The Gulf of Corryvreckan

The Corryvreckan viewed from high on Scarba looking SW to Eilean Mor and Jura. The tanker gives some idea of the awesome scale of this place.


We rested here floating above a sandy bottom in a lagoon just before the Corryvreckan. We entered it through a narrow cleft in the rocks and it opened out behind. I wonder if it was "Paradise Bay" as described by Robin Lloyd-Jones on page 67 of his wonderful book Argonauts of the Western Isles.

One slightly confusing factor to watch for on approaching the Gulf of Corryvreckan is with the tides. It is that the ebb flows northwards on the west side of Jura but the flood flows northwards on the east side of Jura.


Despite the lack of wind and swell on the approach, a swell appeared at at the final headland before we entered the Corryvreckan.


An uphill view back the way we came! The tide spun me round and we were moving at up to 18km/hr.


On 09/06/2007 high water Oban was at 12:54 BST and it was 1 day after neaps. In the Gulf of Corryvreckan the flood (west flowing) starts at +04:30 Oban at springs +05:15 Oban at neaps; the ebb (east flowing) starts at -01:45 Oban at springs, -01:00 Oban at neaps. Rate is 8+ knots. We approached towards the end of the ebb. Slack water was predicted to be 12:54 + 05:10 which is 18:04. Please note that although we found these times to be accurate in the middle of a high pressure system, these times are affected by many weather and tidal factors and should be viewed as approximate.

We entered the Corryvreckan at 15:30 which meant there was another 2hours and 30 minutes of ebb to go. We only did this because it was neaps and there was no wind. On the ebb, the most turbulent water is often round the islands on the south shore of the Gulf.

If you look at the left hand track where we crossed the Gulf, you will see the current slackened off towards the Scarba shore. The track then gives an impression of the ferry angle we had to use throughout the crossing. It would be very easy to be swept right out of the Gulf and miss the far shore.


This is an extract from my old 1970's chart from my sailing days. The flood is shown with feathered arrows and the ebb with plain arrows. The brown stains are a mix of coffee and blood!


Eilean Mor and Buige rock (near the "68" on the map above) with Scarba in the distance.


Eilean Mor and Buige rock, photo by Tony Page.


Great smooth areas would well up from the bottom then spill outwards. Fortunately there was no wind or it would have been very rough. See whirlpool-scotland for warning of a dangerous anomalous wave which can rear up without warning on the ebb in this glassy calm patch to the east of Eilean Beg. You can also order from them a hdtv DVD of video footage of the Corryvrecken in more violent mood than shown in these photos.


Passing the mouth of Bagh Gleann nam Muc it was all happening too quickly so we decided to savour the Corryvreckan experience and ferry over the Gulf to the Scarba shore.


Looking back to Jura from Scarba. We had worked our way up the Jura coast in the distant right of this photo.


Tony crosses the final eddy line on the way back to the north shore of Jura from Scarba.

Normally if there is any wind, the Corryvreckan is a fearsome place. We felt privileged to have caught the Corryvreckan in an unexpected and unpredictably quiet mood. Consequently we were able to play in its current rather than waiting for slack water as any common sense person should.

Health warning. Scottish waters have already seen several rescues and claimed 4 sea kayakers' lives in 2007. Sadly one death was only a few miles from the Corryvreckan. We passed through the Corryvreckan in very benign conditions but do not think it is always like this. Tony and I were well equipped, experienced in interpreting weather forecasts and tidal flows, confident enough to handle rough water if the unexpected happened, sensible enough to turn back if conditions deteriorated and patient enough to have planned but waited for two years for the best conditions for this trip. Yes, on the day it was a piece of cake but make sure you are ready for the Corryvreckan or it will bite you. I know the next time I approach it, it will be with considerable trepidation and care.

Sammy porpoise leads us on to Maclean's skull bay!

Having tarried long on our idyllic resting spot it was now time to continue our journey round the north of Jura. Ahead lay the brooding bulk of Scarba, gatekeeper to the great Gulf of Corryvreckan and its tides and whirlpools. Fortunately Sammy porpoise acted as our guide all the way to Glengarrisdale Bay, our final stop before entering the maelstrom.


Glengarrisdale Bay was a Maclean stronghold in the mid 17th century. Their stone built fortification, Aros Castle, no longer remains but its site is marked by a solitary tree. The Macleans were defeated here by the Campbells in 1647.

If you want to avoid some very smelly mud and slippery rocks at low tide, it is better to land at the east side of the bay and not the west as we did.


The former shepherd's house was finally abandoned about 1947 and is now a well maintained bothy. When we visited there was a large party in residence. They had been brought in by boat and had a huge supply of alcoholic beverages. Strangely, they had almost no food.


