A change of plan sets the wheels in motion across Jura

Early May often brings some great weather for outdoor activities - and May 2017 didn't disappoint. Douglas and I had been carefully watching as a ridge of high pressure built over Scotland. The question was....how far would it extend and where would give the best conditions for a multi-day trip?

As usual we had several trips in mind, it was just a case of which would be best.  As the forecasts increased in confidence, we started to plan in some detail for a trip around the Small Isles (Rum, Eigg, Muck and Canna) - the best conditions were forecast for the north of Scotland's west coast.  We were delighted that Maurice, David and Sam were able to make the trip too.  We planned to set out from Mallaig on Sunday 7th May, returning on Thursday 11th May.

So what on earth were we doing loading kayaks at Carsaig Bay in Argyll on Sunday morning- some 120 km south of Mallaig ?!

Well, 24 hours prior to setting out, the forecast position of the ridge of high pressure had altered subtly.  The revised forecasts indicated strengthening winds around the top of the "high" in the northwest, with much lighter winds and sunshine now forecast further south.  After a re-evaluation we changed our plan for a trip to the islands of Jura and Colonsay.

This area is well known for remote coasts and very fast tidal streams - I was very grateful that Douglas was able to undertake the revised tidal planning as I was in the middle of a journey home from the south of England when we agreed the new plan.  Jura had made a lasting impression on me during a previous trip and I was very keen to visit Colonsay - so despite a busy evening of packing and another long drive to Carsaig on Sunday morning, I simply couldn't wait to get going!

We packed our boats for a five day trip in very warm sunshine under brilliant blue skies - there was hardly a breath of wind.  Our flexibility in changing seemed to have worked out- and this was later confirmed when we heard from one friend who experienced very windy conditions in the Small Isles and another who was on a club meet in the far northwest in cold NE'ly winds of F5 which effectively restricted their outings to the sea lochs rather than the open coast.


You'll be able to follow our journey to Jura, Oronsay and Colonsay in "Sea Kayak Stereovision" by reading Douglas' blog, starting here....   :o)

Our  trip would involve four significant crossings - the first of which was right at the outset, heading over from Carsaig to the east coast of Jura.  Our boats were well laden with supplies and kit, and each of us carried a trolley on the back deck.

A tiny breeze soon died away and we paddled out into the Sound of Jura on a mirror sea reflecting the intense blue of a Spring sky - sea kayaking heaven!

Tidal streams in this part of the Sound reach up to 3.5 knots (7km/h) so any crossing needs to take account of this.  As it happened, our crossing would neatly span the turn of the tidal stream, so we were able to aim straight for our destination and allow the tide to move us first one way then the other, pretty much cancelling out the drift.

We reached Tarbert Bay on Jura's east coast at mid afternoon, just after high water.  The last time Douglas and I had been in this bay it had collected a deep barrier of rotting weed which had decayed to a stinking slime.  We approached with trepidation, but to our relief the beach was clean sand.  The place name "Tarbert" is quite common on the west coast of Scotland and indicates a narrow neck of land between tow bodies of water.  It derives from Old Norse and means "draw boat" - literally a place where longboats could be pulled overland.

In the hot afternoon sun, our portage promised to be hard work.  We helped each other lift the kayaks onto their trolleys and set out.....

...on the track which leads across the island of Jura.  Our boats were at the heaviest they'd be for the whole trip - packed with food and water (plus sports recovery drinks) so the climb up to the summit of the portage was taken at a steady pace; our ages ranged from late twenties to mid-seventies, and we were in no particular rush.  At the top - 40 metres above sea level - there was a glimpse ahead to West Loch Tarbert.

The descent was a little easier, but the track is everywhere rough and stony - it's a notorious test for sea kayak trolleys.  Happily all survived - most of us were using the KCS Expedition trolley which has been proved across this portage before.  A shoulder strap definitely helps on these longer portages, whether a bespoke item or improvised with a strap and sling/Karabiner.  Having now done this portage both ways - it seems to me that the east-west direction is slightly less strenuous as the ascent isn't as steep.  It may only be 1.6Km with 40 metres of ascent - but it's a fair pull!

