain in the Taran's company!

To the west, storm clouds gathered...

...above the Arran mountains and there was distant rumble of thunder in the air.

Then the full storm unleashed itself on Glen Sannox.

Not enough puff for the West Kyle!

In the wind shadow of Scalpsie Bay on Bute we caught up with Tony and Gavin's news while enjoying the view to Arran's rocky ridges over the Sound of Bute.

  as the spring tide rapidly ebbed from the bay...

 ...it was time for Tony and Gavin to depart. They had a long slog against the tide and wind up the west Kyle to the Burnt Islands area where they planned to camp.

Tony's new Cetus is certainly sparkly!

Jim and I had originally planned to accompany them as far as Inchmarnock at the entrance to the West Kyle before returning to Portencross. Unfortunately some of the pain killers I have been taking for my knee have aggravated my asthma so I decided we had come far enough. As Jim and I finished our lunch, HMS Dragon slowly cruised down the Clyde on her sea trials. She didn't appear to be in a hurry to go anywhere either.

A castle and two forts on the way to Scalpsie Bay, Bute.

Jim and I met at the recently restored Portencross Castle on the Ayrshire coast of the Firth of Clyde. Normally we launch down slippy rocks from the car park but recently my knee has been really bothering me and the rocks were not an option. We therefore used our trolleys to carry the kayaks a few hundred meters to the little beach by the castle.

Tony and Gavin were on a camping trip round Bute and had arrived at Glencallum Bay at 10pm the previous night. We hoped to meet them at Garroch Head.

This was Jim's first outing (in home waters) of his new Rockpool Taran. A gusty NW wind slowed our crossing and...

...by the time we rounded Garroch Head and landed at Dunagoil Bay, we had missed Tony and Gavin.

After a quick luncheon spent admiring Jim's paint job...

...we departed from Dunagoil as heavy clouds rolled in, obscuring the Arran mountains.

We soon passed Dunstrone, which like Dunagoil, has an Iron Age hill fort on its summit.

We left Dunagoil and Dunstrone on the horizon behind us and landed at Scalpsie Bay, where we eventually caught up with...

...Tony and Gavin.

Well composed on Gott Bay pier, Tiree.

Our trip round Tiree came to an end and we landed on this little beach beside the ferry pier at Gott Bay. Although the map shows rock, it is all sand right up to a steep grassy bank then an opening gate...

...to the ferry queuing area. The Calmac office has toilets, water and a tourist information touch screen computer.

Once you have checked in with the ferry staff you need to take the kayaks out to the end of the pier. By the time you do this and get the kayaks onto the car deck you will have covered 0.5km so...

...trolleys can save the smart (but casual) sea kayaker's composure.

Through the link-span, we could just see Loti as she made her way round the isle of Soa that lies off the east end of Tiree. The pier at Gott Bay was first built in 1914 then extended in the 1950's. Full roll on roll off service was not introduced until the link-span was built in 1992.

Loti, or to use her full Sunday name MV Lord of the Isles, was built in 1989 and although she has full Roro, using her bow and stern doors, initially vehicles had to use her side ramps and lift to get off at Tiree. Her sister ship MV Clansman, which also serves the route, was built in 1998. As this was after the Tiree link-span had been completed she does not have side doors or car lift.

All too soon we were aboard Loti and Tiree quickly slipped away over the horizon and into our memories.