The Dundrennan and Colvend coasts of the Solway

The Colvend coast: evening light on the sands revealed by a spring low tide. Hestan Island is in the distance. This steep road leads down to the hamlet of Port o' Warren.



The Dundrennan and Colvend coasts of Galloway on the Solway Firth can offer some challenging paddling conditions. At the weekend we took advantage of a spring flood tide to carry us up the coast from Abbey Burn Foot to Sandyhills. The spring tide set up overfalls at several of the headlands particularly from Lot's wife (a guano covered stack) to Balcary Point and between the monument and Cow's Snout. Shallow seas, clapotis from the sheer cliffs and a force 5 wind all contributed to a bumpy ride and I managed few photos.




Abbey Burn Foot is in the middle of the Dundrennan Range, a weapons firing range. The beach is often closed to visitors but was open this weekend so Tony, Billy and I took advantage.



The launch was a bit rough over boulders.



The weatheronline database recorded a force 5 southerly at the Dundrennan Range weather station.



Sandstone caves below Barlocco Heugh.



Castlehill Point was not as rough as some of the others.



The Needle's Eye arch on the Colvend Coast.



A stunning, remote, sandy cove just before Sandyhills Bay with its bank holiday crowds. We arrived at Sandyhills at high water. If we had been delayed and had to fight against the ebb, it would have been even rougher with breaking seas in the shallow wind against tide conditions.

Return from Gigha

The problem with paddling out to islands off Scotland's west coast is that quite often the forecast force 2 is exceeded, even in the middle of a high pressure system. Tony's flysheet blew off in the middle of the night and leaving the shelter of the lee of Gigha, it was apparent we would have a rough crossing.



Jennifer decided to take the ferry back but Tony and I were looking forward to a bracing crossing in the stiff north easterly.



Jennifer took these photos as we left the north of the island.



We left at 0845am to try try and catch the slack before the northerly flood built up against the NE wind.



Out in the Sound of Gigha steep waves were breaking and we frequently lost sight of each other. It was a very bracing crossing. Both Tony and I employed frequent low braces. It was a satisfying crossing at the end of a fantastic trip.

Gigha sunset

Seen from Gigha, the sunsets behind the Paps of Jura are among the finest anywhere on the west coast of Scotland.



Room with a view.





I do like a bonfire but at this time of year last season's vegetation is tinder dry and you need to be very careful not to set the whole countryside alight like two campers recently did in Galloway. In this case the wind was blowing strongly offshore and we lit the fire below high water mark.



We enjoyed a quiet libation of Ardbeg malt whisky. Its peaty aroma blended perfectly with the smoke from the fire and its amber liquid glowed in the embers of first the sunset and then the fire. It seemed highly appropriate to drink it here under a Hebridean sky. The distillery is only 25km away on Islay across the Sound of Jura.

Sammy the otter.

Confucius say "Jetskiers see no otters!"



Actually I think what he really said was:

"By nature, men are nearly alike; by practice, they get to be wide apart."

and

"Everything has its beauty but not everyone sees it."



We do not see otters each time we go to Gigha, once we had to put up with a pod of bottlenose dolphins.

The Boathouse, Gigha

It was hot, thirsty work crossing the Sound of Gigha. Feeling quite parched, we speeded up as we approached a promising looking beach with a stone building just behind.



As we neared, we saw through salt rimmed and reddened eyes that it was called "The Boathouse". Readers will hopefully appreciate the unstinting efforts of the seakayakphoto staff in bringing to these pages, reports of oases of refreshment, which are hidden away in the remoteness of these scattered isles, that form the extreme edge of the great Eurasian landmass. Staff are now experienced enough to know that buildings with names warrant further investigation......



An idyllic landing spot just 30 metres from the portal of the boathouse.



The kayaks are framed by the door of a very conveniently located sea kayaking hostelry. Indeed, such is the convenience of this establishment, should global warming raise the seas even a little, waterproof boots might be essential wear for those requiring a libation.



