Paddling like lions round the Cumbraes,

 We proceeded down the Largs Channel towards the giant cranes of the Hunterston ore terminal.

On the way, we passed the stone "lion" (a weathered basalt dyke) on the south end of the Great Cumbrae.

High above paragliders were enjoying the  uplift above the Fairlie Hills.

At sea level we were still able to sail across the Tan, which separates the two Cumbraes.

 Colin and Andrew carried on paddling hard keeping up with the kayak sailors. They paused only until a motor sailor decided on which way to turn.

Finally the Firth opened out and we set off across the shipping channel to the Ayrshire side.

The application of elbow grease to avoid a ferry glide.

 Refreshed by our stop we...

...continued up the west coast of Great Cumbrae island with Bute and Arran in the background.

 Mike and I swapped the Delphin and the Cetus MV and it was...

...not long until we rounded the north end of the island and entered  the Largs Channel which separates the east coast of Great Cumbrae from the town of Largs on the Ayrshire coast.

 We could now see all the way down the channel to the twin cranes of the Hunterston ore terminal.

The SW wind had now veered to the NW and we were able to continue sailing on the final leg of our circular course.

 However, we needed to apply a little elbow grease...

...to make sure we kept clear as MV Loch Shira (the Largs Cumbrae ferry) rapidly glided towards us.

Returning to sea after a refit.

By the time we got to the Great Cumbrae, the two newcomers to our little group, Andrew and Colin, were pretty tired, trying to keep up with the kayak sailors, it was time for a break. They are shortly to sit their BCU 3* with Bruce so we thought it would be good to give them some experience of open crossings. They had now completed 2 crossings of 7.5 and 7.2 km so they were feeling rather pleased.

We made landfall on the...

 ...delightful red sands of Fintry Bay...

...where we took second luncheon and whiled away a pleasant part of the day...

 ...watching the geese migrating to their summer breeding grounds near the Arctic Circle and watched...

the ships pass in the channel we had just crossed. This is HMS Atherstone (M38), a Royal Navy mine hunter. She was launched in 1986 and has just returned to sea after a major refit. It was now time for us to return to sea after our luncheon refit. We launched ourselves with a nip of 10 year old Jura.

MV Solitaire, the World's biggest pipe layer ship.

 From Glencallum Bay, we took off in fine style, sailing on a broad reach...

 ...past Little Cumbrae Island...

 ...with its Stephenson lighthouse.

 We were bound for the north end of Great Cumbrae...

 ...where a great ship was lying at anchor.

She is the MV Solitaire, the largest pipe laying vessel in the world. She was taking on a supply of pipes from tender vessels. She was built as a bulk carrier in Japan in 1972 but converted to a pipe layer in 1998 by Swan Hunter on the River Tyne. She is 300m by 40m with a gross tonnage of 127,435 tons. She can carry 22,000 tons of pipe and can lay 9km of undersea pipeline per day.

Leaving Glencallum Bay under sail.

 All too soon our sojourn at Glencallum Bay came to an end.

 The breeze picked up as soon...

 ...as we left the bay and...

 ...cleared the Rubh, an Eun lighthousen on...

...our way across the Firth of Cyle Channel to the Cumbraes.

Crossing the Firth of Clyde channel.

From Little Cumbrae island our course lay a few degrees further north. This allowed us to ease our sheets and pick up speed on our crossing of the Firth of Clyde channel.

 Andrew and Colin worked hard to keep up with the kayak sailors as we crossed...

 ...some rough water beneath the Little Cumbrae lighthouse as the ebb tide met the opposing SW wind.

 Slowly the wind increased as we crossed the channel...

... and entered the ebb stream off Garroch Head  but soon we passed...

 ...the light of Rubh' an Eun and entered the shelter of...

Glencallum Bay. Time for first luncheon.

A cunning navigational plan.

 Last weekend Mike...

 Phil, Andrew,...

 ...Colin and I met at Portencross on the Ayrshire coast. Regular readers of this blog will have realized that most of my recent trips have been local. I am sorry for the lack of variety but my knee problems mean I don't like a long car journey, especially after a day in the kayak. However ,I hope to show that you can enjoy great paddling even though you have visited an area many times.

The forecast looked great and I was delighted to see that the wind was due to veer from WSW to NW. We kayak sailors could take advantage of this, by launching to the south of the Cumbraes and circumnavigate clockwise with the hope of sailing all the way.

HW at Millport was at 0730 so normally paddlers would have started further north at Largs and paddled south to take advantage of the ebb tide down the inside of the Cumbraes, followed by the flood tide up their outside.

Colin and Andrew were supposed to be sitting their 3* assessment but Bruce their coach had suffered a bereavement. So we decided to give them a good workout...

keeping up with the sails. Mike (a Quest paddler since 2002) had borrowed the Cetus MV. That's always a (financially) dangerous thing to do...

Soon we were approaching Gull Point at...

 ...the south end of Little Cumbrae. In the distance, the hills of Bute rose above our first intended stop at Glencallum Bay.

 It was a close thing but the kayak sailors managed to close reach...

...round Gull Point on a single tack from Portencross. It looked like my navigational plan would work.