We got back onto the water at 1715 with three hours until sunset.  The ebb tide was now pouring out of the inner part of West Loch Tarbert and a breeze had started up, both of which would assist us.  If our plan to circumnavigate Colonsay was to be realised, we needed to put ourselves in the best possible position to cross from Jura the following morning....we still had some distance to go before camp.

Going with the flow

We left Eilean Fhianain with a brisk easterly breeze at our backs - one of the reasons we'd chosen this particular trip was the predominantly easterly wind which was forecast - it would either be at our backs or we'd be sheltered on the west coast.

A last look back towards the mountains of Loch Shiel.......

...and then steadily onwards along the stretch of water which isn't quite Loch Shiel and isn't yet ruly the River Shiel.  Shallow water lined with salt marsh, this is a great place for waterfowl and waders to feed and to rest.

Talking of feeding and resting.....

....we landed near the jetty at Acharacle in order to check out the options for first luncheon.  Acharacle (Torquil's ford) is named for a Norse leader who was killed here along with all his men in a battle with Somerled, Lord of the Isles in 1120.  Torquil's men found the water too deep to cross and they were killed making a last stand near this spot.

We walked up the small road which leads from the wooden jetty to the village shops......where we had a choice of eating in at the Acharacle Tearoom or purchasing lunch to eat outside the Bakery. 

As we were in our paddling clothes - and it was anyway such a nice morning - we chose to eat outside the Bakery.  The coffee and Foccaccia bread are particularly recommended by your reviewers!

Acharacle is a handy stop in this area, it has a couple of options for food, a shop, and public toilets with a tap outside for topping up water.

Fuelled up and rested, we got back on the water, our boats being drawn along by the now noticeable current towards the fine triple arched road bridge over the River Shiel, built in 1935.  The footings of the bridge supports were clear of the water which certainly hadn't been the case on our winter trip, and the river flow was markedly less too.

Shortly after the road bridge the river narrows quickly and swings into a rocky gorge.  At the end, the old bridge crosses the river at the point of a ninety degree left bend.  Built by Thomas Telford in 1804, it was too narrow to carry motor vehicles and was replaced as a road bridge by the 1935 version.  You can walk from the road to this bridge and cross it, but the south side is private property.

Beneath the bridge is a small rapid where the water runs over a rocky shelf - with more water in the river it can prove exciting, but as the level was quite low it was little more than a quickening of the flow.

The rapid marks the end of the narrow section, the water slows and the river becomes wide and shallow.  A wooded hill makes a lovely backdrop to a very relaxing section of the trip where we were able to just go with the flow in the literal sense.

If making this journey when the water level is relatively high, it's good to know that there are a couple of potential egress points to allow a portage around the tidal fall where the river empties into the sea.  The first is at a gauging station marked by wires crossing above the water - we used this during our winter trip when the river was quite full.

The second point is a small patch of flat grass jutting out into the river, which Douglas, Lorna and I used to land and carry our boats up to the track alongside the water; Mike found a spot further down again, but after that there's just one option immediately above the falls - miss it and you're committed....

We put the boats on the trolleys we carried specifically for this section and portaged along the estate track through woods of beech and pine - despite pulling the boats this was a very pleasant section.  Once again the trolleys (three KCS Expedition models and one Lomo model) proved their worth and performed faultlessly.

A short detour to view the tidal fall is well worth the effort - if only to assess whether you feel it could have been paddled.  The drop from river to sea is the result of isostatic rebound, the continued rising of the land in this part of Scotland following the release of ice from the last ice age.  The fall itself is affected by two things; the amount of water in the river and the height of tide - in simple terms, when the tide is low the river has further to drop.  On neither occasion we've been here have we felt the slightest inclination to run the fall in fully laden sea kayaks......

This is the fall in comparatively low river levels but also a low tide.......

.....and this is the fall on our winter trip with more water in the river but a higher tide. 