In the meantime, sea kayaking apparel caused not a batting of an eyelid. There was a little disappointment to find no draft beers but there was an excellent selection of bottled beers from Scotland, England, Ireland, Denmark, Germany, Spain, Czech Republic, USA and Estonia.



We sampled the produce of Scotland, Ireland and Estonia in the delightful beer garden. We decided that the lack of draught beer would in no way lead to a marking down of this establishment's markings.



The Boathouse was established in 2004 after the community buyout of Gigha from the former landlord. Prior to that, the establishment of new businesses on the island had been restricted. It is run by Joe and Lindsay and in season is open from 11am till 4pm and 6pm till 11pm. It also serves a wide variety of snacks and meals. The soups are excellent. Other facilities include showers, washing machines and tumble driers. There is free camping on the grass behind The Boathouse but it must be arranged in advance through reception at the nearby hotel (tel. 01583 505254). A further reassuring amenity (for kayakers who may over estimate their abilities) is the store for HM Coastguard which is situated in the loft of the building.

All in all, this is a near perfect sea kayaking pub and fully justifies a top 5* rating.

To be continued......

Great days on Gigha

Fresh from our retreat from the Mull of Kintyre we were facing a long drive home in the heat of the day when I spotted the lovely Isle of Gigha lying enticingly off the west coast of the Kintyre peninsula. We had no maps but I have been several times before so off we went! I love the dazzling white shell sand beaches and turquoise and ultramarine waters of the Hebrides.



It's a 36 km round trip and we camped overnight.



The Sound of Gigha can be a bumpy place. especially when the tide is running. On the crossing we had a great downwind blast in a fresh wind.



The west side was very sheltered and we enjoyed lovely views over the Sound of Jura to the Paps of Jura.

The Mull of Kintyre did not happen!

Mull of Kintyre
Oh mist rolling in from the sea,
My desire is always to be here
Oh mull of Kintyre
-"Mull of Kintyre", Wings

An east wind holds up the surf on the 6km long beach at Macrihanish on the west side Kintyre peninsula. (Photo Jennifer Wilcox)

As the crow flies Macrihanish is only 45 miles from Tony's house in Ayrshire (on the east side of the Firth of Clyde) but it involves a 166 mile drive round all the sea lochs that branch deep into the mountains on the north of the Firth.


The Mull of Kintyre lies 10 miles away to the south round this headland, the Irish coast is in the distance.

Our destination was the Mull of Kintyre. This fearsome and remote headland juts out into the North Channel which separates Scotland from Ireland and is only 12.6 miles wide at the Mull. All the tidal forces that link The Irish Sea and the Firth of Clyde to the Atlantic and the Sound of Jura are forced past this spot. As a result, HW times at Macrihanish and Sandhead (which are separated by only 15 miles of coastline and lie on either side of the Mull) differ by 2hrs and 15 minutes. Just to the east of Sron Uamha, low water "slack" is characterised by 20 minutes of breaking rollers close to the cliffs, as opposing currents sort themselves out, truly fearsome!


The Paps of Jura lie on the far side of the Sound of Jura.


Things did not look much better from sea level.



We needed calm conditions for the trip, Magicseaweed predicted falling surf heights from 9.5 feet on Thursday to 4.5 feet on Friday. The Met Office, BBC, Metcheck and Theyr.tv were all predicting force 2 easterlies on Friday and Saturday.





We went for it, leaving home at 5am on Friday morning. All the way round the Clyde lochs, the sea was flat calm but on arrival at Macrihanish there was a force 5 easterly blowing. Was this just a local and transient wind? Surely all the forecasts could not be be wrong? It would be 4 hours before we got down to the Mull, surely the wind would have dropped by then?

What did we do? We WIMPED OUT! Our image of hardened sea kayakers, able to down raw puffins in a single swallow, is dented. I had been so confident of a successful mission, I had not even bothered to bring maps of other locations. Did our lack of confidence mean it was a wasted 372 mile journey?

With dry paddles, we turned the car northwards in retreat....