Home run

The wind was already quite brisk when we got on the water, the warming effect of the mid morning sun more than countered by the cool easterly wind pouring out of Loch Moidart's North Channel.  We've found this to be an area which often funnels wind between the mainland and Eilean Shona, most noticeably in a easterly.

Although our day's paddle would be quite short there was still plenty of time for a stop along the way - white sand beaches are hard to pas by!  This one's a regular stop for us and was one of the camping options we'd considered, but not used.  There's good reason for this; any time in the "season" (although for us this is year round!) the place gets over used by groups.  As this was the second day of a holiday weekend we'd anticipated that it would be busy......

.....and we were't mistaken in that guess.  There were at least eight tents, guides with clients, walkers and a couple of dogs, one of which raced up to us snarling and barking.  Any sense of solitude or a wilderness experience would have been absent here and we were doubly glad we'd chosen Shoe Bay for our final camp.

After a break for coffee we continued north, the breeze now at our backs and pushing us up the coast into the Sound of Arisaig.  Douglas was testing the new model of kayak sail from Flat Earth Sails and was driving along at a very brisk rate.  The air seemed very sharp in the southeasterly wind - it was a great morning to be out but we could detect the first signs of the forecast increase in wind speed as whitecaps began to appear to seaward of us.

All too soon we pulled around the corner into the familiar surroundings of Samalaman Bay.  Our trip was over, and it had been another great journey from the head of freshwater Loch Shiel down to the salt of Loch Moidart and the to Loch Ailort. This is a trip we've now enjoyed several times, and it continues to be full of interest.  We've paddled in Spring, late winter and early autumn - and undoubtedly we'll do this journey again, perhaps as a full winter expedition.

We'd run a shuttle down here at the start of our trip and had capacity to take all of us and our boats back to the start at Glenfinnan to recover the other vehicle.  We were very glad we hadn't planned to bring just one vehicle and rely on bringing the others from Glenfinnan.....

...because on the holiday weekend the place was busier than we've ever seen it.  At least two kayak clubs and several small teams were all setting out on their own journeys, there's very limited parking and the road was almost blocked with cars. 

We heard later that the wind had indeed got up during that afternoon and into the following day, pinning some groups where they'd landed and causing others to alter plans, but that all had enjoyed this brilliant sea kayaking area.

Bacon rolls, coffee and cake - the art of suffering on Loch Ailort

I slept well in Peanmeanach - a quiet building in a quiet place.  Stepping outside in the evening, it was immediately obvious that our fire wasn't the only glow around these parts. A herd of Red Deer hinds uses the meadow below the bothy and they generally gather in the evenings.  Our headtorches picked out dozens of pairs of glowing eyes staring back towards us - and the animals seemed very unconcerned if we walked close by.

We felt no inclination for an early start and so didn't rise until it was fully light - about 8.30am.  The weather looked to be similar to the previous day with a grey cloudsheet overhead, but it was dry and not too cold which is as much as you can ask from a January day in Scotland!

A leisurely breakfast including bacon rolls (thanks Donald!) and fresh coffee made for a pleasant start to the day, breakfast made easier by being able to cook inside the bothy.  Once packed up we cleaned through the building and cleared the fire ashes for the next visitors, then got dressed into paddling kit.

Back on the water by mid morning, we decided to paddle to the head of Loch Ailort before returning to Samalaman to end this short trip.  The colours on this third day of the year were very muted and the light levels quite low; our boats seemed to be the only spots of brighter colour anywhere. 

Loch Ailort is a shallow "S" shaped sea loch guarded by islands at its mouth and has more interest than is generally supposed.  There are islands, narrow channels which change with the tide height and even some faster moving water in places.  We explored at a leisurely pace up to the head of the loch where luncheon was taken at the public jetty near Inverailort.

We planned to arrive back at our starting point near Glenuig at or shortly after sunset so didn't linger too long before setting off back down the loch.

On the way we stopped at a spot I've paddled past may times but hadn't previously landed.  A glimpse of flat turf aroused our interest and we got out to investigate.  Aside from Peanmeanach there are few decent spots to wild camp in Loch Ailort, or so we thought.  You'll need to find the place for yourself, but we felt that two or three tents could be pitched here on good, level ground - a useful recce!

We paddled back out of the loch past Eilean nan Gobhar and out onto the Sound of Arisag; An Sgurr of Eigg ahead of us was streaming a cloud banner as moister air streamed past it - quite different to the conditions on the summer day when Mike and I last visited!

The last hour of our paddle passed pleasantly as we upped the pace a little to arrive back at Samalaman Bay in the gathering dusk.  We landed at almost high water so didn't have too far to move our boats, which is always a nice bonus at the end of a day.  Kit packed up and boats loaded, we couldn't resist the lure of coffee and cake at the Glenuig Inn before heading home - an other nice bonus at the end of a paddle!  we'd topped and tailed the day with good food and with fresh coffee....who said sea kayaking  trips mean "roughing it"?!

This first overnight trip of the year had been just 32km of paddling over two short days.  In familiar waters and benign weather we'd enjoyed a pleasant and relaxed introduction to another year of sea kayaking - and shared with our friends Allan and Lorna a return to kayaking after enforced lay-offs.  Here's to lots more trips in 2019!