Looking from Glengarrisdale Bay across to Scarba. The Garvellachs can be seen to its left. The entrance to the Corryvreckan is on the right.


A gruesome skull and femurs sat on a rock at the edge of the bay for many years. They disappeared in the 1970's. The skull had a "sword" cut in it and allegedly belonged to one of the defeated Macleans from the 1647 battle. Modern legend says it was situated in Maclean's skull cave at the east of the bay. However, in John Mercer's book "Hebridean Islands, Cononsay, Gigha, Jura" published in 1972, the above photo shows the sad relics on a rock at the west end of the bay. Their current whereabouts are unknown.

We now had an appointment with the Corryvreckan.....

Sea kayaking paradise on Jura!

Floating on crystal clear waters, we continued our journey north along the west coast of Jura.


We passed more amazing bays with arches and dunes which had been carved by ancient storms on seas which had long retreated.


The mist burned off and midsummer sun beat down on a windless sea. We landed on this idyllic cove.


From above the water looked so inviting....


that we went for a swim. (Photo Tony Page. )

Misty skies and crystal clear waters.

Leaving Shian Bay on the west coast of Jura, Tony and I came across our old friend Sammy the seal.


We passed islands of quartzite cobbles.


Under misty skies the waters of the North Atlantic were crystal clear and we watched the seals cavorting beneath our keels.

Summer mist on Jura.

Last Saturday dawned clear but a bank of sea mist rolled down West Loch Tarbert and hid Ruantallain from the world. Our clothes and tents became completely saturated as the droplets of water settled on every surface. Even the midges were grounded.


It was a surreal experience rockhopping up the wild coast of Jura. The mist muffled all sounds and we paddled steadily on, isolated in our own world.


Finally the sky began to clear at the great bay of Shian where we stopped for second breakfast. The vault of the sky became blue and the sun burned down. The adventure continues...

The Wild West of Jura

After a fantastic day on West Loch Tarbert, Jura, Tony and I headed for the rampart of cliffs which bound the unpopulated and roadless wilderness of the west coast of Jura.


As the dying sun slipped below the horizon behind Colonsay, we looked down on rockhopping heaven. The next day 27 kilometers of rugged coast lay ahead of us. It finished only on our arrival within the jaws of the great Gulf of Corryvreckan.

Even West Loch Tarbert would be exceeded on our quest for seakayaking heaven.....

The hand of Slartibartfast has touched West Loch Tarbert!

The sun sets over distant Colonsay behind the abandoned township of Ruantallain at the mouth of West Loch Tarbert on the west coast of Jura. Its last residents finally left 60 years ago.


When Tony and I were sea kayaking in the wilderness of West Loch Tarbert, he said you could not design a better sea loch. Indeed, with its raised beaches, islands, tidal narrows, caves, mountains and white sand beaches, one realizes that it is so perfect that it could only have been designed and created by Slartibartfast himself.


Even in the final hour of the ebb at neap tides, the tidal narrows of Cumhainn Beg were running at 5 km/hour


Not only are there raised beaches, there are also raised caves! Several were used to store the bodies of the dead on their way to a final resting place on the holy isle of Iona.


Landfall at the perfect white sands near Ruantallain.


The raised beach at An Sailean is even bigger than the one at nearby Camas nam Meann. This photo was taken at 32 metres above sea level yet even this giant beach is dwarfed by the mighty Paps of Jura.


The end of a perfect day. You should try to seakayak in West Loch Tarbert before you die, it really does not get much better than this.

The mysterious geoglyphic lines of Camas nam Meann, Jura

As you approach Camas nam Meann (beach of the young deer) in West Loch Tarbert from the sea, you are not prepared for its sheer scale.


The sands at the current beach level give way to cobbles.


These are difficult to walk over.


Only when you climb the hills high above the beach and look down, do you see that it is criss-crossed by mysterious straight lines. Despite what some think, these have not been made by by our ancestors, like the geoglyphic Nazca lines in Peru. Neither were they made by aliens who were unable to find suitable fields of crops on Jura.

They have been worn by countless generations of deer over the millenia since the retreat of the ice and the subsequent rise in the land. Camas nam Meann is so large that the deer choose to pick their way carefully across it rather than to walk round the easier ground behind.

Despite its size, Camas nan Meann is not the largest raised beach in West Loch Tarbert....

The tide last went out 10,000 years ago on the raised beaches of Jura.

These patches of vegetation have taken 10,000 years, since the end of the last Ice Age, to grow to this size.


Tony and I are just back from an amazing weekend sea kayaking round the north of Jura. We paddled 86 kilometers.


The crossing of the Sound of Jura was disturbed only by a flight of razorbills.


