Friday, May 11, 2012

A congregation of thirsty seafarers at Carradale.

The day was drawing to a close as we continued down the Kintyre coast towards the fishing port of Carradale.

The Viktoria Viking was also heading in for the night. She was accompanied by the Sarah Ann a small landing craft that acts as the tender for the new fish farm north of Carradale.

Viktoria Viking is too large to enter Carradale harbour so she tied up at the lnew fish farm. Sarah Ann then ferried the crew into the harbour at Carradale.

 We had to slow our own approach to Carradale to let the trawler Avalon II (CN690)...

...enter the port in front of us. No doubt several seafarers would be making their way to the public bar at the Carradale Hotel. Sadly we would not be joining them. We still had to find somewhere to camp and it would soon be dark...

Thursday, May 10, 2012

"Let them drink beauty rather than ale" quote: Grogport Tourist Board.

It was now 5pm and we left Grogport quite unrefreshed due to its lack of a public house. However, as we drank in the beauty of the coastline to the south of the dry little town,...

 ....the Carradale Forest took ourbreath away. Coniferous forest clung to rocky headlands which, one after the other,...

...receded into the distance towards Carradale Point.

 After a while we came to a break in the rocks where we...

...stopped to take in a brief refreshment of our own.

Wednesday, May 09, 2012

Somewhat pissed off in Grogport.

The remote east coast of Kintyre, between Claonaig and Carradale, is almost unpopulated having only one hamlet and is...

 ...stunningly beautiful. Of course the views...

 ...over to Arran are also superb.

We paddled along a coast where the bare bones of the Earth lay exposed, then came to a series...

...of rocky channels near Eilean Sunadale. All this voyaging proved to be thirsty work and it was with some degree of anticipation that...

...we approached the promisingly named hamlet of Grogport. Now if you do a Google search for Grogport you will find that this is a hamlet bursting at the seams with facilities: "Estate agents in Grogport", "Banks in Grogport", "Businessess for sale in Grogport", "Budget hotels in Grogport", "Singles in Grogport", "Swingers in Grogport" etc etc...

One can only imagine our disappointment, not to mention thirst, when we discovered that this pseudoeponymous clachan had not even one, solitary bar.

Tuesday, May 08, 2012

Our pilot is feeling very healthy today.

While we enjoyed a postprandial rest at Ravens Bay on Kintyre, we were entertained by an interesting conversation on VHF channel 6. An irate local householder was complaining to the Norwegian captain of the live fish carrier (well boat) Viktoria Viking about the noise from a helicopter (G-PGDF an Eurocopter (Aerospatiale) AS350, chartered from PGD helicopters) that was flying out to the ship.

He was clearly very upset about the frequent low level flights that were carrying live fish from fish farms out to the well boat on such a nice calm day (just about the first decent day in 2012). The Norwegian captain explained the pilot was flying  today because he needed good weather. He also said the helicopter needed to keep low to avoid de-pressurising the fish. The householder then demanded that the Viktoria Viking should move away somewhere else.

Captain, "I can't do that, the helicopter costs £800 per hour, it would be cheaper for you to go and spend the rest of the day in a nice hotel."

Householder: "Are you saying you that you will pay me to do that?"

Captain: "No, you would need to contact the company, here is their number....."

Householder: "Just how long are you planning to carry on flying that helicopter?"

Captain: "Well our pilot is feeling very healthy today so we will carry on till near sunset..."




The Captain was just doing his job and we admired how he kept his Nordic cool when dealing with the irate householder. However, helicopter noise is just another facet of fish farm pollution, so we also understood the householder's position.

Saturday, May 05, 2012

A Kintyre sojourn at Uamh nan Calman and Ravens Bay.

South of Eascairt Point on the Kilbrannan Sound, we passed a low line of cliffs and came to a dry sea stack at the mouth of a great cave called Uamh nan Calman or Dove Cave.

To the south of the cave...

...there was a delightful pebble beach called Ravens Bay.

Its waters were crystal clear and as the beach had such a marvellous view of Arran, it was undoubtedly a suitable venue to partake of our third luncheon of the day.

Friday, May 04, 2012

Paddling South in the Kilbrannan Sound.

 At first, when we left Claonaig, our eyes were still captivated by...

 ...the rugged grandeur of the mountains of Arran...

 ...on the far side of the Kilbrannan Sound.

 Then as we made our way south, we gradually came to appreciate the more gentle ...

...beauty of the Kintyre coastline. The single track road runs high on the hills above the coast and remote, sandy coves, backed by deciduous woodland, offer a plethora of wild camping opportunities.

Thursday, May 03, 2012

Cetus MV at Claonig



We landed on this lovely beach to the south of the ferry jetty at Claonig. I should say something about the P&H Cetus MV, which I have had on loan for the last 7 months. It has proved to be an outstanding, comfortable, all round kayak, just as at home loaded with camping gear for a week as rock hopping on a day trip or blasting with a sail. Despite class leading stability, it is still an incredibly manoeuvrable hull. The new skeg slider works perfectly but I am less happy with the elastic skeg down haul. The elastic is not strong enough to pull the skeg down in high wind and wave conditions, especially when sailing when it comes up. Overall, I like the Cetus MV so much that it will be my next kayak.  But I will order it with a wire skeg. I let Mike try it for a windy day kayak sailing and he has also already ordered his own new Cetus MV, but like me with a wire skeg.

Wednesday, May 02, 2012

Something fishy going down at Claonig.

We made landfall on the Kintyre peninsula at the ferry jetty at Claonaig.  It was still March and the ferry does not start running on the Claonig to Loch Ranza route until 1st April. This cormorant had just emerged from the water with a fish tail sticking out of its mouth. It flew up to its perch on the jetty and made several attempts to swallow the fish, whose tail was still wagging vigorously back and forth.

As we enjoyed our second luncheon (of mackerel fillets in tomato sauce spread on oatcakes) the view from Claonaig across the Kilbrannan Sound was outstanding. The whole of Arran lay before us.

Tuesday, May 01, 2012

Dreamtime on Kilbrannan Sound

 As we left Arran the wind...

 ...dropped away to nothing...

 ...leaving the middle of the Kilbrannan Sound like a millpond.

Our eyes were on the Kintyre peninsula to the west and gradually...

 ...details like Skipness Castle emerged from the haze...

 ...as we drew nearer our destination, Claonaig.

However, we could not help frequently stopping on the crossing...

...to look back...

 ....as the amazing view of Arran unfolded behind us.

Monday, April 30, 2012

Lunch on the rocks at Loch Ranza.

We crossed Loch Ranza, a sea loch at the NW point of Arran. Loch Ranza Castle was silhouetted against the backdrop of Arran's rocky ridges, which soared to the castellated summit of Caisteal Abhail, 859m.
 Although it was only seven bells in the forenoon watch, we decided to land on a rocky shore...

...for our first luncheon...

...before setting off across the Kilbrannan Sound.

Sunday, April 29, 2012

Never ones to conform.

When we rounded the north of Arran we  could see the Kintyre peninsula which lies to the west of Arran.

 Looking back we could still see Millstone Point where we had camped the previous night. Then the still of the morning was broken as a slight breeze got up from the east.

 The vast majority of UK seakayakers still view sails on sea kayaks with deep suspicion...

 ...bet we have never been ones to conform and so we hoisted sails and...

 ...wafted past Fairy Dell...

 ...and this old boat, which has seen better days,...

...to where a crowd of geology students had gathered round Hutton's Unconformity.