An evening paddle in the lee of Dun.

The forecast was not looking promising, the wind was due to increase 5-6 from the NE, imminently. We launched from the Cuma at 6pm...

...and made for the Dun Gap in beautiful evening sunshine.

The wind and the tide were whistling through the Dun Gap as I looked back past Giasgeir, in mid channel, to Oisebhal (293m) on Hirta.

Mostly it was sheltered in the lee of Dun but there were some vicious

Raised beaches and a raised graveyard on Arran's west coast.

Once we had left Catacol, our view to the south was obscured by Rhuba Airigh Bheirig.

Past the headland, the view of the Kilbrannan Sound opened up and the Mull of Kintyre...

...stretched away to the south. The coastline near Leninmore is very rocky but low tide revealed some lovely sand.

Behind every possible landing beach on this stretch of coast, you will find a cluster of cottages built on

Sea kayaking round Burrow Head.

A 32km day paddle from Port William round Burrow Head to Garlieston, Solway Firth,  January 2011.
Approaching Burrow Head near slack water.
TidesWell off Burrow Head: The east going flood starts -0600 HW Liverpool (-0545 HW Dover). The west going ebb starts at HW Liverpool (+0015 HW Dover) The spring rate is about 3 knots. 
Close in to Burrow Head:Strong counter eddies become established in the

Turning a corner on Kerrera

 We were unable to land at Gylen Castle as there was some surf breaking on the steep rocky beach so we carried on towards the south west point of Kerrera. The crashing of the waves on the dark rock of Kerrera was the only sound.

On the way, we passed interesting natural castles of conglomerate rock sitting on top of what looked like a layer of dsark basaltic rock.


The mountains of Mull came in

The stirring sound of moving water in the Cuan Sound.

It was now three hours after the start of the spring flood tide and our course took us in a dog leg, round the north end of Torsa and into the Cuan Sound. We had told Phil that there might be a little slope (several feet or so) but there would not be any whirlpools (Phil has an unaccountable aversion to whirlpools).

At the entrance of the Sound, the skerry of An Cleiteadh, constricts and dams

The Grey Dogs were salivating, while awaiting our arrival.

It was a cold, grey, January day but the promise of spring tides took us to Ellenabeich on the Island of Seil. David, Jennifer, Jim, Phil and I launched our kayaks in the little harbour of this former slate mining centre.

The harbour at Ellenabeich is sheltered from the open Firth of Lorn by the island of Easdale which lies just over 100m across the Sound of Easdale. A little passenger ferry

Danger on the Solway

From the quayside of Kirkcudbright we took the ebb tide back down the River Dee to Kirkcudbright Bay.

We passed the Gallovidian III which is the Range Boat for the Dundrennan firing range sea danger area that extends for 24x33km along the Solway coast to the SE of Kirkcudbright. Telephone contacts for the range are: 0141 224 8501 (Range Officer) or 0141 224 8502 (Guard House).

The channel was

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

Goat bhuna and the Mull of Cara

From the Boathouse on Gigha, we made our way south through a series of skerries. The Mull of Kintyre and the pointed summit of Cara lay beyond the skerries.We soon picked up a convoy of curious common seals who followed us through the channels. (Thanks to Will for identification.)Phil and I in the kayaks got through shallow gaps that Donald could not risk with his outboard motor.After crossing

Lunga, Scarba and the Corryvreckan from Crinan

Circumnavigation of Scarba and Lunga: a 47km day trip from Crinan, July 2010.The west coast of Lunga with Scarba and Jura beyond.Nearly finished, the tide still pushes us on from the Dorus Mor and the distant Corryvreckan and Scarba beyond.The tide times in the Corryvreckan are influenced by low pressure Atlantic systems and can be difficult to predict within an hour's accuracy. However, in a

From the Dorus Mor to Crinan

From the Corryvreckan we had to paddle at a high ferry angle to get round the north end of Reisa an t-Sruith. Once past here we were propelled through the Dorus Mor (the gap behind the paddlers) and thence towards Crinan still at 11km/hr!All was quiet as we approached Crinan......and landed at the slipway......after a superb day of tidal assistance.A trailer makes light work of transporting 4

A Corryvreckan eddy.

We waited at the SE entrance to the Corryvreckan for 1.5hours after slack water, to let the east going ebb tide build up a little bit. We then launched into a counter eddy, which took us back west at 10.8km/hr into the Corryvreckan again.We were passed by a west going yacht, motoring at full belt on top of the 10.8km/hr of the eddy. It was really nice to see its single handed skipper displaying

Givin' the Dogs the slip!

Although there was some growling from the throat of the Dogs and the occasional fleck of saliva, all looked remarkably calm and, much to Phil and Jennifer's relief, we slipped past the Grey Dogs on our way north to the tip of Rubha Fiola.Scarba slipped astern but still dominated the skyline above the east coast of Lunga.Ahead lay Fladda lighthouse backed by the island of Seil and the distant

Relaxing, with the roaring of the Dogs in our ears.

The tides carried us north at 8km/hr out of the Sound of Jura into the Sound of Luing, which separates Scarba on the west from Luing on the east.The east coast of Scarba is sheltered from the prevailing wind and has a thick growth of deciduous woodland. Both red and fallow deer can be seen here. Kilmory Lodge lies 88m above sea level while the summit of Cruach Scarba 449m towers high above.We had

A hidden lagoon in the Sound of Jura.

From the Dorus Mor we paddled towards Coiresa with some difficulty.The current was carrying us inexorably straight towards the Corryvreckan.Eventually we broke out of the flood and an eddy carried us up the SE of Coiresa towards Reisa Mhic Phaidean and into the lagoon between the two islands.The lagoon was a magical place, its clear waters were full of little fish and its bottom was studded with

Of time and tide at the Falls of Lora

We drifted under the bridge at the the Connel Narrows on Loch Etive at 5km/hr.It was 16:13, two hours before the start of the ebb.It was a neap tide and despite the current, it was like a millpond over the shelf of the Falls of Lora.At a spring tide on the flood we might have expected some decent standing waves here. On the ebb on a spring tide, the Falls can be very spectacular as Loch Etive