Measuring up northern giants on the electric causeway to Ireland.

We first saw her looming out of the mist as we rounded Bennane Head. At first we thought she was the NLV Pharos, which we have previously seen in this area.

However, by the time we were off the mouth of the River Stinchar, it was obvious that she was much bigger than Pharos.

Time to consult the maps. "Nope, she's definitely not on the OS 1:50,000" "That's funny,  she's not on the Admiralty chart either! I wonder what it is?"

Although both the map and chart had been unhelpful, ShipAIS came to the rescue. She is North Sea Giant. She was launched in 2011 and is the World's tallest Offshore Construction Vessel. Her length overall is 160.9m with a 30.0m beam. Her gross tonnage is 18151T, which makes the Pharos, at 3,672T a relative midget.

She was holding a geostationary position above the Moyle Interconnector cable, which carries electricity from Currarie Port, Scotland to Ireland. The cable has a number of breaks and North Sea Giant has been replacing damaged sections of the cable.

An unadventurous lot, down on Ayrshire's Atlantic Coast.

All too soon it was time to leave the shelter of the River Stinchar.

As it was near high tide, the bar at the river mouth was well covered...

 ...but still gave David an excuse to practice his air braces.

South of Ballantrae Bay the coastline is dominated by steep cliffs of dark Cambrian basaltic rocks. On this stretch we came across this particularly fine pillow lava. It looked like it had just oozed out of the volcano but that was about 500 million years ago.

We now entered a sea kayaker's wonderland, the coastline consisted of a complex series of gullies, geos and caves.

Each time we came to a headland we would say "that was the best bit of rockhopping ever" only to discover, once round the headland,...

 ...that the next bit...

 ...was even better.

 Waterfalls cascaded down the cliffs, only to be lost in piles of boulders above the sea.

 Ayrshire's Atlantic coast...

 ...just kept getting better and...

...better. In the SW of Scotland we tend not to travel far to enjoy sea kayaking in exotic locations. I wonder why we are such an unadventurous lot?

Don't look a vet's gift horse in the mouth.

We decided that the sheltered lower reaches of the River Stinchar would make an ideal spot to partake of our first luncheon. My knees were killing me so I craftily let the others land first, so that there would be plenty of hands to assist me ashore.

The previous evening, or rather earlier that morning, at 3am to be precise, David had won a case of some beer stuff called Budweiser. Though I have some familiarity with the Czech Budweiser, a premium lager which comes in large bottles, this was something new. It was brewed by an upstart American company and served in rather small bottles. We are well used to screw caps, ring pulls and cork stoppers but the security cap on the top of these bottles had us foxed. The difficulty removing it seemed to be in inverse proportion to the strength of the liquid contained therein.

David disappeared down to the kayaks to look for a device called a bottle opener (muttering a veterinary expression under his breath.... something about gift horses). He came back empty handed, with his hang dog, thirsty expression. Things might have got desperate...

...but I managed to find an old fence post with a metal staple. Rested in the crook of an old branch it made a very passable bottle opener...

...et voila... opened bottles for...

...thirsty paddlers.

Jim asked "What's the difference between a sea kayak and a bottle of American Budweiser?....Well, a sea kayak floats on water...Budweiser tas...."

Fortunately we had also brought some 10 year old Jura and a very passable 15 year old Dalwhinnie  to properly toast first luncheon. David now looked a good deal happier.

Full flood puts feathered friends to flight.

I had originally intended landing at the south end of Ballantrae beach, where it is more sheltered from the surf. The last time Tony and I had surfed in over the bar at the mouth of the River Stinchar but David didn't fancy it and stayed out. So I was quite surprised when David nipped in, but the rising big spring tide meant there was more water over the bar and the swell wasn't breaking. I followed David in with Andrew, leaving Jim to gather Phil in.

Once inside, we were paddling up the River Stinchar but on the map we were on dry ground! The estuary of the Stinchar is very active and a combination of flood and storm causes the mouth to alternately move north then south over time. You can see the amount of erosion caused by our recent winter storms in the top photo. The hill in the distance is Knockdolian 265m. Like Ailsa Craig, it is a volcanic plug and as it was sometimes mistaken for Ailsa Craig in poor visibility, mariners of the time called it "the False Craig". The Clyde Cruising Club Sailing Directions still warn about it.

 As the river meanders beneath the slopes of Knockdolian, it leaves isolated lagoons which...

...flood in spring tides...

