A bumpy crossing of the Sound of Arisaig.

From Port nan Murrach, we pointed our bows to the east. We didn't bother exploring Port a' Bhathaich as it is a trap for most of the flotsam and jetsam in the area.  Instead, we cut across its mouth and slipped inside Eilean a' Ghaill. It has the remains of a vitrified Iron Age fort on its summit. There is a great view from the top but it is a very steep scramble and although it is only 23m high (and in 2004 I almost skipped up), I knew that as far as I was concerned it could now just as easily have been the Inaccessible Pinnacle on Sgurr Dearg in the Cuillin.

We now had  a choice, head up into Loch nam Uamh at the head of the Sound of Arisaig staying in the shelter of the lee of the Arisaig peninsula...

Photo by Donald Wilcox

 ...or head straight across the mouth of the Sound of Arisaig for the distant lands of Moidart. Well it was a no brainer, it was a broad reach on open water all the way to Moidart! At first the sea was nice and flat due to the shelter of Rubh Arisaig...

...but it got a little bit bumpy on the crossing especially  as we approached the wind over spring tide conditions off Rubha Ghead a' Leighe.  Photography stopped until we were well down the Smirisary coast and the water flattened again as in the photo above. Smirisary was a crofting community that survived until the end of the Second World War when it was abandoned. Nowadays, many of the old crofts have been restored as holiday homes.

It was too rough to land on the rocky shore at Smirisary and anyway we still had a way to go before we could finally pull up the boats on another shell sand beach.

The plight of the sand bees on the machair at Port nam Murrach.

From the south channel at the entrance to Loch nan Ceall I thought it would be a good idea to head south along the headland of Rubh Arisaig  towards the Sound of Arisaig. Donald checked his map for suitable landing spots and reefs on the way.

I was able to nip inside the various reefs in my sea kayak but Donald had to take a wider line.

We had arranged to rendezvous at Port nan Murrach on the Arisaig peninsula.

It wasn't long before Donald joined me in this delightful cove...

 ...with white sand and crystal clear waters.

Squalls of wind and rain were blasting down from the north but fortunately this one missed us and plastered Eigg instead.

Donald scrambled up the rocks of the surrounding ridges to see what the wind was doing...

 ...away to the north.

Meanwhile I reaquainted myself with the colony of the  rare northern colletes mining bees. These are a solitary species but they make their single burrows in aggregates in the sandy machair. They are a threatened species and there are only a handful of locations on the Scottish mainland where they can still be found.

I was distressed to discover some recent visitors had built a fire right on top of the colony. I hope it was not a group of sea kayakers, most kayakers know to build fires below the high water mark.

While Donald continued to explore the ridges and other beaches in the area, I was content to sit on the rocks with a cup of coffee, admire the view and...

...the marvellous white shell sand. I am so grateful for sea kayaking. I could not have walked to such a wonderful spot.

It was clear Donald's boat handling skills and confidence had grown, so when he returned, I suggested we move on and cross the mouth of the Sound of Arisaig to another white shell sand beach in the distance. I did warn him it might get a bit bumpy, once we were out of the lee of Rubh Arisaig...

sea kayak photo delphin

Even when the sun is not shining, the Arisaig skerries at the mouth of Loch nan Ceall is a remarkable place. The dark rocks and seaweed are...

...interspersed with dazzling shell sand beaches. At low tide the skerries are high above the narrow channels and lagoons but even so...

...the peaks of the Rum Cuillin and...

...the Sgurr of Eigg dominate the scene.

The skerries are also home to large colonies of both common and grey seals. Interestingly Donald's motor boat got right up to them and I could sail very close but as soon as I started to paddle, they would slide into the water...

...and follow me, as seen in this photo from Donald's blog.

The ejaculating spoots of Arisaig.

Donald and I first went on an expedition together to the Skye Cuillin nearly 40 years ago. Sadly the passage of years has not been kind to my knees and the Cuillin receded on the horizon behind us as we rounded Eilean Ighe in small boat and kayak.  The sea was still rough after the fresh  early morning winds. I cut through the clapotis by the reefs but Donald in his boat had to take a wider line till we entered the quiet waters of Arisaig North Channel at low water springs.

Inside the Arisaig skerries we entered a strange new world, which contrasted with the Rum Cuillin mountains on the horizon. The tidal lagoons inside the reefs had nearly emptied, exposing acres of sands that are usually still covered at most low tides.

