15 year old malt and baked potatoes in the Kilbrannan Sound.

From Skipness Point we continued our voyage down the Kintyre coast of Kilbrannan Sound. A pesky headwind had got up which slowed our progress somewhat. Being gentle-persons of a certain age, we decided not to continue to our original destination, which was still over an hour away.

We had spotted a good camp site, sheltered from the prevailing wind, above a shingle storm beach. However, it was low water and the only access to the beach was a 77 meter long, slippery, rocky channel which narrowed to less than 1 meter. We unloaded our gear into our trusty IKEA bags at the water's edge and made several journeys up to the HW mark. We then used one Karitek portage strap to allow the three of us to carry each empty boat up the beach.

 Somewhat exhausted, it took a little while to set up camp and get changed.

 It was good to get the evening meal on. I was grateful that Ian and Mike gathered wood for the fire as my knees were rather painful by this stage.

After dinner it was time to crack open the whisky. It was challenging deciding which we preferred, the 15 year old Dalmore or the 15 year old Dalwhinnie. As the night wore on we declared a draw...

...as we tucked into baked potatoes and salted butter.

Je suis prest in Skipness Chapel graveyard.

 Skipness or Kilbrannan Chapel is a short walk from the beach at Skipness Point on the Kintyre peninsula.

 The chapel dates from the 13th century though details like this lancet window in old red sandstone probably date from later. It was dedicated to St Brendan (Kilbrannan means church of  Brendan).                                    

 The chapel was abandoned for regular worship in the 18th century but the graveyard is still in use.

 There oldest memorials are carved mediaeval grave slabs and...

...the older grave stones date from the early 18th century. This one was erected in 1710 to the memory of Archibald JOHNSTON sailer and Agnes McMILEN his spows. 

Later stones date from the late 19th century like this Fraser stone with the clan crest and motto "Je suis prest". This  translates as "I am ready" which is rather appropriate on a grave stone.

As we left the environs of the chapel we looked over to Skipness Castle which also dates from the 13th century. The oldest parts were built by Sven the Red, a Viking who founded the McSween clan. The castle is open to the public but time was getting on, so we made our way back to the boats.

Skipness bombing range and the Tirpitz.

We made our way up from the beach at Skipness Point to the Old Chapel and its walled graveyard. Just to the east of the graveyard we came across this old concrete arrow.

It can be clearly seen in this view from Google Maps.

The arrow points straight down the Kilbrannan Sound and it formed part of the Skipness bombing range in WW2. RAF and Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm pilots based at nearby RAF Machrihanish practised dropping bombs and torpedoes here.

They were observed by a team of about 45 Wrens who recorded the bombing runs from a lookout post on the west side of Skipness Bay. In March 1944 the Skipness range was used to train squadrons for the attacks on the German battleship Tirpitz. After a series of partially successful raids using aircraft carrier based light aircraft, Tirpitz was eventually sunk by heavy RAF Lancaster bombers in Tromsø fjord on the 12th of November 1944. Afterwards, a RN Vice Admiral visited Skipness to congratulate the Wrens for their part in the effort to sink Tirpitz.

The horror of WW2 seemed very far away as lambs grazed the fresh spring grass growing round the old concrete arrow.

Ne'er cast a cloot till May be oot.

 After luncheon we proceeded down the delightful east coast of the Kintyre peninsula. We passed several beaches of ...

...light quartzite pebbles, backed by suitable camping spots but we were bound for further south.

After a little tidal assistance we were approaching slack water and a cold head wind picked up as the skies clouded over.

Although the temperature had dropped like a stone we were warmly attired in our dry suits and clooty thermals so we were able to enjoy the magnificent prospect down the Kilbrannan Sound, which separates Kintyre from the mountainous island of Arran.

 As we slipped through the reefs of Skipness Point...

 ...we passed these delightful turnstones, resplendent in summer breeding plumage despite the old adage ne'eer cast a cloot till May be oot!

 It was with some relief that we drew our kayaks onto the old red sandstone sands of Skipness Bay.