An orange glow on Loch Ailort

Having said our goodbyes to Lorna and Allan at Samalaman Donald and I headed back out onto the Sound of Arisaig.  Th high pressure weather had introduced a cloudsheet which almost obscured the whole sky, but not quite.  Donald's distinctive orange Nordkapp was caught in a shaft of sunlight and fairly glowed against the muted shades of sea and sky.

You'll notice that even when I was close by, the light continued to pick out Donald rather than me....truly the sun must shine on the righteous!  Ahead of us lay the entrance to Loch Ailort with the outer set of islands which guard the approach.  To the right the familiar outlines of the Rois-Bhein (Roshven) hills form the southern skyline.

The largest island at the entrance to Loch Ailort is Eilean nan Gobhar (Island of the Goats) which was briefly lit by a patch of sunlight - the last blink we'd see on this winter afternoon.  The island has the remains of two vitrified hillforts on the highest parts, though you need to look quite carefully to find the fused sections of wall.  The outer (west facing) shore of this small but rugged island is subject to quite rough conditions from the swell which rolls in from the Sound of Arisaig and from the tidal stream which forces around the island but there's a boulder beach on the eastern side which offers a landing in reasonable conditions.

Passing inside Eilean nan Gobhar brought us to the outer part of Loch Ailort and to a beach on the Ardnish peninsula below our destination for the night.....

...Peanmeananch bothy.  One of the larger and more popular bothies,we were surprised to find we were the only "guests" - though another couple arrived about 30 minutes later having walked in from the north.  Peanmenach is looked after by the Mountain Bothies Association and as for all the bothies in the organisation's care exists "for the use and benefit of all who love wild and lonely places".  I've been a member of the MBA for many years; the whole concept is a remarkable one - a place which belongs to the landowner, cared for by volunteers and open to all without charge or booking, subject only to a common sense code of practice.  The MBA plaque on a door is always a great sight at the end of a day!

Peanmeanach has two downstairs rooms and a floored loft upstairs.  Donald and I moved our kit upstairs and left the downstairs "bedroom" for Ollie and Leanne.  Over dinner we shared stories and experiences with our new companions.  Winter camping is a joy in itself, but it was likely on this cold night that all of us would have retired to our tents soon after dinner if we were camping.  No such requirement on this evening though......

...as we'd all brought fuel for a splendid fire!  Sea kayaks have great carrying capacity and we'd brought lots of wood and offcuts of oak casks left over from handcraft work.  Ollie and Leanne had carried in wood too, so we soon had the main room toasty warm and lit with another orange glow on Loch Ailort.

A change out of the blue

Stuart, Allan, Lorna and I continued up into Loch nan Uamh, it was just about low water and approaching spring tide exposing forests of laminaria weed.

As the head of the loch approaches, there's a view to the viaduct which carries the Fort William to Mallaig railway track - the road actually passes under one of the arches of the viaduct.  From this angle the left hand end seems to disappear into solid rock where the railway builders blasted a way through a boss of tough Gneiss rock.  The whole section from Mallaig to about Glenfinnan traverses some really unlikely railway terrain, it's rugged country with steep slopes which had to be overcome and is a real monument to Victorian engineering and perserverance.

The Loch nan Uamh viaduct is one of the earliest concrete constructions, and earned it's designer, Robert McAlpine the nickname "Concrete Bob" - the viaducts on this rail line also built his reputation and became the basis for a successful and enduring business.

During construction of the central pier there was an accident which resulted in a cart falling down into the pier, dragging a horse with it.  A 2001 survey using state of the art techniques showed the skeleton of the unfortunate animal standing on top of the cart in the base of the pier.

We continued our circuit of the loch by paddling back out along the Ardnish peninsula shore which is steep and rocky with few landing opportunities.  In winter this shore gets almost no direct sunlight and it can be a cold and gloomy place.  On this day the sun was streaming over the cliffs above and making for some nice lighting effects.

We'd planned to land at Sloch for a look at the abandoned settlement but at this very low tide the landing would have been straight onto barnacle encrusted boulders so we paddled on.....

......along the seaward face of Ardnish with its sloping slabs and gullies.....

....and into the outer part of Loch Ailort where we knew there would be a landing on one or other of  the small tidal beaches just inside the entrance.

It was still warm and sunny as we approached the beach, but the sunshine was becoming a little hazy.  Any thoughts of relaxing in the sun were soon dispelled.....a sudden and dramatic change in the weather was happening.  In the space of ten minutes, the blue sky was replaced with something quite different........

.....as a sheet of cloud formed rapidly across the entire sky and the temperature dropped markedly to something more in keeping with late March.

It seemed that the spell of exceptionally good weather was over.  Strangely enough, we've experienced weather dominated by shifting clouds here on more than one occasion

A push to the finish on Loch Ailort

When we left the beach at Ardnish we started on the last leg of our journey from Glenfinnan to Lochailort.  A fresh breeze from the southwest was welcome as we could utilise our sails to help push against the ebb tide pouring from Loch Ailort.

