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

The start of another Islay adventure.

It was with considerable anticipation that Phil and I viewed Port Ellen as the ferry from Kintyre...

...approached the terminal on Islay's southern coast. Islay's characteristic whitewashed buildings with black painted windows crowded round the bays on either side of the jetty.

We then drove north to Islay's second terminal, Port Askaig. As we launched from the little harbour, the flood tide

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

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

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

The Devil's bridge of Burrow Head.

Due to lost time on the shuttle, we had started a little later than planned. We still needed to meet the tidal window at Burrow Head and so we skipped first luncheon,  carrying on towards the Head.

Close to the head, a strong counter eddy forms in the last 2 hours of both the flood and the ebb, particularly so at springs. This means that "slack water" close under the rocks occurs when the main

Sea kayaking round Kerrera

From Oban sea front round Kerrera, a 23km day paddle on the Firth of Lorn, February 2011.
Crossing Oban Bay to Kerrera. 
Although we started in the town, most usually the best launches would be from Corran Esplanade or from Ganavan Sands. You can also launch over rocks north of the Kerrera ferry, opposite yacht moorings but not at the ferry itself.
Tidal flows.Sound of Kerrera the flood enters

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

Sea kayaking round Morvern

A three day, 114km paddle round the Morvern peninsula via Loch Linnhe, the Sound of Mull and Loch Sunart.

Sunset in Loch Drumbuie, an offshoot of Loch Sunart.

Tides:

Lynn of Morvern/Loch Linnhe
NE flood -0545 HW Oban ((+0110 HW Dover)
SW ebb +0025 Oban (-0505 HW Dover)

There are some peculiarities in the tides here.

A narrow stream of the flood tide entering the Lynn of Morvern hits the

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

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

The quest for a haddock of gargantuan proportions.

Entering Kirkcudbright (kir-coo-bri) Bay, the landscape changed dramatically, the cliffs gave way to gentle wooded shores.

We stopped for a break at a little beach with a view to the far side of the bay and the distant Lake District hills in England beyond.

We now had a stiff paddle against an increasing ebb tide.

As we approached the town we came across a long marina pontoon. The tide was

Reminiscent of a river: the Loch Eil narrows.

As we approached the tidal narrows at the mouth of Loch Eil...

...the summit of Ben Nevis was still lost in the clouds.

In the narrows, the west going flood starts at -0435 HW Oban (+0220 HW Dover) and the east going ebb starts at  +0130 HW Oban (-0400 HW Dover). The spring rate in both directions is 5 knots. We were in the narrows an hour before the end of the ebb and were surprised to be

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

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

Slack water in the Sound of Jura.

We left Glasgow at 07:00 and it was 09:10 when we finally drove down to the slipway in the little village of Crinan in Argyll. Across the Sound of Jura, the horizon was blocked by Jura to the south and Scarba to the north. Hidden between them lies the great Gulf of Corryvreckan through which surge some of the most powerful tides on Earth.All was calm as we left Crinan on the last of the ebb

Sea kayaking from Loch Feochan to Loch Etive

A 36km paddle from the south side of Loch Feochan via Oban harbour to Taynuilt pier. It took 2 hours to drive from Glasgow to Taynuilt pier. It took another 1hr 45mins to run the shuttle to Loch Feochan and get on the water.Tidal streams:Loch Feochan narrowsAt low water the norrows almost dry leaving a norrow channel of about 0.3m. As a result the ingoing flood does not begin until the level

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