The shortest sea kayak camping trip ever? Just 7km!

Mike and I  found ourselves with a spare evening in the Oban area, I was due to meet Tony the next day for a trip over to Jura. So we went to Ellenabeich on Seil and set off to arrive at a great wee camp site before sunset.

 All was quiet when we set off from the harbour which is sheltered by Easdale island.

The calm did not last long. As we went round the outside of Easdale harbour it was three hours after slack water. We had some fun as the full force of a spring ebb was running against the wind and swell. There are no photos on the next short leg as my attention was taken by the sea conditions. As I headed for our intended landing spot the skerries were a mass of breaking water. I could sense Mike hanging back as I went into a dog leg between two skerries. I shouted it would be calm inside...

 ...and so it proved to be. We slid into an almost mirror calm harbour of a former slate quarry.

You can see why these are called The Slate Islands. We landed on a slate beach. The crystals are iron pyrites or fool's gold. When you break a slate open they are bright gold but soon turn to rust.

As soon as I got my tent up and got changed, I went off looking for something...

...and I found it! In October 2004, when I last camped here, I hid a stash of logs I had bought in a garage in a little cave. Nearly eleven years later they were well seasoned and bone dry! We would have a fire later!

We now only had seconds to go before the sunset. Mike was able to run up the hill and catch it but I was a bit slower as my knees were a bit sore after the long drive and the rushing about.

Although I very nearly missed the sunset I was pretty pleased to just catch the sun as it slipped behind Mull.

From the ridge above our camp we had a great view of the Garvellachs and Mull .

We could just make out Colonsay on the horizon to the left of the Garvellachs.

The coast of Luing stretched away past Fladda lighthouse, Scarba and Jura to Islay some 50km away. The inlet to the left is the Cuan Sound and the tide rored through it all night!

 We stayed on the ridge as the sky above Mull turned to gold.
 

 As night fell we got the fire going and baked potatoes in the embers of my rediscovered logs as Venus shone brightly in the cold sky above.

The following morning dawned clear and bright, the tide was ebbing fast. As the old slate harbour empties completely, we wasted no time and were...

 ...soon packed and on the water for our...

...short return to Ellenabeich. Mike and I both agreed that though this may well hold the record as the shortest ever sea kayak camping trip, it had also been one of the best!

A paddle sailing epiphany on the way to Morar.

On leaving the Arisaig skerries the wind veered to the SW about F3-4. We now faced the joy of a 7km downwind paddle back to the mouth of Morar Bay.

This was payback time for our hard upwind paddle earlier in the day.

It was on this run that Ian experienced his paddle sailing epiphany. In his own words:

"The major thing for me when considering whether or not to take up sea kayak sailing was that the advantage had to outweigh the faff of rigging a sail and the extra clutter on deck. As a professional seafarer, loose bights of line really trigger my OCD! Safe to say, the advantage (and sheer fun) most definitely does outweigh the faff/clutter. Oh, and don't listen to anyone claiming that sea-kayak sailing is somehow "cheating" (cheating what exactly?!) - these will likely be the same folk who buy a kayak with hull speed as a major consideration....."

Well Ian took to paddle sailing like a duck to water and we covered the 7km in just over 45 minutes. All toosoon we passed the headland at the mouth of Morar Bay and...

..entered the sheltered waters within.

It was nearly the end of our four day trip round the lands of Moidart and the Arisaig skerries. We paddled slowly up Morar Bay which was backed by mysterious mountains disappearing into the mist.

Our trip ended on the white sands of Morar.

56.9 degrees North, the coral sands and the green lagoon of Arisaig.

We now entered the calm water inside the Arisaig skerries. The flood tide was now pushing us in augmenting the pull of the sails.

We decided to stop for third luncheon on a little tidal beach of coral sand on Eilean an Fhraoich Beag, which had a view over...

 ...the lagoon to Luinga Mhor.

The coral is made up of the  bleached skeletons of the red algae, Lithothamnium calcareum.

It did not take long to get the stoves and flasks out.

 Then we were off  again, threading through the maze of skerries and the...

...crystal clear, green waters of the Arisaig lagoon.

A cold, grey winter day round the Arisaig skerries.

After hugging the Arisaig shore to get out of the cold SE wind we  paddled out round...

...Eilean Ighe before...

...crossing the North Channel of Loch Nan Ceall. We passed Fraoch Geal (White Heather) CY67 as she was lifting her pots.

