Rockhopping down the Rhinns.

We set off from High Ardwell Bay on the wild west coast of the Rhinns of Galloway.


What followed is some of the best sea kayaking rockhopping you will get anywhere.


Round each headland there were yet more rocky channels and small stacks.


As we approached the Mull of Logan the flood tide began to build.


It ran through the channels like a river.


This magnificent arch is just SE of the Mull of Logan, it is not even marked on the map!


For the second time in a week, we bypassed a perfectly good sea kayaking pub (at Port Logan). Instead, we rounded Cairneywellan Head on our way to our first stop at Slouchnamorroch Bay.

17/02/2008

Winter sunset, playing in the Mull of Galloway race.

Today was just another day here at seakayakphoto.com. Can you imagine the hardship watching the winter sun set while playing in the tide race off the Mull of Galloway?


Earlier we had paddled the remote and seldom visited west coast of the Rhinns of Galloway. I had been so inspired by an article on paddling the Mull of Galloway, which is in the newly published Ocean Paddler issue 8, that Tony and I just went out and did it!


27km on a short winter day and we did not start paddling till 1130 am.

Just about as close to perfection as it gets!

17/02/2008

A sailor's grave high above the Sound of Jura.

Leaving the islands of the Dorus Mor, we allowed the tides to carry us down and across the Sound of Jura. The lonely lighthouse of Ruadh Sgeir broke the southern horizon.


We were bound for the wooded coast of Knapdale but a high pressure haze hid the coastal features.


We passed below Ardnoe Point. A sailor's grave lies in the woods high above the point, overlooking the constantly moving tides. His name was John Black and he died from cholera on his schooner in 1832. My grandfather's name was John Black. The family were fishermen and sailors and came from this part of Argyll. I wonder if I am related to this sailor?


After paying our respects, Duntrune Castle announced our arrival at Loch Crinan.

12/02/2008

The lost chapel of the islands at the edge of the Dorus Mor.

A lonely islet to the SW of Eilean na Cille.

On passing through the Dorus Mor (Great Door) tide race we paddled down the SE side of Garbh Reisa (the rough one in the tide race) and slipped NW against the tide, which was pouring through the gap between it and Eilean na Cille (Chapel Island).


We landed on a reef to the NW of Eilean na Cille and enjoyed first luncheon in the splendid isolation of these rocky isles that are cut off from the world by the powerful tides of the Sound of Jura. Of the eponymous chapel, there was now not a trace. Even its heyday, I doubt if it would have been "standing room only" for Sunday worship.


As the ebb streamed away to the south, the weak winter sun reached its zenith but after months of rain, at least we could see it!

We left these islands on the last of the ebb. Their past is now remembered only in a name.

12/02/2008

The hand-less piper of Duntrune Castle.

Loch Crinan is guarded on its north shore by the austere greyness of the tower of Duntrune Castle. It dates from the 12th century and was a Campbell stronghold for many centuries but has been owned by the Malcolm family since 1792. It is reputed to be one of the oldest continuously inhabited buildings in Scotland and as such it is unfortunately not open to the public.

It is haunted by the ghost of a hand-less piper. He was a MacDonald who was captured in the early 1600’s. His life was spared, as he was known as a fine piper, but he was imprisoned with his pipes in a small room at the top of the tower. One day, from his high vantage point he saw his chief's (Coll MacDonald) galley approaching a Campbell ambush. He played a lament "Cholla mo Run, Seachain a Dun" or “My beloved Coll, avoid the castle”. The Campbells were so incensed by his warning that they cut his hands off so he would never play again.

Of course, there are often two sides to stories involving the MacDonalds and the Campbells. Coll had sent the piper as a spy into the Campbell Castle.

12/02/2008

Set the controls for the heart of the sun.

We launched from the old jetty on the NW side of the Craignish peninsula. The sun was just rising above the hills. We paddled north round Eilean Ona then ferried across the south going tide to Reisa Mhic Phadean.


Paddling down the Sound of Jura with the Craignish peninsula leading down to the Dorus Mor tide race between it and the island of Garbh Reisa.


Looking west through the Corryvreckan.


Entering the Dorus Mor.

12/02/2008

Glorious Dorus Day!

Today it was glorious in the west of Scotland.


It was 2 days after springs so we decided to take two little runs through the Dorus Mor tide race while it was going full tilt. With this tidal assistance we had a very easy 30km day (and all two and a half hours from home).

The staff of seakayakphoto.com live in paradise.

12/02/2008

Hand dived scallops of Harris.

It was quite windy in Loch Reasort, a deep sea loch on the west coast of Harris in the Outer Hebrides. It was perhaps a little too breezy for sea kayaking.


So we went for a walk...


....while the divers went... diving in nearby Loch Tamnabhaigh.


