Bottlenose dolphins cruising in the Clyde!

There is a pod of bottlenose dolphins cruising the Clyde at the moment. We saw them in the mouth of Loch Fyne, just south of Tarbert. The captain of the MV Loch Tarbert called us up on deck to witness an amazing display of leaping cetaceans. I have never taken so many photos of splashes!


How many dolphins do you see playing in the ferry's wake!


After all the excitement the MV Loch Tarbert motored on and after one and a half hours we disembarked at lovely Loch Ranza on Arran. This white van from a local hotel reversed down the slip to pick up several boxes of fish that had been put on the ferry at Tarbert. Amazingly, despite being surrounded by water and fishing boats, no fish are landed on the island. So now we know where the hotels get their fish!

19/03/2009

Up to the elbows in it!

Many sea kayakers, the world over, know Gordon Brown of Skyak either from attending one of his courses, like I have, or attending the Scottish Sea Kayak Symposium. Many others will know him only through his excellent book "Sea kayak" published by Pesda Press.

I am delighted to hear that my friend, and fellow sea kayaker, Simon Willis is currently making a series of instructional DVDs with Gordon. As Gordon is one of the most respected BCU level 5 coaches and Simon is a very experienced journalist and broadcaster, these should be really worth watching out for.

As you can see, Simon is up to his elbows in hard work!

Tarbert castle and East Loch Tarbert

After a breezy crossing of Loch Fyne, we slipped into the shelter of East Loch Tarbert under the grey walls of Tarbert castle. The name Tarbert lets you know that this is a narrow neck of land, separating two arms of the sea and that it was where the Vikings dragged their boats overland from one body of water to the other.


A castle was first built here by Magnus Barelegs in 1068. The present structure dates from the 13th century and was extended by King Robert the Bruce in 1325. The tower house, which is the most visible part of the ruins today, was added by King James IV in 1494.


We paddled deep into the recesses of the Loch and came to the small town of Tarbert with its multicoloured houses and rattling yacht masts.


We landed on a patch of seaweed...


...from previous experience, the mud at low tide is very foul smelling!


We enjoyed a lunch in the early spring sunshine, while waiting for the ferry to arrive.


After lunch we paddled back to the ferry jetty at the mouth of the loch. CalMac have recently changed their policy on carrying kayaks on ferries. They used to charge a flat £5 per single trip but they now go free! The only thing is, you need to be able to load and unload the kayaks yourself and not cause delay to the rest of the ferry traffic. A trolley is really the only sensible way to achieve this, especially if you are loaded with camping gear

19/03/2009

Of geology and pakora!

We landed at Bracken Bay to the south of the Heads of Ayr. This area must be a geologist's paradise. The Heads are a well preserved lower carboniferous volcanic vent but these adjacent weathered cliffs...


..are composed of the most wonderfully coloured layers of sedimentary rocks, which appear to be sandstone on top of a conglomerate layer.


Relieved by our exploration of the geological features we made our way onwards to Ayr. Phil is as pleased as punch with his new Quest. Just as well, as it was to be well tested twice within the week.


On arrival at Seafield in Ayr, David rushed off to Ayr India to obtain supplies of Scotland's national snack...pakora. All that talk of once hot rocks had given us an appetite for some hot food! We ate with gusto, as the sun went down behind the Heads of Ayr.


From Maidens to Seafield is 20.5km. Tony and I hit 15.5km surfing on following seas in the section south of Dunure.

15/03/2009

Return to Arran

We are on Glen Sannox beach after a force 5 wind against tide crossing from Bute and Portencross. Just heating up the bhoona!

21/03/2009

End of winter timetable.

Hidden away in the Calmac winter timetable is a little known ferry service. It only runs once per day, if places are reserved in advance, and it stops for the summer season on 26th of March. The ferry leaves Tarbert on the remote Kintyre peninsula at 1215 and arrives at Loch Ranza on Arran at 1340. I have often hoped for a settled spell at this time of year when the sun sets at 1830. This would allow just enough time to paddle back after taking the ferry to Loch Ranza.


We took the car over on the ferry from Gourock to Hunters Quay then drove past Loch Striven and the Kyles of Bute to Portavadie. We then enjoyed a wind assisted blast across the mouth of Loch Fyne to Tarbert where we planned to board the ferry to Arran.


Altogether we paddled 30km and on the way over to Tarbert we hit a maximum speed of 12km/hr.

19/03/2009

Spring is sprung in Skipness

Just paddled from Arran to Kintyre. We are sitting here in Heaven!

19/03/2009