An Art Deco landmark in the twilight at the Mull of Kintyre.

As we crossed Carskey Bay, on the east coast of the Mull of Kintyre, the wind dropped to nothing. Behind us, beyond Rubha MacShannaich lay the distant outline of Ailsa Craig, Sheep Island and Sanda.

Ahead the coast of Antrim in Northern Ireland merged with the lowering grey clouds. This was the last we would see of Ireland on this trip!

Above the bay, stood the sad remains of the art deco Keil Hotel. It opened in 1939 and during the war it was used as a Royal Navy hospital.  It was also a useful landmark for WW2 Atlantic convoys when all the lighthouses were extinguished. At certain times, the blackout curtains would be opened and the lights lit to guide expected shipping. It was also a welcome landmark for us as it meant we were nearly at our destination. After the war it reopened as a hotel but closed in 1990.

We arrived at our chosen campsite at 9:45pm, some 15 minutes ahead of schedule, despite that pesky headwind. This allowed us to get the tents up before it was completely dark.

Soon we had a roaring campfire going. We could hardly believe our adventure had begun so well and tomorrow, given fair weather, we would round the Mull of Kintyre. Slack water at the Mull would be at 06:40 am the following day, so we would need to have an early start!

A Bastard of a headwind and a Bloody rock..

Unfortunately the fair wind did not last long on our journey towards the Mull of Kintyre and we met a stiff head wind, which combined with an adverse tide, slowed our progress. At this rate we would not arrive at the intended campsite until well after 11pm!

 Due to my shoulder problem I found it hard to keep up with the others.

However, I had insider knowledge that kept my spirits up. By the time we were below the steep slopes of The Bastard Hill we spotted the Isle of Sanda.

I knew that the tide would change before we arrived in Sanda Sound and that it would accelerate us on to our destination.

Indeed, we had 4 knots of tidal assistance by the time we passed Macharioch Bay and the monument to local landowner the 8th Duke of Argyll 1823 to 1900.

Rocky slopes gave way to undulating fields. The first cut of grass for silage was underway some 3 to 4 weeks late, due to the long winter and exceptionally cold spring.

At last we passed the communications mast that marks Rubha MacShannaich beyond which our destination lay. On the horizon we could see Fair Head in Northern Ireland, some 35km away on the other side of the North Channel.

As we entered Carskey Bay at twilight, we paddled in silence below the grim ramparts of Blood Rock upon which Dunaverty Castle once stood. It was a Clan Donald stronghold for centuries but that came to a bloody end in 1647. Covenanter troops besieged the castle as the Clan Donald were Royalists. 300 men, women and children surrendered after the castle's water supply was cut off. They were promised quarter by the Covenanter army but when they walked out of the castle they were almost all killed.

This marvellous reconstruction by Andrew Spratt shows how Dunaverty Castle once looked.

A four pointed cross on a two pointed island.

As we approached the mouth of Campbeltown Loch our eyes were drawn to the NE and the Isle of Arran which lay on the far side of the Kilbrannan Sound. It looked very enticing in the early evening light. That had been our poor weather alternative route back to Ardrossan but since the weather was fair we turned our eyes south towards the...

 ...causeway that links the west point of Davaar island to the mainland of Kintyre. We were amazed at the number of gannets, guillemots and razorbills we saw in the air and waters around us.

There was still just under 3 hours till local HW and the causeway was still dry so we set off round the outside of Davaar island which would add about 2 km to our route south, towards the Mull of Kintyre.

The attractive, white cottage (called the Lookout), which blends so well with the magnificent scenery, is now a holiday rental home. Its rather utilitarian architecture can perhaps be blamed on WW2 austerity. It was built for Royal Navy crews to watch shipping entering the loch and operate anti-submarine nets and cables.

The lighthouse was built in 1854 by David and Thomas Stevenson. It was automated in 1983. The light has a double white flash every 10 seconds.

Davaar is derived from the Gaelic "Da-Bharr" which means two points. We now approached the second, northern point.