We were surprised to see many small boats pulled up on the sand banks and the skerries seemed almost thronged with people. Many were carrying buckets and others seemed to be intently studying the sand at their feet.

Then as we drew closer we saw the most amazing sight. Mysterious jets of water were spouting high in the air all over the sands.

The water spouts come from razor clams (spoots in local parlance), which live deep in the sands. The locals watch for the water jets then sprinkle salt round the small hole through which they come. A few seconds later the spoot pops up through the hole and is easily caught. They are delicious.

Eigg1 has produced an amazing video of catching spoots on the nearby island of Eigg!

Thank goodness for sea kayaking!

In the summer holidays of 2010 my brother Donald joined Phil, Jennifer and I for a paddle round Gigha. At the time I was recovering from my knee operation and had great hopes I might be mountaineering again in 2011. So I said to him "next year we will go to the Cuillins". Sadly my optimism has not been matched by reality. So when he phoned from Arisaig, back in this year's August holidays,  I had to decline a mountain trip. Even the little Sgurr of Eigg at 393m was now beyond me. Fortunately sea kayaking is ideal for someone with a lower limb disability, so we decided to go for a boating trip from Portnadoran camp site instead. This photo shows the view from Portnadoran beach to the Skye Cuillin mountains rising into the clouds.

My little kayak on its trolley was easy to get down to the shore. Donald had a much tougher job as the boat and outboards was too heavy and the trailer sunk into the sand. He had to leave the outboards at the road end and then...

...go back to carry them down one by one. I couldn't help him so he was pretty worn out...

...by the time we got both boats to the water's edge.

At last we were ready to go. We were setting off for either one or two day's wild camping. The owner of the Portnadoran camp site was very helpful. He told Donald that if we got stuck anywhere, we could give him a ring and he would come and collect us. This was a very kind offer but we reassured him we hoped not to take advantage of his generous spirit.

At last we felt the freedom of the open sea, with the magnificent Rum Cuillin mountains on the horizon. I might not be climbing the Cuillin anymore, so thank goodness for sea kayaking!

Sea kayak fishing.

Sea kayak fishing is great fun and can supplement your diet with fresh food, especially if you are away on expedition for some time. Most of us fish, Billy and myself have favoured simple hand lines. Others prefer a rod...

 ...as there is no doubt that they are more effective at catching fish...

...like this pollack.

Of course sea kayaking takes you some great locations where you can fish from the shore and then a full size rod is an even greater advantage than a hand line.

However, a full size rod can be a handful to store assemble and catch fish on a kayak so I have stuck with my hand line until now.

Tony caught the top three mackerel. I caught the bottom one!  It was time to get some new gear.

So I got some advice from Dave Dominy at AB Fishing Tackle. He suggested their kayak fishing starter kit. This has a very short one piece fibreglass rod, the Zebco Kayak King.

It is coupled with an Abu Blue Max multiplier reel and comes with jiggers, lures and line. I found the multiplier reel more difficult to learn than a spinner. This one has a magnetic brake and a friction brake to control over run of the reel and the inevitable bird's nest of line. The magnetic  brake works well but I couldn't see much effect of the friction brake. I learned to use my thumb to create a little braking effect on the reel and I have been surprised how effective this little rod is at casting from a kayak. If I want to do some trolling, I simply stuff the rod handle down the front of my BA and paddle/sail away.

It stows really easily on the foredeck, even sharing space with my Flat Earth kayak sail! I am particularly fond of fresh mackerel and have found that a good time to catch them on the Solway is about an hour into the ebb tide off the headlands on the islands at the mouth of Fleet Bay. July is the peak month for mackerel in these parts. First time out with the rod, I caught a mackerel straight away at about 7m down. Since then I have not been so lucky but the mackerel seem to have been pretty thin this August and September.

By the way, who says men can't multi-task? How about kayaking, sailing fishing and photographing just for starters?

Seeing sand eels in the shallows is a good sign, as are diving terns and gannets.

Sometimes shoals of white bait explode out of the water as the mackerel chase them. This one landed on my foredeck and was promptly employed as bait.

This mackerel was so greedy it took a hook even although it already had a sand eel in its mouth.

If we catch mackerel, we land straight away, fillet them, sprinkle with sea salt...

...and get them into the frying pan with...

...a little oil and a sprig of rosemary.

Nothing is as tasty as eating a mackerel caught 15 minutes before!

Sea Kayak with Gordon Brown Volume 2 DVD preview.

