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.

An effective navigational strategy for the Arran crossing.

The sails had driven us so quickly that we very nearly made the earlier ferry back to Ardrossan. The ferry attracted our attention because (unusually) it gave several blasts on its horn. It was being trailed by a noisy tribe of jet skis riding its wake. Every so often one of the bolder ones would skillfully cut across the ferry's bow, under the admiring gazes of the many passengers crowding the

A tale of three harbours and some ferrous sheep on Arran

In Mid April David and I caught the midday ferry to Arran. As we approached Brodick the mountains were cloaked in low mist.

We trollied the kayaks off the ferry and were prepared to launch almost as soon as the MV Caledonian Isles had cleared her jetty.

We planned an anticlockwise circumnavigation of Arran, a distance of about 90km. A southerly breeze began to clear the mist from the mountains

Keeping fast company on the crossing to Ailsa Craig.

Last Sunday, Phil, Tony, Jennifer and I met at Lendalfoot on the Ayrshire coast. We were bound for Ailsa Craig, a huge monolith of granite, which is situated at the entrance to the Firth of Clyde, some 14km offshore.

The staff of seakayakphoto.com have a new honorary member. John Willacy is the designer of the Rockpool Taran, which has something of a reputation as a speed machine, especially

Ferry gliding across the Kyles of Bute.

Night was drawing in as we left Eilean Dubh heading for the East Kyle. We took a last look down the West Kyle before we entered the tidal channel that runs through the Burnt Islands. The tide had turned against us, so we ferry glided from one island to the other, making use of the eddies. In the gloom of the twilight the scene was quite different...

...from the misty sunshine we had seen on the

Morning mist in the Kyles of Bute

Early on an October morning, Phil and I drove over the high pass above the Kyles of Bute. The Burnt Islands were caught in a momentary blink of sunshine that managed to break through the thick mist.

We had left one car at Colintraive which is the mainland terminal for the ferry which runs over the Kyles to Bute...

...and drove  over the narrow roads to Portavadie on the west coast of the Cowal

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

Wot a Loti toing and froing in Oban harbour.

The rain started as we continued up the NW coast of Kerrera. The rain hissed into the calm sea around us...

 ..and the seascape turned steadily to muted shades of grey.

Phil cut a colourful dash on the Firth as we approached the northern entrance to Oban Bay.

 We let Loti* enter the channel before us and enjoyed a good surf in on her wake.

We stopped for a second luncheon on a pebble beach

Better days in the Sound of Kerrera

This was the view from the sea front at Oban. In the near distance the island of Kerrera shelters Oban from the open waters of the Firth of Lorn. In the distance, the mountains of Mull were topped by a snow covered Ben More, at  966m, the highest mountain in the Inner Hebrides.

 A front was rapidly crossing the sky from the SE...

 ...as we crossed Oban Bay to Kerrera.

Ahead a monument to David

Mines a bacon butty in Lochaline!

As the flood tide carried us up the Sound of Mull we came to the little village of Lochaline, which nestles on the west side of a narrow inlet that is only 90m wide.

 The in going tide carried us through to Loch Aline at 7km/hr.

You need to be careful to keep out of the way of shipping in this very narrow and tidal channel. The Mull ferry, MV Loch Fyne passes through it nearly 30 times per day

Taking the Sound of Mull to the Next World.

The second day of our Morvern trip dawned still and calm but the peace of early morning (and our slumbers) was shattered...

...by the MV Clansman. She is the noisiest of the Calmac ferries at the best of times, as she burns the heaviest grade of fuel oil in her diesels. However, her crankshafts were just about to fail catastrophically and so the decibels this morning were deafening.

Clyde built: tough ships, tough people.

From Dumbarton we set off on the final leg of our Clyde paddle to Port Glasgow in a snow storm. At times the snow was falling so heavily that there was near zero visibility and we lost sight of the channel markers, even though they were only 600m apart. We were rather anxious not to be run over by a ship in the night, so we navigated by keeping to the north of the channel markers, then crossed

Life and death on the Clyde.

From the former Yarrow's shipyard at Scotstoun we paddled to Renfrew on the south bank. This is one of the oldest ferry points on the Clyde. Higher up the river we had already encountered the old chain driven "Renfrew", which served the route as a vehicle ferry from  1952 until 1984. Vehicle traffic had steadily fallen since the construction of the Clyde tunnel upstream in 1963/64 and the Erskine

Forward paddling, through the years, on the Clyde.

Beneath the Glasgow Tower, we came across the paddle steamer Waverley tied up for the winter.

She was built in 1947 at the A & J Inglis yard on the Clyde. We crunched through the ice...

...to take a closer look at her. She is the last sea going paddle steamer in the World and was built for the run from Craigendorran Pier down to the Clyde ports. Her summer season now extends round the UK's

Famous for not being able to walk in a straight line.

Below the King George the Fifth bridge, the north side of the Clyde is bounded by Broomielaw quay. This was the main Glasgow terminal for passenger ships and it was from here that the World's first commercial paddle steam ship started in 1812. In later years generations of Glaswegians took their holidays "doon the water" by taking a steamer from the Broomielaw to the Clyde resorts. Now it is the

It's behind you, on the Clyde

In Scotland the snow tends to arrive with the Pantomime season.  It was quite cold when Tony, Alan and I arrived at Largs marina on the Firth of Clyde. I didn't dare take the short road over the hills, I took the long way round by Kilmarnock, Irvine and Ardrossan. In the distance, the mountains of Arran rose above Great Cumbrae island.
  
 The "pencil" celebrates the Battle of Largs in 1263.

One way trade and a one way voyage.

Embarking from the ferry at Hunter's Quay we stopped at the head of Loch Striven. This loch is one of the most remote but sheltered of the many sea lochs, which branch off the Firthof Clyde.Far from the open sea, boats seek shelter from its neighbouring hills and mountains. It was here that the Sealand Performance was laid up for nearly a year. We had passed her at anchor off Greenock fitting out

How sweet is the Clyde?

It was time to be back on the water but to begin with, our hulls stayed dry.We took the ferry crossing to the Cowal peninsula on the west side of the Firth of Clyde. This is Western Ferries' MV Sound of Scarba which runs from McInroys Point to Hunter's Quay. If you plan to use this crossing, you can get discount tickets in Paul's Food and Wine shop at 94, Shore St, Gourock. A return ticket for

An encounter with Loti on an uneasy sea.

Long after we had left Belnahua we were still being carried north at 9-11km/hr on an uneasy sea. Wind against tide here can be an interesting experience. Fortunately there was not a breath of wind.Looking back to the Garvellachs, we could just make out the outline of Colonsay to their right side.Soon we left the isolated rocks of Dubh-fheith behind.As we approached Easdale, the evening Cal-Mac

An oasis of refreshment and welcome at Colintraive

The Kyles of Bute between the Cowal peninsula and the island of Bute are great sea kayaking waters.The icing on the cake is the Colintraive Hotel which is just beside the ferry terminal on the Cowal side. I first visited this oasis of refreshment on a yacht in 1977. Last September we returned to see if the years had been kind to it.Just inside, there was an impressive menu on the wall. Sadly due