Navigational aids in the Sound of Islay.

The tide in the Sound of Islay whisked us south to the Carrag an t-Sruith lighthouse. Unfortunately it was not big enough to have its name painted on the side, thus somewhat hindering its navigational usefulness.

Useful though white painted lighthouses may be to navigators, we noticed a much more interesting  building on the far side of the Sound, which was also painted white.

This one is quite

Catching the 0930 in the Sound of Islay.

We awoke at a decent time and had plenty of time to have a big breakfast in the morning. There was not a great distance to Port Askaig and the south going tide was building nicely to help us on our way. As we packed, the swans entertained us by teaching their cygnets to break into and out of the current in the Sound.
 We did best to imitate their style and after catching the 0930 southbound, we

A night with the angels on the Sound of Islay.

We soon had the fire going and cracked open the 18year old Caol Isla (“Sound of Islay”) malt whisky, which had been distilled just a few kilometres away on the Islay side of the Sound. The midges clearly appreciated the local spirit as well, though they seemed to have had enough by nightfall.

Fortunately they disappeared after dark. As the night wore on the embers of our fire slowly died away

Swanning about and an invasion of privacy in the Sound of Islay.

There are very many opportunities to wild camp on the Jura shore of the Sound of Islay.  Basalt dykes at right angles to the shore create innumerable secluded coves.

Unfortunately one of the prime sites was already occupied, so not wanting to invade any one's privacy, we turned back a little way.

We soon found a lesser bay and we decided to just make do with second best as the sun was setting

Leaving Jura under a cloud

It was high water when we left West Loch Tarbert on Jura under a cloud.

We re-entered the Sound of Islay, just as MV Hebridean Isles was returning from her Wednesday day trip from Islay, to Colonsay, to Oban, to Colonsay and back to Islay.

Gradually the sun began to break through  the evening sky...

...as we took the ebb tide down the Sound of Islay.

A reputation for midges in West Loch Tarbert, Jura.

West Loch Tarbert on Jura is always worth a visit with its raised beaches,....

...dykes, arches and caves.

It is a wild place but it is not totally without sight of the hand of man. Glenbatrick Lodge is the holiday cottage of Lord Astor. It sits on the south shore under the slopes of  Beinn Shiantaidh, 757m, one of the Paps of Jura.

There were some delightful sandy shores backed by raised

Mist in the Sound of Islay

 Paddling to the east the tall tower of the Ruvaal lighthouse announced our arrival at the Sound of Islay.
 A band of low cloud was streaming up the Sound between Islay and Jura.
The tide was running quickly so we set off at a high ferry angle toward Jura. However, despite our ferry angle, we were carried 1km down tide on a 4.7km crossing! The Paps were still partially shrouded in the mist as we

The Sound of Tomorrow, Islay.

Port Askaig on the Sound of Islay is one of the best places to set off sea kayaking. The Sound is only 0.75km wide so you can really only go north or south. However you don't even need to make that decision as the tide will make it for you (5 knots at springs can be somewhat persuasive).

The scenery on the Sound is stunning with the Paps of Jura being the high point on the horizon.
A number of

A fishless lunch on Eileach an Naoimh

We slipped through a gap in the reefs through to the SE side of the Garvellachs. I fell behind the others to drop a mackerel line over the side. I very quickly caught a good sized one but when I pulled it in it was just a head! It had been very neatly bitten off at the gills by a seal that was following us. I gave up on the idea of mackerel for lunch. :o(The magnificent Paps of Jura dominated the

A rough crossing to the Rough Islands.

The weather forecast for the long weekend was pretty poor but there was to be a brief weather window on the Sunday. After an early start, David, Jennifer, Tony and I made our way up to the Island of Seil. Our plan was a dry trip to the Garvellach Islands that lie in the tides that sweep between Scarba and Mull. We were on the water in time to catch the 10:15 ebb express for the Garvellachs!With

Sea kayaking desktop calendar October 2010

October, raised beach, Jura.The seakayakphoto.com October desktop calendar (in a variety of screen resolutions) is available for download here.

Who's been sitting in my chair?

From Cara House, we made our way slowly up the spine of the Island towards the Mull of Cara. We looked back northwards over the blooming heather of Cara to a magnificent view encompassing, Jura, the Sound of Jura, Gigha, the Sound of Gigha and Kintyre.To the NW the Paps of Jura dominated the skyline while......to the NE the dazzling strip of sand, where we had luncheon the previous day,

Through the Brownie's window, on Cara.

We came across a row of old tractors lined up behind the beach at Cara. Phil tried to get the most recent looking one started......but judging by the spider's web in its air intake, it obviously hadn't run for a while.Giving up on the tractor, we started to walk up the track towards......Cara House, which was on the horizon.As we climbed, we enjoyed a fabulous view over Gigha to the Paps of

Last day of summer on Cara.

We finally made landfall on this beautiful beach at the north end of Cara.We gazed back at the stunning view over azure waters to verdant Gigha......and the distant rocky peaks of the Paps of Jura.We don't get a great deal of sun in Scotland but when we do....! This last day of a short summer will need to keep us going for some time during the dark days of the coming winter.

Views from the north of Gigha.

The north end of Gigha is a wonderful wild place. Its highest hill is only 56m high but from its summit this lovely isle can be seen stretching away to the south with the Mull of Kintyre and even Ireland beyond.To the west, over the peninsula of Eilean Garbh, Islay stretches away to the Mull of Oa.To the east, the mountains of Arran rise above the Kintyre peninsula and the Sound of Gigha.Back at

Two sisters of Islay.

The next morning, the 7am ferry from Kennacraig to Islay sailed past Gigha under the magnificent Paps of Jura. She was the MV Hebridean Isles, built in 1985. As her name suggests, she served the Skye, North Uist and Harris triangle until 2001 when she moved south to the Islay run. The white pillars at the rear is a large lifting car ramp which was used until all her ports were fitted with

A sack of logs and a space for the Brownie.

Fortunately when the sun went down, the temperature dropped like a stone and the midges disappeared.Gradually the light faded until......there was only a red glow behind the Paps of Jura.We sat round a fire of crackling logs, leaving a space for the Brownie. It was just as well we had picked up a sack of logs at a petrol station on the way up as there was little driftwood on the beach.Phil and I

A feast on Gigha.

Once we had got our tents up it was time to start unloading the boats for our evening meal. We had chicken tikka bhuna, parathas, two mackerel and some beef burgers to prepare.The evening ferry to Port Ellen was the MV Isle of Arran. I did think of the fish and chips or chicken curry that Phil and I enjoyed on our last trip to Islay as she steamed past Gigha. On that occasion I had pointed out

Two resting places on Gigha.

It was early evening when we came across the wreck of the Kartli.It was humbling being so close to the final resting place of the wreck of this great ship and it served as a reminder of the power of the sea.This quartz, on a rock nearby, seemed to have taken its hue in sympathy from the rusting remains of the Kartli.The sun was nearly setting......by the time we had explored potential camping

Midges at the mill, on Gigha.

We now turned our bows to the north and up the exposed west coast of Gigha. It was a wonderful day with light winds and only a little swell coming in from the Atlantic. I soon had the sail up.We passed to the inside of the little island of Craro. Though it might appear to give some shelter on this wild coast, it has been the graveyard of many shipwrecks.As we made our way along the coast......the