Once Tony and I left Campbeltown Loch and turned our bows north towards the Kilbrannan Sound we found that the wind became increasingly a head wind. We paddle sailed close hauled for some time but...
...it soon came round to hit us right on the nose and we had to drop sails and get our heads down for...
...a stiff paddle into the wind.
At Ballymenach we passed the remains of a WW2 antiaircraft gun emplacement that defended Campbeltown Loch and Machrihanish Air Base.
It was a relief to catch our breath on a cobbled shore at Black Bay but rather worryingly, our goal, Ailsa Craig, was becoming more and more distant and was now little more than a slight blip on the horizon.
We gained a little shelter as we approached Kildonand Point and Island Ross. Some potential campsites in this area proved to be inaccessible at low tide so we continued up the Kilbrannan Sound which was becoming narrower as the coast of Arran drew closer.
Rounding the point we found ourselves back in the teeth of the wind. There was still no break in the dark rocks but fortunately we spotted the inviting sweep of the sands at Saddell Bay which was still 5 km away beyond Ugadale Point. It was getting late so there was nothing for it but to get our heads down again and make what progress we could against the wind.
Tony and I made our way down to the car deck to get ready to embark at 16:30.
We launched from this slipway just to the north of the ferry terminal. Amazingly we were on the water by 16:56. This was to be a flying visit to Campbeltown as we hoped to get well up the east coast of Kintyre before nightfall. Leaving the slipway we passed MV Fame from Bergen. She is a general cargo ship and is often seen round the Clyde.
Although Campbeltown is a pretty quiet place these days at various times it has had a huge fishing fleet, a coalmine, a canal which was superseded by a railway, 30 odd whisky distilleries, a huge military airbase and extensive farms in the surrounding countryside.
It was not just the ferry that was bringing visitors to Cambeltown. This was the 18:05 FlyBE flight coming in from Glasgow.
The MV Isle of Arran soon swept out of Cambeltown Loch...
...and we followed in her wake, leaving Campbeltown quickly behind. A nice little tail wind got up so we wasted no time in...
...launching our Flat Earth kayak sails.
In no time we were at the mouth of the loch and caught sight of a distant Ailsa Craig on which we hoped to camp in three nights time but...
...for now we turned our bows north to paddle sail up the east coast of Kintyre towards the Kilbrannan Sound and the soaring granite peaks of Arran beyond. Our adventure had started...