Thursday, April 23, 2009

Holy Island, the cave of St Molaise and modern day monks.


We entered the enclosure of Lamlash Bay. It was quite a contrast to the exposure of yesterday's open crossings. We were bound for Holy Island which encloses the east side of the bay.


We made landfall at the cave of St Molaise. The saint was born as a prince of Ulster in 588AD but renounced his throne and chose the life of a religious hermit in this cave. After about 10 years, he travelled to Rome and trained as a priest. On his return, he made his way to the monastery of Leighlin in Ireland. He eventually became its abbot and under his leadership it grew to house over 1500 monks.


Eider ducks were courting across the bay. This drake was not letting its duck out of his sight!


At the north end of the island, the monks of the Samye Ling Buddist monastery have extended the old farmhouse to create a visitor and study center.

There are eight white stupas on the path from the landing place to the centre (five can be seen in the photo). Stupas convey immeasurable benefits to any living thing that walks three times round one in a clockwise direction.

When we last visited in August 2007 there were "No Landing" signs round the island. I complained to the North Ayrshire Council Access Officer. She said that she had received a number of complaints and would be visiting the island to inform the monks of how they had to abide by the Land Reform Act (Scotland) just like any other landowner. I am delighted to report that the monks have now removed the signs, well done them.

However, their website still says "We strongly discourage camping anywhere on the island."
This is an unacceptable disregard of the Law of Scotland by the current owners of Holy Island.

The Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2003 and Scottish Outdoor Access Code became law on 9th February 2005. The Act establishes a statutory right to camp and the Code describes the responsibilities and best practice that should be followed when exercising a right to wild camp.

The section in the Trespass (Scotland) Act 1865, which contained an offence of camping on land without the consent of the owner or occupier, has been repealed via Schedule 2 of the Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2003. The Act confirms that camping is a lawful activity when done by a person in the exercise of the access rights created by the Land Reform Act.

The full Scottish Outdoor Access Code can be read here.


Soon we left the North entrance to Lamlash Bay, leaving the distinctive outline of Holy Island in our wakes.

19/04/2009

Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Red rocks at Kildonnan.


After a pretty late start on Sunday morning, we launched from the beach at Kildonan at half tide. The middle beach is composed of great slabs of old red sandstone. These sedimentary rocks were laid down when this part of Scotland lay on the equator. Their deep red colour still hints at the heat of ancient equatorial sunshine.


The ruined tower of Kildonan Castle sits on the cliff line of a raised beach. It was built by the Lords of the Isles but became a Royal Castle at the beginning of the 15th century. My careful framing of the photograph does not show that it is actually at the bottom of the garden of a private house.


We continued under the raised beach of Dippen Head. This is one of the few parts of Arran where the road does not hug the coast and it is a truly wild place.


Jennifer waited for us at Largybeg Point beyond which ...


... Holy Island came into view.


By the time we reached the dark red sands at the north end of Whiting Bay, it was time for a break. Jennifer went for a swim ...


... while David, Phil and I enjoyed a refreshing luncheon under the unaccustomed heat of the early Spring sunshine.

19/04/2009

Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Ailsa Craig to Arran


After paddling round Ailsa Craig there was still a nasty swell and force 4 northerly so we decided to explore the island for a bit and have something to eat. Then at 1630 the wind began to drop. I reckoned we would be able to complete the 22km to Arran by nightfall and even if we didn't, the lighthouse on Pladda would guide us. We would need to get going though so as we would be well clear of the high speed ferry from Larne to Troon which was due to pass between Ailsa and Arran about 7pm!

David and Phil graunched the double trying to launch of the steep boulder beach in the swell. There was an ominous crack and the rudder wouldn't work. Rather than risk re-landing I got the rudder out the water and left them to paddle without.


A menacing roaring and rumbling filled the air. The high speed ferry was on her way at 41 knots!


We turned round several times to scan the horizon but we were well out of the way when the ferry passed to the east of us. In the distance you can just see Pladda lighthouse to the right of Jennifer. It felt quite exposed out there!


It was a wonderful night for a long crossing and Jennifer and I really enjoyed it...


However, all the way across, David and Phil moaned that the double was just about impossible to handle. I thought they were just a couple of wusses who couldn't steer a kayak with only paddles so I had little sympathy.


