Journey to the far west.

Our original plan was a camping trip from Ardnamurchan over to the Cairns of Coll, down west of Coll to Tiree then back up east of Coll and over to north of Mull and back round Ardnamurchan. Unfortunately the weather Thursday, Friday and Saturday of last week put paid to that. Surprisingly Sunday promised to be fair so instead, we planned a little day trip from Ardnamurchan, the most westerly point of mainland Britain.

We left Glasgow at 6am and arrived at the Corran ferry at 8am. Since I was last here, the 08:15 ferry has been cancelled and the first Sunday sailing was not till 08:45. The ferry was still tied up at its mooring on the far side of Loch Linnhe.


Rather than wait, we decided to drive the long way round Loch Linnhe, Loch Eil and finally Loch Shiel. This way added 33 miles extra to the 23 miles and 15 minute ferry journey but only saved about 15 minutes.

This is the monument to Prince Charles Edward Stewart who raised the standard of the 1745 rebellion at Glenfinnan at the head of Loch Shiel. Just behind and out of sight, is the curved Glenfinnan railway viaduct which has been made famous by the Harry Potter films.


At 09:51 we finally crossed the watershed of the Ardnamurchan peninsula above Loch Mudle and there before us lay the distant "Small Isles" of Rum and Eigg.


At 10:20, 4 hours and 20 minutes and 186 miles after leaving Glasgow, we arrived at our destination. The little shell sand cove of Portuairk is a natural harbour, formed by a deep inlet through the rocks of this exposed coast of Ardnamurchan. The tide was ebbing fast so we had a long carry before we finally hit the water at 11:13. We couldn't wait for the day's adventures to begin. But it was to be a long day...

10/05/2009

On location in Paradise!

10/05/2009

On location on Mull

Just paddled from north Ardnamurchan south round A. point. Fantastic day.

10/05/2009

Economy of scale.

This is the Maersk Beamont entering the Clyde on the 2nd of May 2009. We had stopped on Bennane Head to get a good view of Ailsa Craig. At first we thought she was an aircraft carrier but it was soon apparent she was an empty container ship. It is unlikely that Scotland would have enough exports to fill such a giant ship. Indeed tonight, a week later, she is still anchored in the Clyde north of the Cumbraes.

It would apear that she is a victim of the economic crisis and has come to the Clyde for shelter and to weather out the recession. She was launched in Germany on 30/11/2007. She is 294m long with a beam of 32m and a draught of 13m as such she is one of the largest ships to enter the Clyde.

You do need to be careful when crossing to Ailsa Craig!

I have posted about the history of the Maersk Line previously.

02/05/2009

A day at the races.

11/04/2009

Stolen: Tiderace Xcite sea kayak.

Pish! Low life have struck again.

This time the victim is Aled Williams, designer and founder of TIDERACE Sea Kayaks.

Here is his story:


"Stolen: Tiderace Xcite
Taken from my parents' back garden in Four Mile Bridge, Holyhead, Sunday night, 26/04/09.

Colour: All white (hull, deck, seat + rim, bulkheads), Kevlar 10mm outside seam, black ropes and elastics + hatch rims
Construction: Full Carbon (the inside is all black, chequer-board cloth pattern 10mm squares), epoxy resin, vacuum construction.
Serial No: XC078EC21 (label inside front deck day hatch)
Condition: As new

This particular boat is a one-of-a-kind, with a custom layup to my specification, estimated retail value: £3500

Please contact me on 07973 785537 or info@tideraceseakayaks.co.uk should you have any information on the whereabouts of the kayak.

Aled"

Three waves....

How to overtake a sea kayak: catch three waves.

11/04/2009

Surf's up on Ayrshire's Atlantic coast!

Yesterday the surf was up on Ayrshire's Atlantic Coast.


Most people think the Ayrshire coast is a sheltered backwater in the Firth of Clyde. However, its southerly aspect is exposed to the North Atlantic through the North Channel between Ireland and Scotland. Add to this, steep surf beaches such as at Ballantrae, the tide race of Bennane Head and a coast remote from roads with cliffs, caves and reefs and you have the recipe for a great day out! Magicseaweed.com was predicting a surf height of 10.5 feet and period of 13 seconds from the NW at Macrihanish. Weather forecast was for force 4 SW dropping to 2 then increasing to 6 southerly.... just perfect!


Driving south towards Ballantrae the road rises over Bennane Head. What a prospect lay before us. Peeling surf as far as the eye could see!


We launched at Finnarts Bay on Loch Ryan and paddled north to Lendalfoot. Unfortunately the car park by the beach at Finnarts Bay is in the process of being converted to a caravan park and vehicular traffic has been blocked. It looks like they might be constructing a new car park well behind the beach so I hope that public access will not be blocked. It does now mean quite a long carry to the water though.


Within minutes of launching we were enjoying some superb sea kayaking below bold cliffs and ...


... exposed headlands. Two golden eagles soared overhead.


It was soon time to stop for luncheon but there are few landing places on this coast. Little Portandea came into view between the backs of huge crashing surf monsters. The seakayakphoto.com luncheon club is not put off by such things and we steamed in between two huge sets. Billy said "do you hear that one?" as a huge wave crashed over the protecting reef behind...


... then smashed into the little bay. During a very pleasant luncheon we were able to observe the effects of succesive waves on the cliffs. Boulders were rumbling and being tossed about the steep beach by the heavy surf.


Our kayaks looked mighty frail sitting there! After lunch we then enjoyed a very exciting launch.


Refuelled, we then made our way up to the surf beach at Ballantrae. What a hoot! Well spaced peeling monsters were making their way shore wards at 20km/hr.

After a while it seemed only right to do some practice surf rescues. Billy volunteered to get wet as he was keen to test out his new Fourth Element gear. Please note, this is not a very safe arrangement of kayaks with a large approaching wave! I turned parallel to Tony and rafted up well before that next peeler arrived!


All bailed out...


... and Billy is on his way again, delighted with the effectiveness of his Fourth Element thermocline top and shorts.


Next we had to negotiate the race at Bennane head. It was neaps but we had timed it so that we were rounding the headland 3 hours after the turn of the tide. There were some huge swells and the water off the head was very confused and so there are no photos in the race itself.


However, it was a flood tide, where the incoming tide is split by the headland. This is always calmer than on the ebb. On the ebb, the south going current to the north of the head joins the north going current to the south of the head. Where they join can be a maelstrom!


The end of a perfect day.

02/05/2009