Pinned on Pabay

The morning weather was as lovely as the evening had been, clear and calm.  The view to the Cuillin of Skye was our constant companion on this trip and one of the highlights with changing light and angles subtly altering the colour and form.  We've all got great memories of climbs on that great arc of ridge - exhilarating and sometimes downright frightening!

We had a leisurely breakfast and got on the water - within a few minutes we were back ashore on a tiny island with a "now you see it, now you don't" sandy beach which disappears at higher states of the tide.  We'd wanted to stop here because it's rather a fine viewpoint; the first image in this post was taken from the beach.

The view near to hand wasn't bad either - vivid orange lichens glowing in the morning sunshine, set off by a few Thrift flowers.

Orange seemed to be the theme of the morning; we returned briefly to Kyleakin to collect some things and whilst preparing to get back underway we noticed a bright orange vessel passing under the Skye bridge.

She's the "Mikal With", a 67 metre long palletised cargo vessel.  On most marine vessel websites she has a blue hull and a different owner than recently.  She's either owned or on charter to MOWI, a Norwegian aquaculture company.

We set out again from Kyleakin and aimed for the island of Pabay, which we intended to use as a stepping stone on our way to an intended camp on Scalpay.  The breeze had been slowly building and once clear of Kyle Akin it became quite strong from straight off the Skye coast (our port quarter).

We put our sails up to take advantage of the push and were absolutely blasted across towards Pabay.  I found this a really great sailing run, but was certainly not prepared to stop paddling in order to take photos!  Our average speed on this blast was 9.4km/h, or nearly twice cruising speed.....

Although a fast passage, it had been an energetic one - it is paddle sailing rather than just sailing!  We were all ready for a lunch stop by this point.

Approaching Pabay the wind seemed to ease  a little and we dropped our sails to paddle into the tiny harbour area.  Donny had motored along to Broadford in his F-RIB and made a direct crossing from there to Pabay; he had a pretty wet ride!

One of the iconic sights on Pabay (Norse: Priest Island) is this post box.  It seems incongruous since there are only a couple of houses on the island but is here because the island issues it's own postage stamps for mail which is transferred into the Royal Mail system in Skye (from where it needs Royal Mail stamps).

Sheltered from the breeze (which was becoming stronger) we lazed in warm sunshine, surrounded by clumps of Primroses.  The pale yellow of the flowers set against the blue of sky and sea was gorgeous.

Above where we lunched a pair of Bonxies (Great Skuas) watched us warily.  These impressive piratical predators had picked a nest site with a great view over the low lying island.

One of the features of Pabay is its geology which is shales intersected by dykes of harder rocks.  The whole island is almost flat and nearly doubles in size as the tide falls from high to low water, leaving the geometric patterns of dykes.

Another feature is that, despite being flat the island has virtually no wild camping spots accessible from the water.  The rock layers from a barrier and the softer rock gives good growing conditions for brambles and tangled low undergrowth.

This gave us a problem; we were pretty much pinned on Pabay.  The wind had continued to rise and in the Sound between Pabay and Scalpay was approaching a Force 6.  None of us was keen on trying the paddle across unless we really had to, but despite trying along the sheltered parts of Pabay by kayak we could find nowhere to camp.  We returned to the harbour to have a re-think.  Douglas and I walked up to the "big house" which is undergoing renovation by a new owner of the island.  We explained our situation and asked if we might camp near the harbour.  The Access provision in the Land Reform (Scotland) Act is wide ranging but does not cover access near to houses or infrastructure.  The owner was most kind in allowing us to camp for the night and it was really appreciated by us.

We pitched our tents in areas which wouldn't affect access to and from the harbour itself and found a spot out of the wind to cook dinner - preceded by fresh soup.  The day had been recovered but our plans would need to be altered.  The forecast was for the wind to drop almost completely by morning, so we decided on a paddle to the Applecross shore via the Crowlin Islands.

As the sun set, the wind came around a couple of points and seemed to drop by several degrees in temperature - it was pretty cold within minutes.  Dinner done, we retired to the tents (which we'd pinned very securely to Pabay) for an early night.
 