We now entered the maze of the Arisaig skerries and promptly stopped on a white shell sand beach on Luinga Beag for a quick second luncheon before paddling on...

...past basking seals towards the...

...open sea through a narrow channel on Luinga Mhor.

We now enjoyed a bouncy ride round the outside of Luinga Mhor. The 5D mk3 stayed firmly in its bag! The extreme wide angle of the GoPro camera tends to flatten the sea. Fortunately Ian (in the kayak behind me) managed to...

Photo by Ian Johnstone

...get this shot which gives a better idea of the conditions!

Luncheon with Local Hero at Camasdarach.

On leaving Morar Bay, we turned south into the Sea of the Hebrides. We passed more white sand beaches but diverted seaward round the black line of Rubh' an Achaid Mhoir which...

 ...we rounded then turned in to the magnificent beach...

 ...at Camasdarach which is backed by some high sand dunes. This beach featured in the film "Local Hero".

As it was spring low water we had plenty of opportunity to explore kelp gardens...

 ...on our way to our first stop at Portnaluchaig.

 We walked over the sands to...

 ...the shelter of some rocks as the  wind was already increasing from the south.

 After our luncheon we left Portnaluchaig and entered another maze of skerries.

Two herring gulls were eating something that was bright red and still wriggling. At the time I thought it was a red gurnard but now I am not so sure.

The bar at Morar was not dry.

Morar Bay is famous for its dazzling silvery white sands but it was a rather grey...

...day and, together with noise from the road, the train, a chain saw and...

...even a passing Hercules, I was concerned that Ian and Mike might not get the best impression of this beautiful spot.

So as we passed one of the stunning beaches on its north shore I described to them what it was like when the sun shone. This was on a previous trip and I enjoyed wonderful views to the Small Isles of Eigg and Rum (Canna is just visible to the left of Eigg) across the dazzling sands and turquoise water.

As the current carried us down between the sand banks the sounds of civilisation faded away leaving only the calls of the many wading birds. The mournful call of the curlew contrasted with the pip of the oystercatchers.

The ebb was running strongly at the shallow bar across the mouth of the bay where it met the incoming wind it created some standing waves. Normally at this point you would be captivated by the outline of Eigg on the horizon (just visible through the mist) but this time we concentrated on...

Photo by Ian Johnstone

...having fun in the small waves. We certainly got our faces wet on Morar bar.

A fall too far at Morar.

With an extra day to spend in the Arisaig area it seemed natural to spend it in the Arisaig skerries but how best to get there? We could launch from our overnight accommodation at the Glenuig Inn  and cross the Sound of Arisaig but we paddled half way across the Sound of Arisaig in our attempt to view the eclipse of the sun. Then I discovered that Ian and Mike had never paddled in the estuary of the River Morar surrounded by its famous silver sands. Plan made! We would launch at Morar paddle south to the Arisaig skerries then take advantage of a forecast increasing southerly to paddle sail back.

The River Morar is only 800m long but it drains Loch Morar the 5th largest loch in Scotland and with a maximum depth of 310m it is the deepest body of fresh water in the British Isles. It is actually deeper than the Atlantic continental shelf! Like Loch Shiel, it was a sea water loch after the Ice Age but as the land has risen, the glacial shelf at the mouth of the loch (where the glacier melted as it reached the sea) has risen and it has been fresh for thousands of years. From the loch, the river  falls 10.1m to the sea. Technically it would have been possible to launch into the river and run the falls but we did not much like the zigzag nature of the rapid, nor the big volume of water in it , nor the somewhat frightening noise it was making. So we launched from a lay-by on the south side of the estuary head. If it is busy you can drop the boats here and park a short way away up the hill overlooking the estuary. First we paddled under the new road bridge that carries the bypass round the village of Morar.

We launch we had a stiff paddle against the current and up a considerable slope to the final rapid which is crossed by the old road bridge and the large arches of the railway bridge. The railway from Fort William was built in 1901 to carry fresh fish from the fishing port of Mallaig (which at one time was one of the biggest herring ports in the UK) to London.

White water kayakers might consider this rapid rather good sport but...

 ...for us, one look from the bottom was enough, it looked even worse than the falls on the river Shiel. so...

 ...we turned tail and drifted leisurely downstream...

 ...on the nicely sloping water that had caused us much sweat just moments before.

We were soon back at the silver sands of our launch point. This old dive boat wasn't going anywhere but we were bound for the Arisaig skerries!

For the full sea kayaking stereovision experience, you can also read Ian's account starting here.