The trip also involved a 2 km portage from the Sound of Jura to West Loch Tarbert. It involved 37 metres of ascent over a very rough track. Only one of the three different trolleys survived....


If you click on this photo, you will get the full size panorama. This amazing beach is backed by a freshwater loch and the wave worn cobbles look as if they have just dried in the sun and are waiting for the tide to return. As the Scottish ice sheet melted, the lack of its great weight allowed the land to gradually rise, leaving a series of raised beaches.

Ferry gliding #2

Following a recent Seakayakphoto article on ferry gliding, it is fair to say that the mailbox here at Seakayakphoto Towers received a number of complaints from earnest sea kayakers. They were concerned that we were not taking things seriously enough. Some thought we might be confusing new entrants to the sport not to mention leading them astray by condoning unseakayaking practices. Others said bluntly that we were a profound threat to hard won ethical standards of sea kayaking behaviour.

Well staff here at seakayakphoto.com do our best to keep a broad readership happy.



Tony and I found this lovely little channel, just up the west coast from Glasgow. Where better, we thought, to try a little light ferry gliding?

Walking among the stones of history in the monastery of Hinba.

The monastery on Eileach na Naoimh was founded by St Brendan of Clonfert in AD 542. At that time the Garvellachs were known as Hinba or the Isles of the Sea.



St Brendan was born in County Kerry in Ireland in AD 484. In addition to his Christian faith he was a great seafarer and was also known as Brendan the Navigator. He left on a seven year voyage to discover the fabled Celtic island of Tir nan Og (or Land of Perpetual Youth). Some say he discovered North America but what is certain is that he came here to Hinba and founded a monastery. Some buildings are beehive cells similar to those found at Skellig Michael in Ireland. Even St Columba, came to Hinba for some peace and meditation and to escape from the bustle of his monastery on Iona. St Brendan's influence is also remembered in other local place names such as the Kilbrannan Sound.



The island has been uninhabited for a thousand years since the Vikings sacked the monastery. Today, even in the spring sunshine, wandering among the ancient stones of Hinba, you are surrounded by echos and ghosts of the past.



Ancient grave stones protrude above the encroaching mosses and grass. Their only markings are the patterns of lichens, which grow in abundance in the clean air. The identities of the occupants of the graves below are unknown but they were our ancestors and like us they were attracted to this necklace of islands to escape the everyday world. Unfortunately for them, 500 years of peaceful meditation were ended by a change in the outside world; the arrival of the Vikings.

To this day St Brendan is the patron saint of seafarers and (dare I say it?) sea kayakers.

Clochain (beehive) cells on Eileach an Naoimh

The beehive cells of Eileach an Naoimh



Continuing round the north end of Eileach an Naoimh in the Garvellachs we travelled down the east coast past the natural rock arch of An Clarsach. Not long afterwards we spotted the best preserved beehive cells in Scotland. They were built and used by generations of Celtic Christian monks who followed St Brendan of Clonfert who had arrived on the Garvellachs in AD 524.





The monastery was sacked by the Vikings in the early 10th century and today the only inhabitants of these ancient walls were these tiny ferns.

Faster than the wind

I have been windsurfing since 1977. Like sea kayaking you can do it in a variety of conditions but I find that the two sports are highly complimentary and tend to windsurf when the wind is stronger.

Quite a lot of the time you can do both and a speed comparison is interesting. There was a 12 to 17 knot wind blowing straight down the bay to the sea. Paddling the mile across the bay at right angles to the wind, I averaged 2.9 knots.

Repeating the exercise on a light wind windsurfer with a 7.0m sail I averaged 25.1 knots. It is a great feeling flying along faster than the wind, with only the skeg in the water. I am surprised more sea kayakers do not windsurf.

Ocean Paddler

On July 13th 2007, the UK will get a new seakayaking magazine: Ocean Paddler. It is being launched by two friends of mine, Graeme "Bertie" Beckram and Richard Parkin.



Hopefully you might be able to read articles based on trips like this one.

I wish Bertie and Rich the very best in their exciting new venture.

A quiet weekend.

Alison and I had arranged to spend a week in Skye at the sea kayak symposium. I was due to give some illustrated talks. We had planned to meet up with lots of friends and I was going to paddle with Cailean and Wenley before the start of the Symposium. Things do not always go to plan. Alison has been having a lot of pain recently and we decided to have a quiet weekend at our caravan on the Solway instead. Gordon accepted my apology very graciously. An unexpected pleasure was meeting Kevin at Glasgow airport as he was on his way north to the symposium. Once at the caravan we relaxed and watched the tide come in and go out again.



On the Monday holiday Alison decided she would like to go for a short paddle. I had to help her into the kayak but it was so good to see a smile on her face again. It helped take her mind off more medical tests this week.