Imagine you are at the edge of the sea on a day when it is difficult to say where the land ends and the sea begins and where the sea ends and the sky begins. Sea kayaking lets you explore these and your own boundaries and broadens your horizons. Sea kayaking is the new mountaineering.
Showing posts sorted by relevance for query corryvreckan. Sort by date Show all posts
Showing posts sorted by relevance for query corryvreckan. Sort by date Show all posts
Sunday, May 18, 2008
The Gulf of Corryvreckan by sea kayak.
The ebb was still running fast through the Corryvreckan and impeding our westward progress so we stopped for a rest below this old cottage on the SE of Scarba...where we took our second luncheon.
The mist was glowering low on the hills as we entered the Corryvreckan against the last of the ebb. A west wind had picked up and it is always a worry what conditions may lie outside. The transit of the Corryvreckan is about 5km so you will not get the whole way through at slack water, not that there is a great deal of slack anyway!
We made steady progress but
...as we passed the site of the great submarine pinnacle of rock, which extends up from deep within the great rock trench of the Gulf, the waters started moving uneasily and with increasing restlessness. It is a grim place and it fills insignificant kayakers with awe.
Then as we approached the western end, the mist began to clear.
Our mood changed as we saw that outside the Gulf the winds were still light....
...and there was only a moderate swell.
Then we were through but did we have a thirst?
10/05/2008
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
Waiting for the ebb in the Corryvreckan.
We entered the great gulf of Corryvreckan just before slack water. There was no swell and we had never seen the SW of Scarba in such calm conditions.
Jennifer tried to look under the water to see if she could see the Old Hag that stirs the Corryvreckan but the witch must have been scared of Jennifer's goldfish hat.
Even at slack water there was some stirring as we paddled over the submarine pinnacle that throws up the "whirlpool".
Even Phil had found the whole experience somewhat anticlimactic, so we decided to stop for an evening meal...
...on a lovely cobbled beach on the NE tip of Jura.
We had a grandstand view of the Corryvreckan as we consumed our victuals and washed them down with a fine malt or two. We would now wait until the ebb had built up sufficiently for a little fun...
Sunday, January 21, 2018
In the wake of the dead: a sea kayaking pilgrimage to Oronsay and Colonsay via Jura.
Read Ian's trip summary here.
Day 1 Carsaig Bay, Argyll mainland to Glenbatrick Bay, Jura: 26km
Blog 1 Paddling and portaging in the wake of the dead.
Blog 2 Enchanted again by the remote west coast of Jura.
Day 2 Glenbatrick Bay, Jura to Kiloran Bay, Colonsay: 41km.
Blog 5 Why sea kayakers should consider carrying a PLB, unless they are full sibling to an ostrich.
Day 3 Kiloran Bay, Colondsay to Shian Bay Jura: 30km.
Blog 10 A washed up whale and an adequate supply of washed up wood on the machair of north Colonsay.
Day 4 Shian Bay, Jura to Carsaig Bay, Argyll mainland: 40km.
Blog 21 Taking a break at Red Rock.
Blog 22 End of day in Carsaig Bay.
Postscript
If you would prefer not to paddle the Corryvreckan in the conditions in this photo, you can time your traverse for slack water:
The west going flood begins +0430 HW Oban (-0100 HW Dover) at 7 to 8 knots at springs and +0515 HW Oban (-0015 HW Dover) at neaps.
The east going ebb begins -0145 HW Oban (+0515 HW Dover) up to 8 knots at springs and -0100 HW Oban (+0600 HW Dover) at neaps.
The time changes by 6.5 minutes each day between springs and neaps. The constant between HW Dover and HW Oban does vary, so most accurate times are calculated by using HW Oban times (though not if you have calculated HW Oban indirectly from HW Dover!!).
Slack water lasts up to 30 minutes at neaps. At springs there is no real slack, there is always water moving about somewhere in the Corry. These times are pretty good as long as there is high pressure. Low pressure and wind can alter timing considerably.