Saturday, September 19, 2015

Some glorious paddle sailing down Dunagoil way.

 From Scalpsie Bay we paddled down the east coast of Bute with the mountains of Arran on...

 ...our right pulling our eyes away from...

 ...the coast of Bute which was mostly rocky with a raised beach above. Beyond the beach there was now dry line of sea cliffs with occasional caves.

As we crossed Dunagoil Bay we came out of the lee of Ardscalpsie Point and the wind began to increase again.

 We fairly shot down the coast past St Blane's Hill with some glorious paddle sailing which...

Photo Ian Johnston.
...was pretty hard work as we tried to catch every wave! My GPS showed we were regularly hitting 14km/hr as we caught the waves. This photo by Ian shows me in the new P&H Scorpio MV mark 2 with sail and skudder. I have this out on a long term test and I hope it will be in a forthcoming issue of Ocean Paddler magazine. I really like it. The skudder (a combined skeg rudder) is incredibly well engineered and very effective. I did notice that when I was using it downwind in rudder mode that I was falling behind Ian and Mike who had similar sails and were paddling P&H Cetus MVs. So I raised it into skeg mode then I found I had no trouble keeping up even though they were in GRP kayaks and the Scorpio is made from roto moulded polyethylene.

 Rounding Dunagoil Hill and Garroch Head was great fun as the flood tide was now against the wind.

 Once in the lee of Garroch Head the wind dropped again and we leisurely paddled round to...

...Glencallum Bay where we unpacked our kayaks for first luncheon.

Friday, September 18, 2015

Seals and a fear of gliders in Scalpsie Bay.

We set off down the west coast of Inchmarnock with Holy Island on the horizon and a decent following wind.

At the south end of Inchmarnock we decided to cut across the Sound of Inchmarnock towards...

 ...Ardscalpsie Point on the island of Bute and then...

 ...follow the coast round into...

 Scalpsie Bay. This was Ian's first time out with his new Flat Earth sail and it was good to try several points of sailing.

 In the lee of the land the wind dropped a bit but Ian was already fully at home with his new rig.

 As we paddled deeper into the shelter of Scalpsie Bay the...

 ...wind steadily dropped away and our eyes turned to the shore where...

 ...the resident seal colony was pretty well camouflaged.

At the head of Scalpsie Bay there is a large expanse of reddish sand. A series of wooden posts in the sand were part of WW2 defences against landing gliders. Beyond the bay lie the fertile fields of Scalpsie farm.

Thursday, September 17, 2015

Our spirits rose with the sun and the wind.

After a comfortable night's camp we rose before dawn to find clouds of midges swarming round the tent vents. Once down on the beach a gentle NW wind was just enough to keep the worst of the midges at bay.

 We quickly brewed some warming tea and...

 ...porridge but despite it being the height of the Scottish "summer" it was bitterly cold.

 Fortunately as the sun rose so did the temperature and our spirits.

The wind also began to rise as we carried our kaks through the narrow gap in the reef to the sea. As our eyes turned up the Sound of Bute to the NW....

...it looked like the forecast F4 wind might shortly arrive and it would be going our way. It was time for some paddle sailing!

Friday, August 28, 2015

Fire at sunset by the Sound of Bute.

Once we had got the kayaks up above where we expected high water to be we unloaded our bags just as...

...the sun was setting.

A few midges came out as we were putting the tents up but fortunately the breeze increased just enough to stop them flying.

There was no sign of the fire Mike and I had made back in June and we set a new fire in the same place.  It was nice having the heat of the fire while preparing our evening meal.

It was not just the fire that was glowing. Long after sunset the sky was too!

We decided that our new Helinox chairs were a fabulous addition to any camp fire!

Once the fire was well lit and...

...there were plenty embers we put the tatties in to bake.

We enjoyed our perfect baked potatoes in the twilight. The only sign of human activity was the Holy Island outer light and lights from a couple of fishing boats plying the Sound of Bute. All this, companionable conversation and no midges, we were certainly in heaven!

Wednesday, August 26, 2015

An atmospheric crossing to Inchmarnock with a sighting of a fire rainbow.

 At 6pm we landed for a second luncheon on a little shingle bay to the north of Garroch Head. We had paddled to this point in shorts and tee shirts. We put our salopettes on, not because it was cold (it wasn't) but because we knew we would arrive at our destination on Inchmarnock about sunset and that is when the midges come out!

As we restored energy levels with a snack and a hot drink we enjoyed the most spectacular view across to Glen Sannox on Arran.

Back on the water we had an 11km crossing to our destination of Inchmarnock. We passed Dunagoil Hill which is topped by an Iron Age hill fort.

As we crossed Scalpsie Bay clouds began to gather but the horizon to the west was clear, promising a fine sunset.

A little breeze got up as we passed...

...the fertile fields of Scalpsie farm on Bute which contrasted...

...with the rocky granite ridges of the Arran mountains on the other side of the Sound of Bute.

The sun was lowering towards the horizon as we...

...approached the south end of Inchmarnock. High in the sky we spotted cloud iridescence...

...which is not a commonly seen atmospheric effect. This is also known as a "fire rainbow" or a "rainbow cloud,"  It usually occurs in late afternoon on hot humid days.

The west coast of Bute is not easy to land on as at low tide there are a series of rocky reefs. It was near spring low water but we knew of a tiny gap in the reefs (about 8m wide). We arrived just after 8pm. This gully can be very difficult to launch from if there is any west in the wind. There are easier beaches at the south and north of the island. Although we had feared a midge attack we were pleasantly surprised that a little NW breeze stopped them flying.

Tuesday, August 25, 2015

En route to Bute with Simian Rock and squadrons of shearwaters.

 We set off from the Little Cumbrae castle on what seemed like the first hot sultry afternoon of summer.

 The Arran mountains always delight and the sight of them rising...

 ...above the reefs of Gull Point  is always worth a photo.

 Little Cumbrae is composed of layers of lava flows from successive eruptions.

 Ian spotted this mimetolith high on the cliffs...Simian Rock.

 It was a spring tide so before crossing to Garroch Head across the south going ebb tide...

 ...we took a north going eddy to just before the lighthouse. This saves a lot of energy maintaining a high ferry...

...angle on the crossing. We enjoyed seeing porpoises and diving gannets but...

 ...the real treat on the crossing was seeing squadrons of shearwaters skimming the sea round us.

We were welcomed to Garroch Head by a very large grey seal.