Immediately beyond the point where the river ends, we arrived at the shore of Loch Moidart.  We carried our boats down over a patch of saltmarsh to place them, for the first time on this journey, into salt water.

Per mare per terram - across an island

 We slept well at Cruib Lodge, waking at at 0500.  After packing our boats and tidying the bothy ready for the next visitors we were pleased to be on the water as planned by 0600.  Unusually for us, first breakfast was postponed in order to get to the head of Loch Tarbert at high water.  The last morning of our Jura adventure began with a searingly bright sunrise......

 ...and a lovely quality of early morning light.  There was no sign of life on the yacht anchored in the bay, the only sounds were the dip of our paddles and the distinct calls of shorebirds creating a slight echo from the hills surrounding the middle part of the loch.

 The channel connecting the middle section of West Loch Tabert with the hidden inner section is called the Cumhann Beag (Little Narrow) and that just about sums up this unlikely passage.  The entrance is very difficult to see and the passage itself is more like a canal than a channel.  Tidal streams can run at up to 8 knots (16 km/h) on Spring tides, one of the main reasons we'd started so early was to get the last of the flood through here.

The stream was still pushing though as we paddled the narrows; remarkably in this age of digital charts and maps when everything would seem to be well explored, the first survey of the Cumhann Beag was only undertaken in 2006 and even that may not be comprehensive.  The inner loch was historically used as a concealing base for longships and their Scottish equivalent, the Birlinns of sea raiders.  It's more peaceful today but remains a challenging anchorage for adventurous yachtsmen.

 This tree growing from the west side of the channel clearly shows that it's not always calm in this part of the world!

 We reached the head of inner Loch Tarbert right on the time of high water, although the tide actually rose for some 40 minutes after this.  We were pleased to have avoided having to carry the boats over the mud which is revealed at lower states of the tide - this day was going to be energetic enough without an additional "plowter" through sticky mud!

The most important priority was to get tea and coffee brewed, after which our belated first breakfast was taken.  Then we rigged our boats for the next stage of the journey and changed out of drysuits into walking gear.

Between Loch Tarbert and Tarbert Bay, the island of Jura is less than 2km wide.  The name "Tarbert" is found in several places around the west of Scotland and derives from a Norse phrase meaning "draw boat"; a Tarbert being a place where a longship could be hauled overland from one body of water to another.  In at least one place, pulling a boat over a Tarbert was used to gain control over a large area of the mainland following an agreement that a Norse king could claim ownership of anything he could take his longship around!

This amphibious ability would have been most useful to seafarers in case of stormy weather, or as a flanking manoeuvre.  The Norse warbands were true "marine" fighters, using their shallow draught and manoeuvrable ships to access far inland, an amphibious ability which led them from their Scandinavian bases as far as North America, across the Arctic, down the Atlantic and Mediterranean coasts of Europe, to the Middle East and even far into Asia via river systems.  The motto "per mare per terram" (by sea and by land) is that of the UK's elite Royal Marines, and sums up this amphibious fighting capability.

 In addition to sea raiding, the Tarbert was used to transport a range of goods and even bodies bound for burial on Iona as it avoided the fast tidal streams of the Corryvreckan and the Sound of Islay which flank Jura to north and south.

We aimed to emulate the Viking example (minus the raping, burning and pillage or course!....) by putting our boats onto the trollies for the 2km pull.  Douglas has been testing an Easy Haul Portage Strap made by Kayak Carrier Systems this year, and it works really well on a long portage such as this.  I tried out an arrangement using the short tow-line attached to the deck of my boat (which is one of those things which can be used in all sorts of ways) attached to a spare portage strap.  Once I'd adjusted for legth I found this worked very well, but is obviously less adjustable than the KCS shoulder strap.

The track across the Jura Tarbert is notoriously rough. The track is bumpy, stony and rises to around 30 metres above sea level before heading down to the east side of the island.  It's a noted destroyer of sea kayak trollies, but I'm pleased to report that our KCS Expedition trollies once again proved their worth; the addition of the rear extension prevented any movement of the trolley beneath the boat and all three made the crossing without a hitch - a truly tough piece of kit.