Eventually we made landfall at Pladda. Its early lighthouse has two towers. Before flashing lights were invented, this was to differentiate it from the other lights at the entrance to the Clyde. We had intended camping on Pladda but we discovered the island was completely covered in nesting gulls. Even worse, we discovered the huge centre hatch of the Aleut double was full of water and David and Phil had not enough dry bags for all their clothes and sleeping gear! The next day we discovered the cracking noise was a due to the bulkhead bolts (which fix the two pieces of the Aleut together) loosening off and allowing the bulkheads to flex apart. The bulkhead sealing gasket had been leaking all the way across. No wonder the Aleut was not handling with all that water sloshing about. I did by now feel a little sympathy for the Aleut boys so...


... time for a sharp exit to Kildonan camp site, a hot shower and the pub! There was a wedding on in the pub, it was like something out the Wicker Man. It was a late night after a long day.

This is seakayaking!

18/04/2009

To Arran via Ailsa Craig


We had originally intended going to Colonsay last Friday night but the easterly winds were up to 35 knots. The forecast for the Clyde on Saturday was for force 3 easterly and on Sunday force 3 southerly so we thought we would go on a little 42km trip to Arran via Ailsa Craig. We met at Lendalfoot on the south Ayrshire coast.


Of course the forecast wasn't quite right and we had a fresh northerly on Saturday. At nearby Campbeltown airport it got up to 19 knots. It made for a bumpy crossing and I thought that we would need to abandon our attempt on Arran. You can see from our track to Ailsa Craig where we got blown down wind on two occasions when the wind really got up.


Instead, we decided to paddle round the Craig. On the sheltered southerly side we had amazing views...


... of thousands and thousands of nesting gannets and....


... amazing rock architecture like here at Stranny Point.

18/04/2009

Sunday, April 19, 2009

On location Arran


David is quite tired out by his exertions and we still have 10km to go... 19/04/2009

On location in Arran


Yesterday paddled 40km across from Ayrshire via Ailsa Craig and Pladda. David holed double on Ailsa last 20km with flooded centre hatch. Arrived in dark! 19/04/2009

Friday, April 17, 2009

In search of the Nith bore!


Easter Monday dawned fair over Fleet Bay in the Solway Firth.


Time for an adventure! I drove to Southerness where I met Mike and left a car before driving on to Dumfries. The farm land round Southerness plays host to thousands of overwintering barnacle geese from Svalbard archipelago, high above the Arctic Circle.


We were off in search of the Nith bore. The Nith is one of the few rivers in the world to have a tidal bore. As you can see in the aerial photo, a funnel shaped estuary concentrates and accelerates the incoming tide into a narrow river mouth. High tide at Hestan Island (further west on the Solway Firth) was at 14:47 BST and I reckoned that the bore would arrive in the narrow section of river mouth near Glencaple about 2 hours before this.



This photo was taken by Dr Werner Kissling in 1958. He describes it thus "At Glencaple, close to the mouth of the river Nith, on the north shore of the Solway the flood tide, under certain conditions, comes in as a bore which may move at a rate of five knots, or even more."


We couldn't wait!

13/04/2009

Thursday, April 16, 2009

En route to Bute, in the mist.


After our recent crossing from Loch Ranza on Arran back to Portavadie on the mainland, we thought it only decent to paddle back across to Arran. Our choice of route was from Portencross (to the NW of Ardrossan) over to Little Cumbrae then across to Bute, then across the Sound of Bute to Sannox on Arran and finally down the east coast of Arran to Brodick. The ferry would then take us back to Ardrossan where we had left a shuttle car.


There was not a breath of wind when we left and we were half way across Fairlie Roads before Little Cumbrae loomed out of the mist. We kept a sharp ear open as we crossed the shipping channel as some of the biggest bulk carriers in the world frequent these waters.


At gull point all the gulls were roosting with their heads under their wings. Perhaps they had heard about the forecast for a force 5 westerly by lunchtime!


We made our way up the SW coast of Little Cumbrae before heading off on a compass bearing for our next destination, the as yet unseen island of Bute. Just as we were about to cross the shipping lane the thudding of a heavy engine announced the arrival of a bulk carrier which was making her way up the Clyde. We were pleased to let her pass.


Our landfall on Bute was at the cobble beach of Port Leithne where we enjoyed a first luncheon. Of Arran, our destination, there was as yet no sign!

21/03/2009

Thursday, April 09, 2009

A Fyne cetacean sunset


We made our way steadily up Loch Fyne as the sun was setting. We could not resist stopping at this little shingle beach which was guarded by a ring of boulders.


Setting off once more, we were accompanied by a school of porpoises as we paddled up Loch Fyne. We knew we would not see the dolphins again that night as porpoises keep well clear of them.


As the day day slipped away...