...creating a very rich habitat for bird life and is the reason this area is a Nature Reserve.

Despite this protection, the birds still had to take flight as the gravel beds and lagoons flooded with the rising  spring tide. First the whaups (curlews)...

 ...then the geese and finally...

...the peewits (lapwings) took flight and filled the air above us.

Drouthy kayakers give Ballantrae a miss.

 Rounding Bennane Head, we set off across the expanse of Ballantrae Bay.

 Once clear of the head, a little northerly breeze brought the sails to life...

 ...and we made steady progress...

...across the bay towards...

 ...the village of Ballantrae. The name has Gaelic origins from Baile an Traigh, the village of the beach. It does have a very big beach. However, this name only dates back to 1617. Prior to that it was called Kirkcudbright Innertig. Apparently the Laird of Bargany who rebuilt the ancient Kirk of St Cuthbert at the mouth of the River Tig had a penchant for the Gaelic!

The little church has a stained glass window in memory of Elsie Mackay. She was the third daughter of the Earl of Inchcape, whose family lived in nearby Glenapp Castle. Elsie was one of the first women to own and fly her own plane and sadly, in March 1928, she died in an unsuccessful attempt to fly across the Atlantic from east to west.

The stone tower on the skyline is the remains of a windmill which was built in 1684.

 Sadly Ballantrae turn its back to the beach...

...and we didn't much feel like landing in the surf any way. This was a pity as it was time for first luncheon and we had a drouth on us.

Bums on seats round Bennane Head.

We now set off exploring...

...the wonderful coastline...

 ...that leads to Bennane Head.

Despite the shiny newness and lightweight construction of his Taran...

 ...Jim got stuck in as the swells pushed us on through...

 ...the narrowest of gaps...

...on our way to the raised beach rock platform at the foot of the Head. 

Although we rounded the Head with two hours of the flood left to run, it was flat as a pancake because of the lack of wind. It can be a very different place on the ebb tide against a SW wind (see below).

We met two SUP boarders coming the other way, who heading out to explore the Head. Chris Saunders (L) is a well known west coast kayaker and obviously enjoys this new form of paddlesport. Jim and I were not so sure. We kept our bums firmly (out of sight) on our seats.

02/05/2009

On other occasions it is less easy to keep your bum on your seat as the waves steepen into a roller-coaster as you near the Head.

The tides round Bennane Head are rather interesting. As the flood rushes up the Firth of Clyde, through the North Channel, you might expect it to flow north all the way up the Ayrshire coast. However, it hits Bennane head and splits, so south of the Head the flood is south going!

On the ebb the two streams reverse and travelling at 2.5 knots, they collide off the Head.  This disturbed water can get even rougher against a SW wind.

For kayakers, unless you hit the Head at slack water, you will need to paddle against the tide on one side of the Head or the other.

Bennane Head tidal streams:

South of Bennane Head to Finnarts point

SSW going +0425 HW Greenock 

NNE going -0140 HW Greenock 

North of Bennane Head to Lendalfoot

NNE going +0425 HW Greenock

SSW going -0140 HW Greenock

The Cannibal's Cave and Skippy the Bush Kangaroo!

From Whilk Isle, we paddled towards the cliffs of Balcreuchan Head. Almost immediately we came across this blow hole. Unfortunately the swell wasn't quite big enough for real explosions but it still made a satisfying "boom, whoosh!"

We now cut inshore of Balcreuchan Stack...

...on our way towards Sawney Bean's Cave in Balcreuchan Port when, all of a sudden, Phil gave a great shout. Half expecting to see the Great Cannibal himself, we looked up as Phil pointed high on the hill...

..."Look, it's a real, red kangaroo....why it's, it's... I think it's Skippy!". We all nearly fell out our kayaks with laughter, Phil had seen a roe deer leaping up the side of the hill on its rear legs. It seemed to have hurt one of its front legs, which it held close to its chest, while leaping away on the other three.  At first glance it might have looked, a....bit..., like a kangarooo. But...

Clearly Phil has been spending too much time watching "Skippy, the complete collection (vol 1)" DVD, which David had given him for Christmas.

As a somewhat red faced Phil paddled on, a chorus of "Skippy, Skippy,....Skippy the Bush Kangaroo" gently wafted after him. Clearly we were going to have a good day out and we had hardly started!

By the way, the entrance to the Bean's cave is in the middle of the above photo with Skippy. It is entered by traversing the horizontal groove above the sea, lower right, then climbing the slanting curved gully up to the cave.