I wasn't going to review Sea Kayak with Gordon Brown Vol 2 DVD for several reasons. Many of you will know I am friends with both Gordon and with Simon Willis, who has produced, directed and edited the DVD.  Also, I appear in the expedition section as I was lucky enough to be on the voyage to St Kilda aboard the MV Cuma that features in the DVD (as a full fare paying passenger). However, now that I have have made a declaration of interest, I feel better and you can keep it in mind to judge whether I am being objective or not.

Almost exactly two years ago, I published one of the first reviews of Sea Kayak with Gordon Brown Vol 1 DVD. In it I said that it had achieved a new standard for sports technique videos. I was not surprised when it went on to win several awards.

I have watched the preview of Sea Kayak with Gordon Brown 2 many times and it has raised the bar yet again. This is no dull technique DVD, filmed on flat water, there is a great deal of white water in this DVD! The technique section is divided into 8 parts covering up to date ideas on handling rescue situations and towing. The filming has been done in the environment and weather conditions that developing sea kayakers aspire to. It shows Gordon illustrating rescue and self rescue techniques while actually coaching students. Some of them, like Janice, are extremely long suffering! However, don't get the impression that Gordon is not prepared to get wet. Far from it, my heart was in my mouth watching him swim his kayak ashore then launch again in heavy surf, which was breaking into a rocky gully on the remote island of Cearstaigh off the coast of Harris. The final section on "anticipation and reaction" is designed to help you avoid the need to be rescued and builds nicely on the handling of a kayak in fast moving tidal waters that was introduced in DVD 1.

As with Volume 1, the filming and particularly the quality of the "on the water" sound recording is outstanding.  Volume 2 also features a journey, this time to the remote St Kilda archipelago, which lies 40 miles west of Scotland's Outer Hebrides. For me this is what makes this series of instructional DVDs unique. It is learning techniques in the context of and environment in which they will be applied. Ultimately sea kayaking is about the journey and learning the techniques, so clearly demonstrated in this DVD, will make your journey safer. During filming of the journey section, one of the team capsized and made a wet exit on the exposed SW coast of St Kilda. The rescue took seconds and a second rescuer was standing by to tow both rescuee and rescuer off the rocks if required. The paddler had not been dressed for immersion and quickly began to feel cold but a variety of spare over-cags, hats and gloves were produced to prevent hypothermia and the planned route was changed, given the weather conditions and the rescued paddler's condition. It was a wonderful, unrehearsed demonstration of the effectiveness of the techniques demonstrated earlier and more importantly the overall leadership and planning required to paddle safely in a demanding environment.

St Kilda features throughout the DVD and there are interviews with both Hamish Gow, the first paddler to reach it and Donald Thomson, the paddler who led the party which made the first return crossing.  The DVD is enriched by cine film of St Kilda shot by Gow in the 1960's. His description of his navigational method is a treat, though it might not feature in the BCU 5* syllabus!

I think that kayakers of all levels will learn from this DVD. Each time I have paddled with Gordon Brown I have come away with the confidence to take on more challenging conditions when paddling on my own trips. Sadly not every sea kayaker can have personal coaching from Gordon but this DVD is the next best thing. Sea Kayak with Gordon Brown Volume 2 is the result of a unique synergy between a coach at the top of his game and a talented film maker, who is himself a sea kayaker. I expect to see this DVD win several more awards for Gordon and Simon.

The DVD is due to have its first public showing at Paddle 2011 the Scottish Canoe and Kayak Show on 22nd/23rd October 2011. It will be available for purchase at the show and thereafter at www.seakayakwithgordonbrown.com

The cover of the preview DVD included this contents information:


ASSISTED RESCUES
The deep water rescue in detail. Also the scoop rescue for an injured kayaker.

SELF RESCUE FOUNDATIONS
Gordon’s coaching programme will help you teach yourself this vital skill.

SELF RESCUES
Starts with paddle float straddle and leg hook and leads on full re-enter and roll.

TECHNICAL LANDINGS
Heart stopping footage of landing and launching safely on  wave swept shores.

CONTACT TOWS - Watch Online
Making and modifying contact tows, plus their correct use in calm and rough water.

DISTANCE TOWS
Modifying and using tow lines. Using for rafted and ‘dog-lead’ tows on injured kayakers.

RESCUE SCENARIOS
Kayakers tackle challenging real-life rescue scenarios.

ANTICIPATION & REACTION
Rough water paddling skills to help you avoid the need to be rescued or towed.