Kayak Caledonia

My good friends, Tony Page and Gavin Gerrard, are about to embark on a fundraising paddle of at least 800km round northern Scotland: "Kayak Caledonia".


Tony Page.


Gavin Gerrard.

They are raising money for MacMillan Cancer Support and also for Childline.

I wish them a great trip!

:o)

Sea kayaking round Ardnamurchan Point

The channel at Portuairk was draining fast due to the spring tide and with three kayaks to move it was quite a logistics exercise to keep up with the disappearing water!


Sanna Bay on the north of Ardnamurchan is fringed by glowing white shell sand beaches.


Soon we had Ardnamurchan Point and the lighthouse in our sights. In the distance, the low lands of Coll and its Cairns lay to the west. We were nearly tempted to go there as a day trip!


The spring tide was in full flow to the south and we were carried effortlessly towards the point.


The lighthouse was built by Alan Stephenson in 1849. It is built of granite quarried on the Ross of Mull. There are Islamic influences in the architectural detail. The tower is 36m high and the light stands 55m above sea level. There are two white flashes every 20 seconds. The lighthouse was automated in 1988.


The south going tide starts at +01:00 HW Oban and the north going starts at -05:22 HW Oban. The maximum spring rate is only 1.5 knots but if there is any wind against tide there can be a fearsomely rough tide race and yachting pilots advise giving the point a wide berth of 2 miles! We were at the point during maximum south going spring flow, with a light northerly wind. Conditions were very calm

10/05/2009

Journey to the far west.

Our original plan was a camping trip from Ardnamurchan over to the Cairns of Coll, down west of Coll to Tiree then back up east of Coll and over to north of Mull and back round Ardnamurchan. Unfortunately the weather Thursday, Friday and Saturday of last week put paid to that. Surprisingly Sunday promised to be fair so instead, we planned a little day trip from Ardnamurchan, the most westerly point of mainland Britain.

We left Glasgow at 6am and arrived at the Corran ferry at 8am. Since I was last here, the 08:15 ferry has been cancelled and the first Sunday sailing was not till 08:45. The ferry was still tied up at its mooring on the far side of Loch Linnhe.


Rather than wait, we decided to drive the long way round Loch Linnhe, Loch Eil and finally Loch Shiel. This way added 33 miles extra to the 23 miles and 15 minute ferry journey but only saved about 15 minutes.

This is the monument to Prince Charles Edward Stewart who raised the standard of the 1745 rebellion at Glenfinnan at the head of Loch Shiel. Just behind and out of sight, is the curved Glenfinnan railway viaduct which has been made famous by the Harry Potter films.


At 09:51 we finally crossed the watershed of the Ardnamurchan peninsula above Loch Mudle and there before us lay the distant "Small Isles" of Rum and Eigg.


At 10:20, 4 hours and 20 minutes and 186 miles after leaving Glasgow, we arrived at our destination. The little shell sand cove of Portuairk is a natural harbour, formed by a deep inlet through the rocks of this exposed coast of Ardnamurchan. The tide was ebbing fast so we had a long carry before we finally hit the water at 11:13. We couldn't wait for the day's adventures to begin. But it was to be a long day...

10/05/2009

On location in Paradise!

10/05/2009

On location on Mull

Just paddled from north Ardnamurchan south round A. point. Fantastic day.

10/05/2009

Economy of scale.

This is the Maersk Beamont entering the Clyde on the 2nd of May 2009. We had stopped on Bennane Head to get a good view of Ailsa Craig. At first we thought she was an aircraft carrier but it was soon apparent she was an empty container ship. It is unlikely that Scotland would have enough exports to fill such a giant ship. Indeed tonight, a week later, she is still anchored in the Clyde north of the Cumbraes.

It would apear that she is a victim of the economic crisis and has come to the Clyde for shelter and to weather out the recession. She was launched in Germany on 30/11/2007. She is 294m long with a beam of 32m and a draught of 13m as such she is one of the largest ships to enter the Clyde.

You do need to be careful when crossing to Ailsa Craig!

I have posted about the history of the Maersk Line previously.

02/05/2009

A day at the races.

11/04/2009