They brought up a good haul of hand dived scallops. Recently StuartA commented "Maybe for hand-caught scallops? Yum!"


There is a worrying number of bits and pieces in there...


... but as Stuart said, Yum! (This photo Mike Marshall.)

12/06/2006

Greenan, the fourth castle of Carrick, and a corpse.

Leaving Dunure (and its quickly receding tide) we made good progress NE towards the Heads of Ayr.


Spying a convenient landing spot, we took a short break at Bracken Bay.


We passed the Heads of Ayr, which are the remains of the lava flow from a volcano on the Carrick Hills. This was active (at the same time as Ailsa Craig) when Europe and America began to drift apart as the Atlantic Ocean widened.


At last we paddled past Greenan Castle, the fourth castle on this sea kayaking tour of "the four coastal castles of Carrick".


This photo (from a previous trip on 09/11/2003) shows the castle's supreme defensive position on the very edge of a cliff to the south of Ayr. There have been defensive buildings on this site for over a thousand years but the present tower house dates from the 16th century.

In 1602 Sir Thomas Kennedy of Culzean spent the night at Greenan prior to setting off on a long ride Edinburgh. Unfortunately he only made it a few miles to St. Leonard's woods in Ayr. He was ambushed and murdered there by a kinsman, Thomas Kennedy of Drummurchie, who was a Bargany Kennedy. The Culzean and Bargany Kennedys were bitter enemies and their long and bloody feud was immortalised by Sir Walter Scott in "An Ayrshire Tragedy" and by SR Crocket in "The Grey Man".

The road where Sir Thomas's corpse was discovered was renamed Corsehill Road. I used to live in Corsehill Road and on stormy nights, when the wind was howling through the trees, it was always a relief to shut and bolt the door!


The day was nearly done by the time we got back to Seafield beach at Ayr. We made our way home up Corsehill Road in the gathering winter darkness. Of Sir Thomas, there was not a sight. May he rest in peace.

And that brings to a close our four castles (and three pints and innumerable tales) of Carrick sea kayaking tour. I hope you have enjoyed "paddling" along with us on the way.

20/01/2008

The tidal anomaly of the third castle of Carrick.

Paddling north from Culzean Bay we rounded a headland and found ourselves under the grim walls of Dunure castle. This is the third castle on our "Four Castles" tour. As Scottish castles were built by people who did not particularly like their neighbours, they are separated by respectable distances and, as a result, we were by now feeling both tired and thirsty.


We decided to cheer ourselves by taking a short break.


Despite the fact we ran all the way back from the pub, we were somewhat surprised to discover just how far the tide had gone out. We could only conclude that there is either a previously unreported tidal anomaly in the Clyde or a localised warp in the space time continuum!

A ship's bell rings down the years.

This is the bell of the SS Valkyrian, which was wrecked off Dunure harbour in Ayrshire. I recently posted about the bravery of William "Buckie" Munro and 30 other fishermen from Dunure who bravely rescued all but one of the Vakyrian's crew.

I was absolutely delighted to receive a comment from William Munro, who is a descendant of Buckie Munro. It turns out the bell remained in the possession of his family until 1985! He has very kindly added to and corrected some the information I discovered in Dunure and on the internet.

Here is his comment:


"What is shown in your good account is not a postcard but a painting of the ship which previously was hanging on the wall in Mr Mckinney Maersk Moller's office in Copenhagen.


It was presented to me by Mr Moller in December 1985. Thus the date is in fact 1986 on the inscription. It was presented to me as a gift when the bell from the ship (photo in your article)was donated to the Maersk museum in Copenhagen. It had been in the family since the time of the sinking."

What a wonderful story, two families exchanging tokens and mementos of a momentous event which had thrown their ancestors together 102 years before! Of course, if we had paddled from headland to headland, we would have missed Dunure and been none the wiser. This is an important part of the history of this coastline and now thanks to William we have a first hand account of a consequential event. I have corrected and added to my previous posts.

20/01/2008

Work and play in Culzean Bay.

Leaving Culzean Castle, we continued NE across the sand rimmed Culzean Bay. We came across this catamarn fishing vessel. She is the Sea Venture and she has applied for membership of the Responsible Fishing Scheme. Although registered in Campbeltown, her home port is Carradale some 55km away, on the far side of Arran.


She was lying to two anchors and appeared to have been dredging for shell fish as the crewman was sorting his catch on a riddle. Possibly she was fishing for razor, shells though the sustainability of harvesting these slow growing bivalves in the Clyde and effect on other species is not yet established. Razor shells are seldom eaten in Scotland though they are in great demand in southern Europe.

We exchanged waves with the crewman as we passed. We left him hard at work on the riddle and we made our way north east to Dunure, where we had an appointment.

20/01/2008

Eisenhower, the Kennedys and Washington.