After crossing the high point of the crossing the track descends to cross the island's only road and enters the narrow strip of good agricultural ground on the east coast.  The underlying rock here is a schist which breaks down into much more fertile soils than the volcanic rocks elsewhere on the island.  It's land which has been farmed and lived on for thousands of years.  This slender 2.5m high standing stone is aligned N-S and is at the end of a low ridge near the remains of a later chapel and burial ground, indicating an ancient, continuing use.

Soon after, we arrived at Tarbert Bay on the east coast of Jura, and although the portage itself had been strenuous, it had presented little difficulty.  The final 10 metres to the sands of Tarbert Bay were another matter altogether though.....

Barring the way to the water was a wide swathe of rotting seaweed which was a calf-deep slime and absolutely stank - quite the worst example I've experienced for years.  We changed into drysuits and paddling boots before attempting this obstacle.  The stench was such that it attacked in a multisensory way and I found myself having to resist the urge to retch as we crossed it six times to move our three boats - fairly minging!  As soon as we reached the water we washed our drysuits and equipment clean of the vile residue.

At last cleaned off, we set out from Tarbert Bay into the Sound of Jura "per mare" for the final leg of our adventure...

Equipment Review - Kayak Carrier Systems Expedition Trolley

A trolley is one of the most useful sea kayaking accessories, the ability to move a kayak on a trolley can both reduce strain on the body and extend the flexibility of expeditions, offering additional route options.  There are two broad scenarios in which a trolley may be most useful; moving a kayak from a car to the launch site and to carry inside or on the deck of a kayak during an expedition.

In the first scenario a trolley is really useful if the launch site is any distance from the car, or if the tide goes out any sort of distance at your paddling venue.  If you are paddling solo then the advantage of a trolley should not be underestimated to save the effort of carrying even an empty kayak. 

In the second scenario a trolley can be used to portage the boat across land barriers, past difficult sections of water or canal locks, and of course, on and off ferries.  The ability to get a boat on and off a ferry extends the available route options and allows escape in deteriorating weather.  In my opinion, a trolley is pretty much essential kit if making a solo journey by kayak.

Some years ago I was on the point of purchasing a Kayak Carrier Systems (KCS) trolley from Mike Thomson at Scottish Paddler Supplies.  Following Mike's untimely death in 2008 the KCS trolley (which was designed and manufactured for Mike by Ronnie Weir) ceased production as Ronnie couldn't at that time take on the retail aspect of the business.  I was delighted to hear recently that Ronnie had restarted production and would retail direct via his website at Kayak Carrier Systems.  Even better, following comments from Douglas Wilcox and a couple of other folk, Ronnie had designed a new version of the trolley in which the original version had been widened and lowered, manufactured to an even more rugged standard and now featured an inbuilt stand to aid solo loading.  The redesigned trolley would be marketed as the "Expedition Trolley" to reflect its intended use.

The review below is a first impression report of the KCS Expedition Trolley - I intend to follow up with an extended use review after using it over several expeditions and a range of day paddles.

Conflict of interest statement:  I purchased a KCS Expedition trolley at full retail price.  I have had a small input in providing feedback in order that a couple of small design tweaks could be made but have no connection with KCS other than being a customer/reviewer.

The KCS Expedition Trolley is designed to be strong, light and durable - a difficult set of conflicting qualities to achieve.  It is designed to carry the weight of a fully laden sea kayak (or open canoe) over smooth or rough ground and to be easy to assemble/disassemble in order to transport it inside or on the deck of a kayak.

At present KCS products are sold directly via the website, and trolleys are available to demo at Glenuig Inn on Scotland's west coast and at Seaborne in Devon in the south west of England.



 

On opening the packaging the quality of the components used is immediately obvious.  The axle is high quality aluminium and fittings are either brass or stainless steel.  The legs are manufactured from the best available grade of polypropylene and have pads of closed cell foam to protect the hull of the kayak.