Over the sea from Skye

A spell of warm and sunny Spring weather is always so welcome here in Scotland - so when a run of fine days was forecast in the second half of April we made plans for a kayak trip.  Our starting point was to be Kyleakin on the Isle of Skye; and we met up on a sparkling morning.  Allan and I travelled from Aberdeenshire, Douglas from the Solway coast via Glasgow and Taynuilt, where he teamed up with Donny for the journey to Skye.  Our plan was very flexible....simply to spend some time kayaking around the southern part of the Inner Sound.

While we rigged our kayaks Donny got his F-RIB "Guppy" afloat and set off to do a little filming.  You'll be able to see the video of our trip on Donny's Youtube channel here.  

After the usual routine of boat packing and trying to make sure everything fitted in, we got underway and immediately put up our sails to catch a push from the north easterly breeze.  This stretch of water,  Kyle of Lochalsh or more properly Caol Loch Ailse (Strait of the Foaming Lake) has strong tidal streams, particularly at the narrow western entrance which is named separately as Kyle Akin (Haakon's Strait) - named for a Norse king who brought a huge force of longships through here and beached at Kyleakin on his way south where he would be engaged and beaten by a Scots army under King Alexander III on 2nd October 1263.

 

The building of the Skye Bridge altered the flows somewhat at Kyleakin and the strongest of the stream can be avoided by passing close under the eastern side between Eiean Ban and the mainland shore - that said it's still an energetic paddle against the tide!

We started on Skye and apart from a brief call back at Kyleakin didn't plan to paddle any of the island's coast on this trip - not so much "Over the Sea to Skye" as over the sea from Skye!

We headed north after exiting Kyleakin and stopped at Eilean a' Mhal for first luncheon. Sheltered from the breeze we sat in warm sunshine with a wonderful view across the Inner Sound to the hills of Beinn na Cailleach and Glamaig on Skye.  The colour in the water was marvellous and was the standout feature of this day.

Back underway and we continued north through the maze of the Black Islands, which today were anything but black - indeed there was a riot of colour.  This group of islands usually provides sheltered paddling in a compact area which changes from hour to hour according to the state of the tide.

Conditions were pretty good for early Spring - dry and bright with a north easterly breeze, and we observed this effect of cloud capping some, but not all, of the higher hills several times during our trip.

 As we left the Black Islands we paddled into the breeze and so dropped our sails.  After an energetic couple of kilometres of paddling we came into a lagoon with the most wonderful colour of water as the sun lit the white sand below our boats.  Really - could a day get any better than this?!

A wreck and a life less ordinary

As we paddled towards Kyleakin, the first point of interest we came to was the wreck of HMS Port Napier.  A 9600 ton merchantman, Port Napier had been converted to a minelayer by the Admiralty and was loaded with 550 mines when she began dragging her anchor in a gale on 26 November 1940.  As was common practice, the detonators for most of the mines had been inserted whilst at anchor as it was such a difficult task at sea with the ship pitching and rolling.

To make matters worse, fire broke out in the ships machinery spaces and there was a realisation that if the mines detonated the resulting explosion would probably flatten most of Kyle of Lochalsh and Kyleakin.  The ship was towed well out into Loch Alsh and with incredible bravery a party of sailors returned onboard and began removing detonators from the mines and deploying them down the chutes to get them clear of the ship.  With the fire worsening, the crew abandoned the ship and retreated.

Some time later there was a huge explosion from the engine room which fortunately didn't detonate the mines.  It was big enough to blow out a huge section of the starboard side of the ship and send the superstructure up into the air, it landed on the shore nearby.  The ship rolled onto her starboard side and sank quickly in 20 metres of water.  The remaining mines were removed later and today the Port Napier is a popular dive site.

Our next stop was a place I've wanted to visit for a long time.  On the Skye shore, blending into the landscape is the house built by Tom Leppard, otherwise known as the "Leopard Man".  Tom moved here in 1987 and spent three years building a home constructed entirely of drystone and items beachcombed from the shore.  The media became fixated with his appearance - understandably since he is tattooed in leopard markings from head to foot (he was in the Guiness Book of Records as the world's most tattooed man), and described him as a recluse who shunned human contact.  This isn't really the case though as Tom used a kayak to cross to Kyle each to draw his pension (he is an ex-military man), to do his shopping at the Co-Op and to have a beer.