Leaving Carrick shore, we left Ailsa Craig behind us but our view was soon dominated by the Victorian south wing of Culzean (pron. Cullane) Castle. This is the second castle of our "Four Castles" tour of Ayrshires's Carrick coastline.


The main part of the castle was built between 1777 and 1792 for Robert Kennedy the 10th Earl of Cassillis (pron. castles) a member of the powerful Ayrshire Kennedy family. His cousin, Captain Archibald Kennedy, the 11th Earl of Cassillis, was a distinguished naval commander who broke the siege of Lisbon 1760. On retiring from the sea, he moved to New York and lived at No. 1 Broadway. At a little diplomatic incident in 1773, known as the Boston Tea Party, Captain Archibald felt unable to take part on the American side. George Washington evicted him and moved into No. 1 Broadway himself. It was fortunate that the good Captain had this little place in Scotland to fall back upon!


The present romantic and decorative castle was designed and built by Robert Adam. He built it round the earlier stone keep of the original fortified tower house which dated back to 1165. Some of the internal walls are therefore 12 feet thick! Adam's famous oval staircase, in the centre of the castle, is built within the walls of the original keep.

When the Kennedys gifted Culzean to the National Trust of Scotland in 1945, they asked that rooms should be given to General Eisenhower as a lifetime gift from the Scottish people after the end of WW2. The Eisenhower flat occupied the top floor of the castle, as seen in the photograph above. He spent four happy holidays here, one of which was when he was President. He enjoyed walking in the grounds, watching the wildlife, painting and of course golf at nearby Turnberry!

The amazing thing about sea kayaking round Scottish waters is how much history you come across. Not just Scottish history, but given the Scots' long history of emigration, the history of many other countries as well.

Who would have thought that one American (who would become president) would have evicted a Kennedy of Culzean out of his home and another American (who would also become president) would be given a guest flat by the descendents of that same Kennedy?

20/01/2008

And pretty maids all in a row.

"With silver bells, and cockle shells,
And pretty maids all in a row."

Leaving the ancient stones of Turnberry Castle we made our way north past a series of rocky skerries called the Maidens. They were the ruin of many ships but also gave shelter if the sailors had sufficient local knowledge. In later years a sea wall was built that linked a series of the Maidens and a bell was hung at its end. It was rung to guide returning sailors to the safety of Maidens harbour.

We stopped at the delightful little cove called Carrick Bay which nestles in between the cliffs at the south end of Culzean estate. The sands of these bays are rich with cockles, scallops and Norwegian prawns many of which find their way to the restaurant tables in Spain.

20/01/2008

All the King's horses...

All the King's horses and all the King's men couldn't put Turnberry together again.

Most people paddling past the crumbling remains of Turnberry Castle will hardly notice its existence. Their gaze will be drawn instead to the lighthouse which is built within the castle's ancient walls.

Yet in its day, it was a magnificent stronghold, which was built on a promontory, surrounded on three sides by the sea. On the seaward side, the castle was built over over an inlet with a cave at its rear. In times of siege the castle could be resupplied from the sea. Ships could enter the inlet beneath a great arch in the castle's walls. A portcullis could be lowered behind the ship and provisions could be carried up through the cave into the heart of the castle. A reconstruction of the castle in its heyday can be seen on the local town of Maybole's website.


Tony paddled right into the inlet which is now mostly filled with rubble from the collapsed walls of the castle. You can still see the lines of the arch from the carved stones which formed its foundations on either side of the inlet. The entrance to the cavern, which gave access to the castle, is also seen.

The castle dates from the 12th Century and was the seat of the Earls of Carrick. One of the Earls died leaving a young countess as a widow. One day she spied a handsome knight making his way past the castle. She became so infatuated with him that had him kidnapped upon his return. He turned out to be a Norman nobleman, Robert de Brus, Lord of Annandale. She persuaded him to marry her and their son Robert the Bruce became Earl of Carrick. Later he became King Robert I of Scotland and defeated Edward II of England at the battle of Bannockburn in 1314.

The Earldom of Carrick became part of the titles of the Scottish monarchs. After the Union of the Crowns in 1603, when King James VI of Scotland became James I of Great Britain, the Earldom of Carrick passed into the linage of the British Royal Family. The current holder is Prince Charles whose full title is prince of Wales and earl of Chester, duke of Cornwall, duke of Rothesay, earl of Carrick and Baron Renfrew, Lord of the Isles, and Prince and Great Steward of Scotland.

The strategic position of Turnberry was again recognised in the two World wars when an RFC then RAF airfield was constructed here. Although mainly a training aerodrome, its Beaufort, Hampden, Venture, Beaufighter and Hudson torpedo planes and maritime bombers played a role in the defence of the Clyde's vital shipping routes in WW2.

20/01/2008