Tarbert castle and East Loch Tarbert

After a breezy crossing of Loch Fyne, we slipped into the shelter of East Loch Tarbert under the grey walls of Tarbert castle. The name Tarbert lets you know that this is a narrow neck of land, separating two arms of the sea and that it was where the Vikings dragged their boats overland from one body of water to the other.


A castle was first built here by Magnus Barelegs in 1068. The present structure dates from the 13th century and was extended by King Robert the Bruce in 1325. The tower house, which is the most visible part of the ruins today, was added by King James IV in 1494.


We paddled deep into the recesses of the Loch and came to the small town of Tarbert with its multicoloured houses and rattling yacht masts.


We landed on a patch of seaweed...


...from previous experience, the mud at low tide is very foul smelling!


We enjoyed a lunch in the early spring sunshine, while waiting for the ferry to arrive.


After lunch we paddled back to the ferry jetty at the mouth of the loch. CalMac have recently changed their policy on carrying kayaks on ferries. They used to charge a flat £5 per single trip but they now go free! The only thing is, you need to be able to load and unload the kayaks yourself and not cause delay to the rest of the ferry traffic. A trolley is really the only sensible way to achieve this, especially if you are loaded with camping gear

19/03/2009

Of geology and pakora!

We landed at Bracken Bay to the south of the Heads of Ayr. This area must be a geologist's paradise. The Heads are a well preserved lower carboniferous volcanic vent but these adjacent weathered cliffs...


..are composed of the most wonderfully coloured layers of sedimentary rocks, which appear to be sandstone on top of a conglomerate layer.


Relieved by our exploration of the geological features we made our way onwards to Ayr. Phil is as pleased as punch with his new Quest. Just as well, as it was to be well tested twice within the week.


On arrival at Seafield in Ayr, David rushed off to Ayr India to obtain supplies of Scotland's national snack...pakora. All that talk of once hot rocks had given us an appetite for some hot food! We ate with gusto, as the sun went down behind the Heads of Ayr.


From Maidens to Seafield is 20.5km. Tony and I hit 15.5km surfing on following seas in the section south of Dunure.

15/03/2009

Return to Arran

We are on Glen Sannox beach after a force 5 wind against tide crossing from Bute and Portencross. Just heating up the bhoona!

21/03/2009

End of winter timetable.

Hidden away in the Calmac winter timetable is a little known ferry service. It only runs once per day, if places are reserved in advance, and it stops for the summer season on 26th of March. The ferry leaves Tarbert on the remote Kintyre peninsula at 1215 and arrives at Loch Ranza on Arran at 1340. I have often hoped for a settled spell at this time of year when the sun sets at 1830. This would allow just enough time to paddle back after taking the ferry to Loch Ranza.


We took the car over on the ferry from Gourock to Hunters Quay then drove past Loch Striven and the Kyles of Bute to Portavadie. We then enjoyed a wind assisted blast across the mouth of Loch Fyne to Tarbert where we planned to board the ferry to Arran.


Altogether we paddled 30km and on the way over to Tarbert we hit a maximum speed of 12km/hr.

19/03/2009

Spring is sprung in Skipness

Just paddled from Arran to Kintyre. We are sitting here in Heaven!

19/03/2009

En route to Arran

The ferry from Tarbert should arrive in Loch Ranza shortly. Then we will paddle back to Portavaddie. Just seen a pod of bottlenosed dolpins.

The sound of running water...

Tony and I slipped into the shelter of Dunure Harbour. Just before hand, in the fantastic mixture of swell and clapotis among the Dunure skerries, Tony said "isn't it great how much fun you can have only 10 miles from your front door?" I replied "and we're only 200 yards from the pub!"


We had arrived early and David and Phil were still loading their boats. Deck bags with flares and electric pumps and cans of ballast were carefully distributed. We were clearly ahead of schedule and so found ourselves within the portals of the pub! It had just opened after being closed for the winter. However, it will need to improve its service, we almost died of thirst before the Guinness arrived. It was a pleasure to be able to toast the good St Patrick and the arrival of Phil's new kayak.


We were soon heading north for Ayr. As the wind and swell were coming from the south, we were now sheltered by the headland at Dunure. A bottle was drifting towards the rocks but we did not stop to see if it contained a message.


Phil was pleased as punch with his new Quest. It was one of the first out of the mould but the previous owner had hardly used it.


The coastline was composed of low wooded cliffs over which a series of delightful burns...


...cascaded and splashed noisily into the sea.


The sound of running water has a certain physiological effect on men of a certain age. It was time for a stop at a convenient beach.

15/03/2009


Remember, alcohol and sea water do not mix!