His lifestyle was certainly unconventional, but he was no survivalist hermit.  The house seems to grow organically from the spit of land he chose, there are gravelled paths, trees planted and nurtured in just the right way, stone retaining walls, a hollow made parallel to a stream bed to serve as a bath.  And decoration too, natural and pleasing. Tom spent much of his pension money on bird food and had feeding stations all around his house.  I've been told that many of the birds were hand tame and that the deer didn't seem to see him as a threat.

The interior of the house is tight and compact but very functional.  An obvious amount of care and thought went into making it as comfortable as possible.

Storage areas are made from wooden boxes and built flush into the drystone walls.  The floor has drainage channels to allow any rain water to escape.

Tom Leppard left his house in 2008 after nearly 20 years of living close to the land.  He was 73 and had begun to find crossing the Kyle an increasing challenge. He still lives in Skye, in a retirement home in Broadford. His possessions are largely still here though. 

The Leopard Man's House deserves to be kept in good condition - sadly it's seen some abuse recently.  If you visit, pull a few weeds from Tom's beautifully winding gravel paths, or take some rubbish away with you.

Tom Leppard "The Leopard Man of Skye" has lived a life less ordinary; the world is all the richer for folk like him

A Loch Alsh camp

We once again woke to a strong easterly wind, though it was at least dry.  We felt that the weather would moderate during the day and so spent the morning at the bothy, cleaning and tidying, breaking wood for the next visitors and drying out damp kit.  We packed at lunchtime as the wind was quickly easing and set out in the early afternoon to head over to Kyle of Lochalsh

After a slightly bouncy crossing of the mouth of Loch Kishorn we got into the shelter of the Duirinsh peninsula.  This is a cracking area to paddle, the islands between Plockton and Kyle are a great spot for wildlife.  We passed under the Skye Bridge and landed at the old ferry slip at Kyle to buy lunch at "Buth Bheag" (the wee shop), the fabulous deli housed in the former ferry ticket office.  The prawn rolls, coffee and cakes come highly recommended by your testers! 

We'd intended to head back to Gordon & Morag's at Lower Breakish, but as the weather had improved we decided to spend another night out on our trip.

We headed along the south shore of Loch Alsh and found a campsite at the northern entrance to Kyle Rhea, on a grassy shore below Glas Bheinn (the green hill).  The wind which had hampered our plans died to calm during the evening, which brought the midges out. Fortunately enough breeze returned to deter the little devils and we were able to cook and eat our evening meal in comfort.

Another wildlife visitor at this campsite were Earwigs (Forficula auricularia).  There were hundreds under our tents in the morning, and many more hiding around the hatch rims and cockpits of our boats.

I found this bird skull on the shore and thought it would make a nice image against a gnarled log.  The skull was quite delicate - I thought it may have been a Kittiwake or Black-Headed Gull.

After breakfast we headed out in calm conditions to paddle back to Kyle.  Crossing the mouth of Kylerhea we felt the tidal pull of the ebb as it started to run south into the narrows.  It was a relaxing morning, the sky was overcast, but a shaft of sun picked out the Skye Bridge.  We were aiming for a notable wreck and then the former home of one of Skye's most intruiging characters.

Kyle to Plockton

The islands on the way to Plockton are a good place to see wildlife, particularly Otters.  Today didn't disappoint; I had good sightings of at least four including one bringing a crab ashore to eat.  Unfortunately I didn't get any good photographs. 

The pretty village of Plockton is situated in a bay sheltered from the prevailing southwesterly weather.  It has National Trust for Scotland "Conservation" status and in the recent past has been the setting for a TV series about a rural policeman (Hamish MacBeth).  The village High School is particularly well known for it's Traditional Music academy which has produced some fine musicians and has an impressive array of guest tutors.  This Sunday morning it was very quiet; many of the houses around the two small harbours seem to be second homes. 

Leaving Plockton on the return leg, the view to the north is dominated by the Applecross hills across Loch Carron.  From inside one of the many islands, the Corbetts of Sgurr a' Chaorachain (peak of the little sheep) and Beinn Bhan (white hill) grab the attention.  The light wind had now dropped to almost nothing and the sun was shining - great paddling weather!

During the day I met with Murdo and Raymond.  These are lucky guys - this is one of their local paddles.  We headed slowly back towards Kyle, accompanied by curious Common Seals.  It had been a really good day, but the early evening was to prove the highlight.