S-oa-ldier's Rock.

 Our voyage along the west coast of the Mull of Oa continued with undiminished interest. Just before we turned east along the north coast...

 ...we came to the great sea stack...

 ...called Soldier's Rock.

In an alcove beyond the stack we came to...

...a huge cave with several windows in its roof.

It even had a cave within a cave and...

 ...a waterfall tumbling down through a skylight!

The door of the cave was the perfect frame for Soldier's Rock.

Oa my! It's a tight squeeze getting out of Bun an Easan!

From the beach at Lower Killeyan (where we had enjoyed first luncheon) we had paddled quite a long way along the Oa peninsula. It was now well past time for our second luncheon!

So we landed in the delightful cove of Bun an Easan "foot of the waterfall". We climbed up the slope behind the beach and enjoyed a tasty meal of Stilton cheese, oatcakes and red grapes washed down with a little Ardbeg. As we lay back in the sun, enjoying a postprandial doze, we looked over the sparkling blue waters of Loch Indaal to the distant Rinns of Islay.

After dining, we strolled back tdown o the beach and through a little cave to a hidden...

...valley with a burn. It is called Sruthan Bun an Easa or "little stream of the foot of the waterfall".

Tony and I found another cave entrance, high on the grassy slope above the beach. Its floor angled steeply downwards. Standing in the entrance, the cold air inside sighed back and forth past us, like the breath of a giant. Feeling the walls we descended into the darkness. At the bottom we came to a dark carven into which the unseen ocean swell was surging and booming.

Time passed too quickly at Bun an Easan and it was now time to leave. Tony was in for a surprise (I had been before):  the In Door is wider than the Out Door!

It was a tight squeeze and our paddles clattered and echoed on the rocky walls. We made it through, despite our large luncheons!

Oa, what a place to see goats and sea eagles!

 The west coast of the Mull of Oa on Islay is rockhopping heaven. We paddled through geos and...

...under waterfalls that...

...tumbled straight into the sea from the hills above. But we were not alone...

...we were being watched from both the land...

 ...and the air, by the resident feral goats and a sea eagle.

There's a kind of hush, all over the Oa tonight.

We set of from Lower Killeyan Bay and were soon weaving through a series of offshore stacks and...

...channels through the skerries. To the north of the bay, the tidal eddy was running against us even more strongly than it had before.

We took a last look back at the Mull of Oa from Sgeirean Buidhe Ghil before we took a...

...well earned rest in the shelter round the headland.

From high on the next headland our progress was watched over by...

 ...rocky gargoyles until we were hushed...

...into silence by Shhhhh rock!

Taking a break at Lower Killeayan on the Oa peninsula.

The west coast of the Mull of Oa is characterised by many offshore skerries and stacks. The Mull forms the SE boundary of Loch Indaal. Despite the flood tide, a strong counter eddy was flowing south, out of Loch Indaal, and joining the west going Mull of Oa tide race. At several pinch points we found ourselves paddling "uphill"!

 We took a break at the lovely Lower Killeyan beach. Visitors are advised not to swim here due to the strength of the tide.

Tony went off exploring while I sat on the rocks looking over the mouth of Loch Indaal to Orsay and its lighthouse some 14km away. It was near there, at Portnahaven, that we had launched to paddle the west coast of the Rinns of Islay just a few days before.

The way ahead looked even more interesting than where we had just come from so...

...after a leisurely luncheon we returned to the kayaks. It was a good feeling knowing we had passed the tidal crux of the journey and could now relax and enjoy paddling the incredible coast to come...

Round the Mull of Oa.

We now approached the great rock blade of Sgeirean Buidhe, which lies in the centre of the SW coast of the Oa peninsula.

On another trip earlier that year, we had encountered a major tide race off these rocks but on this day, Tony and I zipped past the headland on relatively smooth water before...

...breaking out into the eddy behind the point.

Ahead lay the Mull of Oa itself. It was still 2km away and is topped by the prominent American Red Cross Monument. It was erected in 1920 in memory of those who died when two troop ships, the Tuscania and the Otranto were lost off Islay in 1918.

The sharp eyed might notice the dark line on the horizon off the point, with white water licking the dark rocks. We were fortunate that there was no wind because by the time we got there the race was rushing westwards with standing waves 2m high. There was no escape inshore so we gripped our paddles and paddled straight into the race. We lost sight of each other in the troughs then when we cleared the headland, we battled northward against a south going eddy...

...which was making its way down the west coast of the Oa. We breathed a huge sigh of relief. We were safely through the tides and now we could enjoy paddling what is probably the best bit of sea kayaking coast on Islay...the west coast of the Mull of Oa.

Cormorants, goats and cliffs on the Oa.

 We set off down the SE coast of the Mull of Oa, threading small stacks crowned by cormorants.

The coast is composed of increasingly bold cliffs. As we approached  Rubha nan Leacan at 09:40 (which was 40 minutes before HW Dover) the west going flood tide had already started. HW Dover is supposed to be slack water but, like many of the inshore tidal streams round Islay, it starts about 45 minutes before published times.

Rounding the point to the SW coast of the Oa, the cliffs fall precipitously into the sea. Despite this, they are home to several flocks of nimble feral goats.

The tide was fairly zipping along as we approached the next headland at the base of Beinn Mhor, 202m.

The water was bumpy till we entered the calm of an eddy beyond the headland. We were now on the remote SW coast of the Mull of Oa and with the tides building behind us, we were now committed to continuing round the next two headlands...