We decided to explore onshore but first we had to cross the green zone of death...slippery weed covered cobbles. Before my last knee operation I would have required assistance to cross this barrier. I was delighted to manage it on my own with apparently little more difficulty than Ian or Mike. If you ever need surgery on a limb, I commend you to follow your physiotherapist's instructions to the letter. "No gain without pain" is, I understand, the motto of this most excellent of professions!

You can follow Ian's account of our trip here....

Spring in Kintyre.

 From Ardlamont Point we paddled across the mouth of Loch Fyne in...

 ,,,glassy calm conditions.

The only thing that threatened our equilibrium was this fast speed boat which came weaving down the loch at high speed towards us. Ian hailed it three times on the VHF. There was no answer but to the helmsman's credit he dropped the boat off the plane and passed well clear of us.

 It was getting hotter as we approached Kintyre but we spotted the white shingle beach of...

...Croit Bagh. It was such a relief to hear the crunch of shingle on the keel and get my stiff and sore knees out for a stretch!

It was time for first luncheon which was washed down with some of Ian's 15 year old Dalwhinnie.

After lunch I went for a short walk. The bed rocks which plunged into the sea on either side of the beach were composed of...

 contorted schist. Above the rocks, the hillside was a beautiful...

 ...mixed deciduous woodland. Birch, alder oak and willow were all bursting into bud and the air was filled with the song of chiff-chaffs, willow warblers and a solitary cuckoo.

 Beneath the burgeoning canopy primroses had burst into flower. Althougth at first glance all primroses look the same there are actually two subtypes called pin and thrum. These are pin. All primroses have both male and female flower parts but they are arranged differently. In the pin form the stigma is at the mouth of the flower tube and in the thrum form the anther is at the mouth of the flower tube. As primroses are insect pollinated, this ensures that pin pollen tends to fertilize thrum flowers and vice versa.

Behind the beach this delightful stream emerged from the woodland behind the beach. I filled my flask but I always boil such water and never drink it directly.

Ardlamont no more....

 From Kildavanan Bay on Bute we set off across the mouth of the West Kyle of Bute towards...

 ...Ardlamont buoy. We were keen to see if Kylie the common dolphin still frequented the environs of the buoy.

Sadly Kylie was no longer there, we do hope no harm has befallen her and she returns, perhaps as before with a calf! We also found that the Ardlamont buoy has been moved 370m to the south of its position on pre May 2012 charts. It just shows make the most of life today. Even seemingly permanent things change and are no more.

 We now paddled towards Ardlamont Point at the SW end of the Cowall peninsula and the ...

 ...delightful little beach at Port nam Muileach where we stopped for...

...second breakfast and to catch up with our news.

The Monday morning Commute to Bute.

This blog has been pretty silent for a long time as my recovery from major surgical operations has been long and hard and I was unable to kayak for seven and a half months.. However, a weather window opened just when I was feeling able to try a camping trip again, my first in nearly a year! Ian, Mike and I exchanged some texts on Sunday and amazingly a trip took shape.

Mike and I commuted to Wemyss Bay rail and ferry station early on Monday morning and arranged to meet Ian in Bute where he was staying with his relatives. The Victorians sure knew how to build public buildings. The Wemyss Bay station served many of the Clyde steamers that took generations of Glaswegians "Doon the Water" for their holidays.

 That bygone age is recalled by the Norman Wilkinson posters which still adorn the station walls.

 Right on time the MV Bute arrived to carry us...

 ...over the Firth of Clyde to...

...the port of Rothesay on the island of Bute.

 A short drive to Kildavanan Bay on Bute's west coast saw us busy packing for our trip.

 It was the first camping trip of the year for each of us but amazingly we each had space to spare...

...darn, we will need to remember to bring more ballast the next time.

Although it was the end of April we decided on dry suits as the water temperature was only 7.5C and our trip would involve some crossings of the mouths of the West Kyle of Bute, Loch Fyne, the Kilbrannan Sound and the Sound of Bute.

Soon we were off on another adventure....