This can be a lively place at the height of a flood tide (if the wind is from the north) but all was calm as we rounded the point and caught our first sight of the rocky monolith of Ailsa Craig.

 Once we were in the lee of Davaar Island, the wind dropped but soon picked up as...

...we cleared its southern cliffs. We did not have time to stop but on a previous visit....

 ...Tony and I had entered a cave with two entrances at the back of which...

 ...stood a wooden cross.

As our eyes became used to the darkness we saw a painting of Christ on the back wall of the cave. It was pained in 1887 by Archibald MacKinnon who was a local teacher. It has been restored several times by art teachers from the school in Campbeltown. In 2006 it was vandalised when someone painted a copy of Jim Fitzpatrick's image of Che Guevara over Christ's face.

It was a relief  to feel the pull of the sail in the free air as we cleared Davaar Island. My injured left shoulder was already hurting and we had nearly 200 km to go before we got back to Ardrossan...

Single ticket to Campbeltown please.

Calmac recently launched a new service from Ardrossan on the Ayrshire coast to Campbeltown on the distant (by road) Mull of Kintyre. It is a pretty limited service but the ferry that left at 1330 on Sunday and arrived at Campbeltown at 1630 looked interesting and avoided a crack of dawn start. We decided to leave our cars in the manned 24 hr car park at Ardrossan ferry terminal and buy single tickets to Campbelltown and paddle back to Ardrossan.

The girl at the check in desk was somewhat surprised, "You are the first people to buy single tickets. Most people want to come back from Campbeltown!"

We wheeled our kayaks on trolleys onto the car deck of the MV Isle of Arran and soon...

 ...we were steaming past Horse Island which lies off the entrance to Ardrossan harbour. Its distinctive now unlit tapered beacon was built in 1811 after many shipwrecks on the isle. It is 52 ft high and 19 ft square at ground level.

We ate an early meal on the ferry as the plan was we would paddle 28km south from Campbeltown (until about 10pm) that night. As the ferry approached the town's south pier we spotted the...

 ...slipway that we would use to launch.

 When the call came for drivers to go to the car deck, Phil, Jennifer, Mike and I ambled down to our preloaded kayaks.

 We found the slipway without difficulty, and were on the water by 17:05. HW was at 20:19 so we did not think we would be ble to paddle between tidal Davaar Island and the mainland. This would add 2km to our route.

 The new quay is a very impressive development for a small place like Campbeltown. It was built for the wind turbine factory at Macrihanish but that is now closed. It is hoped that Campbeltown might be a base for the servicing of huge offshore winfarm developments off Islay, Tiree and in the Clyde. Of course the new Calmac ferry service uses it but after the ferry left, we four sea kayakers had pretty much to ourselves.

 Soon we left the Old Quay and...

 ...the douce villas of the wealthy Victorian merchants, fish merchants, boat owners, distillers and shipyard owners of this once thriving town. It grew in the days when commerce and travel were by sea but with the development of road transport it became just too remote and its wealth faded.  Perhaps the reintroduction of the ferry service will inject new life into this lovely corner of Scotland.

As soon as we were clear of the quays a decent west wind got up and we were surrounded by diving gannets. We hoisted sails and set course for Davaar Island at the entrance to Campbeltown Loch.

Caught on the wrong foot, retreat to Ardtoe.

Leaving the north channel of Loch Moidart we ignored the tempting sight of the Small Isles, Eigg and Rum and turned to the north where...

 ...we entered a turquoise lagoon where we...

 ...stopped for a well deserved second luncheon.

 We had intended continuing north and spending the night in a bothy in the Sound of Arisaig but two events changed our mind. The first was a phone call from my wife telling me that a family member was undergoing a life threatening major surgical operation. The second was the MSI weather warning on the VHF. It warned of imminent gales and heavy snow. Although we would have chosen a bothy in a relatively sheltered position in Loch Ailort, the medical news left me no option but to turn back. Ian is such a gentleman that he made it very easy to make the decision. We looked back wistfully to the mountains in the north but we both knew that we would return.