...the sky and the sea turned to gold.


By this time the wind had died completely and...


...only our wakes disturbed the surface of the sea.


Even the courting eider ducks and oyster catchers fell silent and the only sound was the dripping of our paddles.


The embers of the wonderful day that been finally died away in the west and we finished our journey in darkness.

What a day!

19/03/2009

Wednesday, April 08, 2009

Alan's sunset view of Bute!


Alan, a recent addition to seakayakphoto.com team, as just sent this photo by MMS into Seakayakphoto Towers. He was disappointed not to be able to join our recent windy sortie to the Little Cumbrae at the weekend so he has headed off on a solo trip today and is camping on the Little Cumbrae tonight. He originally planned to go round Bute in two days but has changed his plans due to increasing swell. He is currently on the beach enjoying a whisky by the camp fire. I hope my text with tomorrow's forecast of force 6 southerly doesn't spoil the enjoyment of the moment.

His photo shows the south end of Bute with Arran and Kintyre in the distance.

Updated 09/04/2009:
Alan is now spending a second storm bound night on Little Cumbrae. Today ferry traffic on the Clyde was severely disrupted by winds of up to 37knots. Hopefully the wind will drop tomorow.

Tuesday, April 07, 2009

Night time in Troon harbour


In the darkness we swung round the outer harbour wall at Troon. The moon and constellation Plaedes could be seen behind the lighthouse.


From far out at sea, we had heard a strange roaring noise. It turned out to be a huge shredder which was chipping logs. This grab crane was feeding about 20 logs at a time into this tree slaughter-house. There was no fine end as bedroom furniture for these pine trees!


Recently we had seen a huge pile of logs on Portavadie pier. Perhaps it was these ones which were now being chipped. By shipping logs to Troon, the west coast roads are spared a lot of heavy timber lorry traffic.


We made paddled past the High Speed Ferry terminal and made our way into the inner harbour where the fishing fleet was unloading.


The welcoming lights of the Wee Hurry fish and chip shop can be seen on the quay. Fresh fish is cooked to order, it is well worth a visit. They serve a variety of seafood dishes including things like cullen skink soup, squat lobster-tails in spring rolls, battered langoustines and of course haddock and chips! For those with a more sophisticated palate, McCallum's Oyster Bar is right next door.


We then explored the rest of the harbour. At low tide a series of tunnels, linking the inner and outer harbour, are big enough to paddle through but do so on a falling tide! We then paddled past the Trent class RNLI lifeboat. In the distance multi coloured containers under floodlights marked the RORO freight ferry terminal for Ireland. This opened in 2001. In the 1960's this was a ship breaking quay and I remember destroyers and submarines meeting their end here.


Finally it was time to go home and we paddled round from the harbour back to the Ballast Bank. The lights of the rest of the returning fishing fleet stretched away into the darkness of the Firth of Clyde.

Please note this is a busy working harbour, even at night. Look up the P&O ferry timetable before you come and avoid ferry arrival and departure times. Fishing boats and yachts can arrive or leave at any time so keep a sharp lookout and have a bright white light on each kayak.

01/04/2009

Petition to save the clipper ship City of Adelaide.


I have previously written about the clipper City of Adelaide whose hulk lies on a slipway in Irvine on the Clyde coast. There is a real threat that she will now be broken up.

Adrian Brown of Clipper Ship City of Adelaide Preservation Trust has created a petion to 10 Downing Street for UK residents or UK expats living in South Australia.

'We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to acquire the world heritage clipper ship ‘City of Adelaide’ and offer her as a cultural gift to the people of South Australia for their 175th birthday in 2011, or to the Royal Australian Navy for its 100th Birthday also in 2011.'

He provides further details of her current situation.

The Scottish Maritime Museum (SMM), which owns the ‘City of Adelaide’, has been served notice to vacate the site where the clipper is located. The SMM cannot afford to move her and have applied to demolish her with money from the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF). Preserving the clipper by gifting her to the people of South Australia would be a far nobler outcome than the international community witnessing HLF funds being used to destroy this important piece of British and Australian history. Historic Scotland describes the ‘City of Adelaide’ as a vessel of high cultural significance at international level. Eminent History Professors have described her “as the only surviving sailing ship built to give regular passenger and cargo service between Europe and Australia, she represents a whole foundation era of Australian social and economic history. It is difficult to imagine a more vital icon of the making of modern Australia and of the relationship between Britain and the Australian colonies.”

The petion can be accessed here.

Read more about Australians' view of the City of Adelaide here.