Time and tide - a sea kayaking trip to Jura

 A four day, 136km sea kayaking trip from Carsaig bay to the west coast of Jura and the Sound of Islay.

 Day 1 - Carsaig Bay - Gulf of Corryvreckan - Glengarrisdale

Time and tide - heading to Jura

Corryvreckan - "a depe horlepoole quhairin if schippis do enter thair is no refuge but death onlie"..... 

Shared warmth at Glengarrisdale Bay

Day 2 - West Jura, Glengarrisdale to the Sound of Islay

The wild and lonely coast of north west Jura

Full of life at the Place of the Dead

Going in at Shian

Small sails and tall sails on the west coast of Jura

The coast which just keeps on giving

An evening out on the Sound of Islay

Day 3 - Sound of Islay - West Loch Tarbert - Cruib Lodge

Catching the tidal travelator in the Sound of Islay

Breathtaking west Jura

The Zen beach of West Loch Tarbert

Al fresco dining for three at Cruib Lodge

Day 4 - West Loch Tarbert - Tarbert portage - Sound of Jura - Loch Sween

Per mare per terram - across an island 

A brew and a banjo

A long brawl in Loch Sween

Catching the tidal travelator in the Sound of Islay

 We enjoyed a most comfortable camp on the Islay shore and woke to another glorious Spring morning.  There was plenty of time for a leisurely start as the north-going tidal stream didn't start until 1048 so we spent the morning engaged in those most satisfactory of activities - drinking coffee, faffing and fettling the packing of our boats

A northerly breeze was getting up by mid morning and so we decided to get on the water a short time before the tide turned.  A breeze acting against the north-going tidal stream had the potential to create some lively conditions in the narrowest part of the Sound of Islay, so it made sense to pass through before the fastest of the tidal stream became established.  It looked like the sailing ship "Stavros Niarchos" had used the last of the south-going stream to make her transit south back into the Sound of Jura.

After enjoying an exhilarating sail across from Islay to the Jura shore in a solid F4 wind, we reconvened on the shore before setting off northwards.

 The first indication of the wind against tide conditions was a defined line of choppy water marking an eddy line where the main flow was beginning to pour north.  I took no photos for the next couple of kilometres as it got really quite lively.  We kept close together and the worst of the chop was over relatively quickly.

 We kept glancing over our shoulders as we expected the MV Hebridean Isles to overhaul us somewhere in the narrows, and right on time she motored past to berth at Port Askaig prior to making an onward crossing to Colonsay.

 Islay is blessed with a number of fine navigational marks by which seafarers can determine their position along the coast.  Conveniently they are mostly painted white and have suitably prominent lettering to aid identification.  The first of these we passed was Caol Ila, and further north Bunnahabhain. 

 We made good an average speed of 10km/h on our way back through the Sound of Islay, and this was against a stiff breeze for most of the way.  Catching the tidal travelator is definitely the way to go in these parts!  Once clear of the narrows we turned back up the west coast of Jura to retrace part of the previous day's route towards Loch Tarbert.  When the coastline is this good paddling the same section on consecutive days was certainly no hardship.....

...and we saw things we'd not noticed on the previous day.......

 ...including this splendid mimetolith which bears a striking resemblance to Queen Victoria.......

.....and, resplendent in green, a rock which had a slight resemblance to a pixie..... (and no, we hadn't visited either distillery on the way past!)

An evening out on the Sound of Islay

Almost as soon as we were back on the water from "Dyke beach" we passed this series of waterfalls cascading from the raised beach to the shore in three distinct bounds.  We marked this spot mentally as a potential stopping place for the following day, a beach with inbuilt shower!

The late afternoon sun really enhanced the views as we paddled towards the Sound of Islay; two of Jura's great hills - Beinn an Oir (mountain of gold) and Beinn a' Chaolais (mountain of the narrows) were lit beautifully.  Gradually we were beginning to feel the pull of the south-going tidal stream as it poured into the narrowing mouth of the Sound of Islay and we hoped for a fast ride to our destination.

The rock formations continued to entertain  we weren't sure whether this pair of stacks looked more like fangs or dog's lugs!

Soon we were approaching the narrowest part of the Sound, marked on the Jura shore by the light at Carragh an t-Sruith (pillar of the stream (current)) and really beginning to pick up speed.....

..we were now well onboard the south-going tidal stream and it was running like a river.  The Sound of Islay has none of the underwater obstructions which cause turbulence in the Gulf of Corryvreckan, so in the absence of wind the flow is fast and smooth.

The view opened up as we sped south, reaching 16.4km/h or over 8 knots - this was great fun and I took almost no photographs, concentrating on catching the next accelerating swirl of the powerful tidal stream.  Our destination for the evening was on the Islay side of the Sound, below the prominent gully in the distance.

It seemed no time at all until we broke out of the tidal stream to paddle in towards An Cladach bothy. Noted as one of the very best coastal bothies, it's somewhere which has been on my "to stay in" list for some time.  If it has a drawback it's that the bothy can really only sleep four people - and a smell of smoke as we landed told us that it was already occupied.  The folk inside were clearly planning to be in residence for some time - piles of food and clean boots indicated a drop-off by boat.  No matter, we were equipped and prepared to camp - but we did wonder what the residents would have done if we'd been first to arrive!

Time was short to find a suitable spot to land and camp as the evening was drawing on.  All of a sudden the Sound of Islay seemed a busy place as first the Calmac ferry "Finlaggan" steamed north towards Port Askaig......

...and passed HMS Iron Duke, one of the Royal Navy's Type 23 frigates on her way south through the Sound having participated in the Joint Warrior military exercise.

Once the wash from these vessels had passed we spied a patch of ground suitable for camping, but the nearest feasible landing was a few hundred metres away.  We transferred the kit we needed, got our tents up and our evening meal underway - we even managed a small fire around which to reflect on the day.  We may have missed out on the bothy, but our wild camp was very comfortable and we chatted late into the evening, our recollections of the day accompanied by a dram distilled not very far from where we sat.

And what a superlative day's sea kayaking it had been!  Since setting out from Glengarrisdale that morning we'd paddled 48 kilometres in 12 hours, visited gorgeous beaches, enjoyed an exhilarating swim and explored one of the finest, wildest and best coastlines anywhere; all in the most brilliant weather.......

......days like these - they stay with you forever......