I lift my eyes to the isle of the birds.

The bank of fog slowly slipped away revealing Ailsa Craig in all her glory. As we approached this great rock in the Clyde...

 ...we felt a sense of increasing wonder, both at the cataclysmic volcanic event that created it and and at the teeming bird life that was swirling in the skies round it. Donald had taken the opportunity of the good weather and our company to make the crossing in his little boat.

 As we drew closer we could not help but lift...

...our eyes as the island and...

...its birds towered above us.

We paddled steadily on but with a readiness to duck.

After our wonderful meeting with Alistair Wilson, founder of Lendal Paddles, Phil, Jennifer, Donald and myself set off across a glassy sea in our respective craft and...

 ...soon left the Ayrshire coast behind.

Jennifer was enjoying the Cetus MV and was just about to streak ahead when all of a sudden, the VHF burst into life on Channel 16:

"Sécurité, sécurité, sécurité. All vessels, all vessels, all vessels, this is the Royal Navy. Live firing will commence at 0900 BST until 1100 BST in exercise area 73, Ailsa."

This generated some alarm but I knew that "Area 73 Ailsa" lay to the SW of Ailsa Craig and we were approaching the isle from the SE. However, a bank of sea fog rolled in, blotting out Ailsa Craig from view. We paddled steadily on but with a readiness to duck. All of a sudden, rounds of heavy automatic fire echoed out of the fog, Yikes!

Then at 1100 the firing stopped and HMS Mersey emerged from the mist to pass behind...

...Ailsa Craig where she reappeared with a surfaced submarine alongside. We continued on our way undisturbed by further shell fire.

Getting the Lendals out at Lendalfoot.

On the 24th of May we convened at Lendalfoot in Ayrshire. Jennifer, Phil and I were in kayaks and we were joined by my brother Donald in his little fishing boat.

 Donald had arrived long before the kayakers to give himself time to get to the water.

 Our destination lay beyond the reefs of Lendalfoot...

 ...we were bound for Ailsa Craig, about 14.5km offshore. Jennifer soon set off with her Lendal Kinetik Wings.

Suddenly we were joined by another paddler. It was Alistair Wilson who lives nearby. Alistair was the founder of Lendal Paddles, which he ran with his wife Marianne, until they recently retired to Lendalfoot. He was paddling a 36 year old K1 kayak with a modern Lendal Kinetik Wing, on a cranked shaft at about 45 degrees feather.

I first heard of Alistair in 1964. I was at primary school in Ayrshire and we were all so excited that we had our own local Olympic athlete. I remember the whole class drawing Alistair in his "canoe"!

Alistair represented the UK in both the 1964 and 1968 Olympics. In 1964 he came 8th in the men's K1 1000m race. Almost 48 years later, he still has fine style. With the 2012 Olympics nearly upon us, it was a really great privelege to meet Alistair on his home turf!

The pleasure of weighing anchor in your own backyard.

As we waited at Brodick pier for the ferry back to Ardrossan, there was a change in the air. High cirrus clouds streaked across the sky...

...and at lower level, thick clouds from the NW spilled over the rocky ridges of Arran.
 

The MV Caledonian Isles arrived bang on time and...

...we trollied our kayaks onto the car deck. Before we left Brodick, we were in the cafeteria enjoying chicen patia, rice and nan bread washed down with some Arran Blonde Ale.

We had just not long left Brodick, when the forecast wind suddenly got up with a vengeance. We were very glad we had left Kildonan early that morning. This NW wind also explained the increasing northerly swell we had encountered after leaving Holy Island.

As we approached Ardrossan, the ship's Tannoy announced "Would all drivers and their passengers please return to the car deck." We assumed that this included kayakers.

All too soon we were back in the car park and our Arran adventure was well and truly over.

136km may not sound much as great expeditions go, but for us it was a wonderful escape. It was one of the best holidays we had ever had and all the sweeter as it was in our own backyard. It was also in the land of our ancestors!

A final downwind blast back to Brodick.

From Clauchlands Point to Corriegills Point  the coastline of Arran is an untamed, road-less wilderness of steep, rocky slopes tumbling to the sea. Buzzards and an eagle soared overhead.

The view of the Arran ridges became very impressive with Beinn Tarsuin 826m, A'Chir 745m and Goatfell 874m, dominating the skyline ahead.

 We had made such fast progress using the sails that...

 ...we nearly made the earlier ferry!

However, we arrived back at a sunny Brodick in plenty time to...

... leisurely pack our things away. What a fantastic trip we had enjoyed in a stunning spell of March weather. We relaxed in the sun and shared the highlights while we awaited the return of the MV Caledonian Isles.

Hamilton Isle, between a rock and a hard place.

From the north end of Holy Island we gradually came out of the wind shadow of its mountains and picked up a fair breeze across the north entrance to Lamlash Bay. The Bay is sheltered by Holy Island and forms an excellent natural harbour. In the dark days of WW2 it often gave shelter to ships of both the Royal Navy and the Merchant Navy.

As we approached tiny Hamilton Isle (little more than a rock) we began to experience an uneasy swell coming from the north (despite the wind being from the south). The forecast was for the wind to veer to the NW and increase to F5-7 in the afternoon so we made the most of the fair wind while it lasted.

As we approached Clauchlands Point we began to see into the depths of Brodick Bay where our journey would shortly end. Several ships were anchored in the shelter of the Bay.

Before rounding the point, we stopped for a last look south towards Hamilton Isle. Mullach Mor, 314m, on Holy Island towered behind it. Arran only has three satellite isles, Holy Island (the largest), Pladda and Hamilton Isle (the smallest). Hamilton Isle used to be more accurately called Hamilton Rock.

On the 13 October 1891, a 58 ton wooden schooner, Elizabeth McClure, was wrecked on Hamilton Rock with three men aboard. She had been carrying coal, from Irvine in Scotland to Larne in Ireland, when she was caught in a violent F11 storm from the SW. Given this wind direction, it is possible that she had tried to seek shelter in Lamlash Bay and that her anchor had dragged as the storm increased.

The east coast of Holy Island

 The north east coast of Holy Island is an area of...

...stark beauty and a turbulent geological past. A bed of Old Red Sandstone is overlaid by more recent Tertiary volcanic rocks.

The cap of hard igneous rock protects the softer sandstones below. Even so, great lumps of sandstone fall off the cliffs. This landslip happened over the last winter.

It is hard to believe that this remote spot is just 50km from my house in Glasgow.

At the north end of the island we came across these Buddhist prayer poles and caught sight of...

 ...distant Goatfell. We were nearing the end of our journey.