Our route took us past the bothy at Peanmeanach.....

...and on towards the narrow middle section of the loch.  The scenery is rugged and complex here, and dominated by the Corbett of Rois-Bheinn (sometimes Anglicized as "Roshven").

As the loch narrows there's a shallow section which forces the tide up and increases the rate of the stream and was kicking up into standing waves by the wind-against tide.

We managed to keep just clear of the main tidal stream while a few metres away the race charged past us. On the day of a solar eclipse, there was one of the biggest tides of the year and it seemed that the whole loch was emptying!  Even with the assistance of our sails it was a real push on this section.



 

We won clear of the race and passed through a group of small skerries.  According to the Tide Tables we'd reached low water but actually the ebb was still running, although with less force.

As a squally shower passed overhead there was a sudden increase in the wind which hurled us forward under sail, a couple of minutes of exhilarating speed......

.....before the wind died completely and the sun lit the slopes at the head of the loch.   A final couple of skerries and we reached the public slipway at Inverailort.

Our arrival point is just 17 kilometres from Glenfinnan by road, but we'd taken the long way round,  paddling down Loch Shiel and the River Shiel, out to the sea on Loch Moidart and then via the Sound of Arisaig to paddle the length of Loch Ailort.  Our route had been 65 kilometres and had taken in a wild camp on Loch Shiel and a night at the Glenuig Inn - and of course a solar eclipse!

The trip had one last surprise in store for us though.....

The extremely low Spring tide which coincide with the eclipse had left the end of the slipway over a metre above the water when we arrived!  There was nothing for it but to land the boats and between the three of us manhandle and lift each boat up onto the slipway.  We were grateful that our camping gear wasn't in them!

As we ran the shuttle to retrieve the second car we reflected on what had been a superb trip - and one we know that we'll repeat some day.

Return of the sun at Ardnish

After experiencing the solar eclipse from a vantage point on the Sound of Arisaig we headed for the entrance to Loch Ailort.  We had an interesting few minutes paddling against the ebb tide streaming out of the channel between Eilean na Gobhar and Eilean a'Chaolais. We were keen to push through because we knew that around the corner we'd find.......

......a pair of super little sandy beaches on the Ardnish shore which are exposed only below half tide.  There was no debate - it was time for first luncheon!

Our boats were soon pulled up on the beach

Both beaches are lovely spots; we chose the one with the best seating arrangement....

....and drank a toast to the return of the sun  :o)

Obscured by clouds on the Sound of Arisaig

Our day paddling from Loch Shiel to Glenuig had been a truly exceptional day's kayaking, very hard to beat.  The following day did, however promise to "eclipse" even that.  20th March 2015 was the date of a solar eclipse which would be visible over much of the UK (weather permitting of course!).

We were delighted that Steve and Chris were able to postpone their duties at the Glenuig Inn for a few hours to join us on the water - even though the morning's very overcast weather was less than promising.

Our plan was really quite simple; we left Glenuig Bay and paddled north-west out into the Sound of Arisag to get an unobstructed view of the sky to the south-east where the eclipse was scheduled to reach maximum coverage of 90% at 0934.

To the west the sky was clearing and we hoped against hope that the clearance would reach us before the eclipse started.

The islands of Rum and Eigg were in clearer sky with sunlight across the hills.  The wind was increasing as the edge of the cloud approached but it was by now obvious that we'd not get a clear view.  Then, a remarkable sight as the sunlight on Eigg was obscured in a very progressive darkening - the eclipse had begun.

We began to experience a noticeable lowering of the light level as the moon moved across the face of the sun.  At 0925 there was a definite dusk quality.....

...and at 0934 when the coverage was maximum, the light was very low.  The choppy conditions dissuaded me from trying to use my DSLR and the compact camera struggled to cope with the combination of low light and boat movement.

There was an unusual and quite eerie atmosphere, and we felt really privileged to be out in our kayaks on the Sound of Arisaig during this rare natural phenomenon.  The choppy water meant that we couldn't simply stare upwards to try and see progress through the cloud cover - we were disinclined to make the eclipse yet more memorable by capsizing!

 

Slowly the light began to return, just as the cloud began to break above us. 

The extreme contrast in light conditions made it very difficult even to look near to the sun and I didn't manage any photographs at all.......

Image by:   Douglas Wilcox

....but fortunately Douglas, just a few hundred metres to the west of Mike and I, got a brief unobstructed view and risked the unthinkable by taking out a very expensive DSLR and lens in the choppy conditions to capture this image at 0956 with the coverage at about 30%.  Despite the fleeting glimpse, on this occasion our navigator's logbooks would have to record the eclipse as "obscured by clouds".

Almost as soon as the eclipse had finished the sky overhead became mostly clear and the sun shone down brightly!  Ah well, the weather might not have been cooperative (some will say typically Scottish in fact!) but it was still a memorable experience.

As Chris and Steve headed back in towards Glenuig, Douglas, Mike and I turned our bows east and headed towards the rocky coast at the entrance to Loch Ailort on the next leg of our journey from Glenfinnan.