Sunshine and shade in the lee of the capital of Coll

It was 8pm before we were on the water again and crossing the entrance to Loch Eatharna. Arinagour (pop~90), the tiny capital of Coll, lies on the west side of the loch but we had no time to explore it. We were now bound for the rugged NE coast of Coll which lies beyond.


There are few places to land on this coast. As the sun sank to the west we found ourselves alternately in sunshine and shade.


The sun still lit the summits of Meall nan Uan and Meall na h-Iolaire. The rugged grandeur of their slopes tumble sheer into the sea and belie their modest heights of only 73m and 79m.

14/06/2009

Upstanding seakayakers meet cormorant family in Port Dubh, Coll.

The SE coast of Coll has many inlets and it was a joy to explore them rather than go from headland to headland. We were still in sunshine while great anvil headed cumulonimbus clouds grew and towered over the distant mainland.


Some inlets were in dead ends but the light in Port Dubh was just wonderful and completely belied its Gaelic name which means "dark harbour".


If we hadn't explored this little inlet, we would not have found this cormorant family, sunning themselves in the late afternoon sun.


All this exploration meant that the hours had passed rather too quickly. It was now 19:10 hours and we decided to pull into the little inlet behind Gharbhaird (rough point) for a break. The ground support team carried the boats while I watched. We then prepared a small evening banquet which was washed down with more red wine and followed by some excellent mature Stilton cheese. In case anyone is concerned about our fitness to paddle, we were all considerably more upright and upstanding than the submarine telecommunications cable marker post on the Aird behind!

14/06/2009

Sammy seal is found alive and well on Coll.

After our luncheon we paddled slowly up the SE coast of Coll.


There were many nooks and crannies among the skerries and islets.


We found Sammy seal resting among the barnacles and seaweed. He is a grey seal pup probably born last October so he has long since lost his white coat.


At each small headland our kayaks rose and fell with the easy heave of the ocean swell.

14/06/2009

Hardened athletes brave Coll's rugged south coast.

Our late luncheon consisted of a full three course cooked dinner, taken in the sheltered recess of Ban Ghlac on Coll's south coast. It seemed sensible to lighten our laden craft and so we washed the lot down with some preprandial red wine and some postprandial Guinness.


My knee was very sore so Jennifer volunteered...


...to nip up the hill behind the beach to catch the view of the distant Treshnish Isles and Mull beyond.


The towering cumulonimbus clouds were giving Mull a thorough soaking, while we basked in the late afternoon sunshine.

14/06/2009

Basking sharks and castles of Loch Breachacha, Coll

At the mouth of Loch Breachacha two magnificent 6m basking sharks cruised past our stationary kayaks.


The water was full of plankton and after cruising past each of us in turn, the sharks resumed their feeding.


At the head of Loch Breachacha there are two castles. The new one on the left was built in 1750 as a more comfortable mansion house for the MacLean chieftain. In 1773 Boswell and Johnson were guests of young Coll while they were storm bound on the island for ten days. Boswell wrote in his diary "On our arrival here, we felt ourselves very comfortable".


The nearby original Breachacha Castle dates from the early 15th century and was the seat of the MacLeans of Coll. In 1590 their rivals, the MacLeans of Duart in Mull invaded Coll and a fierce battle ensued. The Coll MacLeans were victors and tossed the heads of the fallen Duarts into the nearby Allt nan Cean: Burn of the Heads!

Even in the 1950's it was still one of the best preserved tower house castles in Scotland. It was restored for use as a private house in 1965 by a descendant of the Coll MacLeans.

14/06/2009

Paddling by the shifting sands of time on Coll

Leaving the Sound of Gunna, we entered the great sweep of Crossapol Bay at the SW end of Coll. The shifting dunes (white dunes) between here and neighbouring Feall Bay, to the north, have been designated as a Special Area of Conservation (SAC).


This magnificent dune system is one of the largest in the Inner Hebrides and is maintained by a plentiful supply of beach sand and the high average wind speeds (nearby Tiree averages 18mph, the top end of force 4).


There are burial grounds at both the west end and the east end. The Maclean clan owned Coll from the early 15th century until 1856. This isolated burial enclosure, at the east end of the bay, was built in 1802 by Alexander MacLean, the 15th chieftan, for his wife and himself. The traditional burial ground of MacLean chieftains was at Killunaig Church on the north coast but Alexander feared that shifting sands would expose or bury the graves there.

14/06/2009

The Sound of Gunna

Eventually the suppoprt team carried me and my boat to the water and lifted me into the cockpit. The return leg was about to begin.
















The turquoise waters of the Sound of Gunna slipped away beneath our keels.
















As our shadows flitted over the sands below, we came upon...















...one white sand beach...














...after another.

14/06/2009