A real plus point is the spare parts kit supplied with the trolley.  Parts which might be misplaced in use such as T-Grips, a wheel retaining pin and the knurled locking handwheel are supplied as spares.  The spares kit is a thoughtful addition by a designer who is a paddler himself, and ties in with the "expedition ready" design brief.

A set of assembly and maintenance instructions, a securing strap and a strong drybag in which to store and transport the trolley completes the package.

Assembly is very straightforward; the pads (backed with strong polypropylene) secure to the frames with threaded T-Grips.

The axle is pushed through the frames and nylon spacers placed at each end. 

The frames are secured together with the knurled handwheel and the wheels can then be fitted and held in place with stainless steel gate-pins.  The wheels are the tried-and-tested 10 inch (25cm) wheels of the type found on many trollies and have pneumatic tyres fitted with Schraeder valves.  In use I've found it best not to fully inflate the tyres in order to give a balance between flotation and ease of pulling.  The single leg stand folds down from one side of the frame and makes solo loading of a kayak straightforward, the stand folds back up alongside the frame once the kayak is secured.

The trolley fits in an oval rear hatch with ease if the axle is removed.  Breaking it down further means that it can be fitted into a surprisingly small space (see the image on the KCS website which shows just how neatly the parts can fit together for stowage).  The wheels won't fit into a 20cm round kayak hatch, but fit into an oval hatch easily enough.

When journeying with a fully packed kayak the trolley can be broken down into two frames/axle/wheels and stowed in a storage bag strapped to the back deck.  The total weight of 3kg makes no discernable difference to stability on a loaded boat, but rear deck re-entry techniques may need to be adapted to take account of this or any deck cargo.

The optimum position for the trolley underneath the kayak will vary slightly from model to model and will be affected by kayak loading, but in general terms just aft of the cockpit gives a good balance.  Do take some time to practice securing the boat before heading out, it will be time well spent.

To secure a trolley I use the straps from my roof carrying bars which are longer than most.  The strap originally supplied with the Expedition trolley was slightly too short to comfortably secure a boat - when this was fed back to KCS a longer strap was immediately supplied and this is now standard.  A second strap running from the cenre of the frame of the trolley and up around the front of the cockpit rim will prevent any rearward movement of a trolley on soft sand or rough ground.

Following some trips with the Expedition trolley, the only criticism that Douglas and I could find was an occasional instance of the trolley rotating forwards under the boat on extremely rough ground or in very soft sand.  This could be mitigated by careful use of straps, but Douglas suggested a small rear extension for use on really tough terrain.  Ronnie came up with a design solution which has been successfully tested by Douglas on the trolley-eating portage across Jura and found to work very well in preventing any forward rotation.

The keel extension resembles a small aircraft tailplane and is now supplied as standard with the Expedition trolley.  It may not be required on most types of portage but underlines the expedition focused design and the willingness of Ronnie to adapt and improve an already good design.

Image by Douglas Wilcox

My first multi-day trip with the KCS Expedition Trolley included a portage with a heavily loaded kayak from the River Shiel to the sea at Moidart and took in a stretch of tarmac road....

.....and a bumpy estate track with some muddy sections.  It has also been used when day paddling to move a lightly laden boat across a variety of terrain.  In all situations so far it has performed faultlessly and has been easy to assemble and load in the field.



In my opinion the KCS Expedition trolley is a very high quality product and is unrivalled as a trolley for use on kayak (or canoe) expeditions. The quality of materials used make for a product which feels absolutely bombproof in use looks to be very durable.  The lower, wider design and subsequent small improvements make this the perfect trolley,and the addition of a single leg stand makes it particularly suitable for a solo user. In fact it is difficult to think of any way in which it could be further improved.

The current retail price is on the KCS website and is competitive when compared with other high quality trollies; the price also includes free UK delivery.

There will be an update to this review after I've had the opportunity to use the Expedition trolley as intended, on extended journeys which include rough and challenging terrain.  I have little doubt that it will prove as rugged and durable as the Scottish landscape itself!

For now, if you are looking for the best sea kayak trolley available  - look no further than this one.