 We passed the hidden channel of the north entrance to Loch Moidart and the...

 ...the rocky ramparts of the west end of Eilean Shona before...

 ...rockhopping among the skerries and...

 ...channels to the hidden...

 ...sands of Ardtoe...

 ...which require maze solving skills...

 ...to finally find.

As a footnote, Ian and I faced blizzard driving conditions on our separate roads home and the March snows proved to be the worst of the winter with their drifts persisting well into April. Ian returned to his work at sea shortly but we will hopefully paddle again in late summer. Ian's account of this trip can be read here, here and here.

Carbon Fibre sea kayak skeg review and test.

Paddle sailing is a particularly satisfying aspect of sea kayaking and down wind you can hit speeds of over 20km/hr and frequently overtake the waves in front. Downwind the deployed skeg is very helpful to being able to paddle sail at maximum speed as you are not having to waste energy with steering paddle strokes. Most sea kayaks are fitted with plastic skegs of varying stiffness and form. Most are parallel sided with just a token rounding at the trailing and leading edges. Skegs like this are adequate for controlling weather cocking at normal paddling speeds of 5 to 8km/hr. However, at greater speeds I have found that some skegs hum, some seem to have little effect and some suddenly loose grip.

So it was with great interest that I read of Norbert Gancarz and his beautiful carbon fibre skegs with an aerofoil section. Norbert knew I had a Valley Nordkapp LV and he contacted me to see if I would be interested in trying one of his skegs out. I jumped at the chance (metaphorically speaking, with knees like mine I don't jump!)

In comparison, the Valley skeg is just a flat piece of plastic. The Valley skeg is pretty low aspect and as it is made of thick plastic, I don't think the standard one will bend much anyway. However, what I would really like to see is Norbert making a high aspect skeg to replace the P&H one, which I think is too flexible. P&H kayaks like the Delphin and Aries have proved to be outstanding for paddle sailing and I think they are crying out  for a stiffer skeg. Over to you Norbert....

Norbert's skeg has a similar outline to the standard Valley skeg but has a beautiful aerofoil shape and the standard of finish is stunning. I was very frustrated after I had fitted the skeg because further knee problems restricted my ability to paddle but after some highly successful physiotherapy following my last encounter with the orthopaedic knee surgeon I have taken to the water again (albeit maybe not for long as I have to see the shoulder surgeon next Wednesday and the knee surgeon in six weeks!)

On the water Norbert's skeg adjusted very easily, felt very positive and did not hum even at speed. When paddle sailing, the course could be adjusted with even a small movement of the skeg. Later in the summer I will be able to do back to back tests with another diolen Nordkapp LV (though sadly this does not have sail fittings) monitoring speed with a GPS.

Although I think Norbert's skeg feels more positive when paddle sailing, to be honest, I am not convinced it is much faster. However, if it prevents even one broach, you will be at least 100m ahead of your broached pal. Anyway what would you rather have hanging down from the stern, this beautiful skeg or a lump of grey plastic? 

Any problems? Well when carbon fibre skegs started to appear on windsurfers there was a spate of torn out fin boxes as the existing design could not cope with the high lateral load of a fully powered up windsurfer travelling at high speed and a stiff unforgiving skeg. (In windsurfing you are balancing the full force of the sail by driving the force to the board through your feet. A great deal of the load goes through the back foot, which is usually very close (fore and aft) to the skeg.)

I don't think this will be a problem for sea kayak skeg boxes such as those made in the UK or the Cobra factory in Thailand as sea kayak skegs are much smaller and the speeds are much less than in windsurfing. 

I can see that paddle sailors would be a market for skegs such as these. Also those people who buy carbon kevlar kayaks with beautiful clear hulls would surely love to have a matching skeg. I suggest Norbert contacts Valley!

I wish Norbert every success and if you would like to buy a carbon fibre Valley skeg you can contact Norbert on norbertga@o2.pl .