Last of the summer

The Moray Firth has some great stretches of rocky coast cut with channels, outcrops, stacks and arches - it's a super area to paddle and always seems fresh and different.  As this would be the last day of paddling for a good while I was glad of the calm weather which made for a very relaxing day.

A sandy bay near to Portsoy with crystal clear water gave some great reflections as I paddled through....

......to find one of the hidden arches.  Narrow and in any kind of swell very committing, it's one of several concealed delights on the stretch between Portsoy and Findochty.  Difficult to spot from most angles, it's worth looking out for on the Portsoy side of the West Head (Redhythe Point).

At the West Head itself are a series of channels which cut through the end of the headland and can provide some fun, but are more often than not too full of swell for me to attempt.  Today all was calm and I was able to paddle the medium-sized one.....

.....and the narrowest of the three which is only just over shoulder width at its narrowest.  Even in calm conditions the water rises and falls quite markedly in here!

On the way back to Whitehills I stopped for a leisurely second lunch, deliberately taking my time and enjoying the warm sunshine.

 The next time I paddle here it will be deep winter, kayaking opportunities snatched in brief calm days between storms.  There will be bitter cold and fleeting daylight on days when going out on the hill or kayaking - mountain or sea - bring much greater challenges together with the frustrations, rewards and stark beauty of a northern winter.

It can't come soon enough for me!

Under escort

On a day of perfect summer weather I set out from the tiny harbour at Whitehills for what would be my last day of kayaking prior to a four month spell at work.  There are two harbours at Whitehills, a large one built originally for fishing vessels and now the largest leisure craft harbour in the Moray Firth, and this very small one which served Blackpots brick works which operated between 1786 and 1971 and produced clay pipes and tiles along with bricks.  Part of the works occupied the ground which is now an outstanding children's play park, the rest of the site is occupied by a caravan park.  Brick fragments can still be found on the beach next to the harbour.

My plan was very simple, a few hours rockhopping west past Portsoy, then return to Whitehills with no specific goal other than to enjoy the weather and the paddling.  Rockhopping on the stretch of coast immediately west of Whitehills can sometimes be difficult, the rock here is jagged black stuff running out to sea in sharp ridges which can easily damage a boat.  There is variety though, the small headland of Stakes Ness is a large tilted bedding plane - an interesting place in a big swell!

About half way to Portsoy is a beach of pale sand which would make an ideal spot to stop for a while except for one small thing; actually many large things.....   This beach is much favoured by Atlantic Grey Seals, in part because access by land is not so easy.  I could see seals hauled out on the beach itself and the surrounding rocks so headed well out in order not to cause any disturbance.  Despite giving the beach a wide berth I was spotted and a group of seals crashed into the water to investigate me more closely.

Several of the seals surfaced nearby and did the characteristic thing of throwing themselves sideways as they dived again, making big splashes.  One young bull was, however, determined to make an impression and made a couple of fast runs towards me before surfacing and snorting noisily.  Grey Seals(Halichoerus grypus) are Britain's largest carnivore and bulls can reach well over 3 metres in length and weigh over 300 kg - they deserve respect.  The cows give birth from September to November and the bulls can be very territorial.  The young bull wasn't the biggest of the seals present, but persisted in trailing me, on one occasion he crashed into the water close enough behind for me to be splashed and to smell his breath.  Although I didn't feel threatened at any stage, it was abundantly clear that I was being escorted off his patch; as soon as I passed the rocks at the far end of the beach he pulled alongside, gave one last snort and disappeared.

A little farther on is another sandy beach, this one not favoured by the seals - a much better luncheon spot!

Colours and caves - an Angus cruise

After lunch at Auchmithie we did some calculations and decided that we'd not have time to complete our original intention of paddling up to Lunan Bay before returning to Arbroath. The interest and quality of the coast we'd travelled along is such that any journey here in good conditions will take much longer than anticipated - and this is a good thing!

We settled on going a few kilometres further north to Prail Castle before turning back which would give us an unhurried return leg.

The bold headland of Prail Castle is another fort site; in fact there are no fewer than five fort sites to explore between Arbroath and the headland forming the south end of Lunan Bay, a remarkable concentration.

For sea kayakers there's additional interest too. The headland is pierced by two through-caves, both of which can be paddled at higher states of the tide.  Another cave?!   Oh, go on then.......  :o)

As we made our way through the larger of the two arches, we realised that we weren't alone - there was plenty of activity on the pebble beach beyond.

A flock of what appeared to be Soay sheep were feeding and resting on the shore.  They moved off in a purposeful manner as we approached, rising as one and walking steadily rather than running. It's intriguing to speculate whether the inhabitants of the various forts might have kept sheep of a very similar type here thousands of years ago.

The headland of Prail Castle curves slightly nortwards from the shore and in winter must receive very little sunlight.  On this bright and sunny summer day the quality of light in the cool shadow was quite beautiful - aquamarine water and deep red rock made a striking combination.

The through-caves wouldn't be at all obvious if approaching from the north, passing through the smaller cave looks like a bit of a vanishing trick from this direction.  Prail Castle was a great turning point for our day's paddle; it would have been difficult to top.  We now had the run back to Arbroath in warm sunshine and calm sea to enjoy....

There's a perception that the North Sea is predominantly grey and a bit uninteresting, but this couldn't be further from the truth.  Our boats slid through brilliantly clear water and over the most beautifully coloured pebbles........

....and yes, this really is the North Sea!  We all commented on what an effortless paddle the return journey was.  We stopped to investigate a couple of the caves we'd not seen on the way out as we enjoyed the cruise back to Arbroath.....

....along this wonderfully coloured coastline.....

...to complete a great day on the water under the Bell Rock Signal Tower which until 1955 was the shore infrastructure for the Bell Rock lighthouse, and is now a museum.

The Angus coast is a real unsung gem.  I'm really grateful to Duncan and Joan for highlighting the superb sea kayaking available here.  Also, now that the Pesda Press guide to the North and East coasts of Scotland has been published (this section is included) more paddlers will discover the secret!

Colours and caves - Deil's Heid to Auchmithie

After passing the sea stack of the Deil's Heid we entered Carlingheugh Bay where the cliffs become a little lower.  A series of dry caves lie above the shore, again these would have been sea caves prior to the isostatic rebound effect as the weight of ice sheets unloaded.  Much of Scotland is still rising as the rebound continues at a slow rate, while the southern half of Britain continues to sink at a corresponding rate.  We were about to find a cave which is most definitely at sea level though....

The entrance is very obvious, a large square with undercut strata heading back into the gloom.....

...but once inside the space opens up into a large cavern.  Some of the rock strata have been prised away by the explosive hydraulic pressure of big swells and have formed a flat ceiling.  This view is looking into the cave; the light source behind Joan is from Gaylet Pot, a collapsed section of roof forming a "gloup" 140 metres into the cave.

The mechanics of its formation are really remarkable; the hydraulic pressure which prised away the strata to form the cave would have forced air along one of the fault lines of the Lower Devonian sandstone, compressing still further until it found a weakness where the repeated and concentrated compressive force was able to shatter the rock above, collapsing the roof and forming the gloup.  The forces involved must be truly enormous and we could only imagine what this place must be like in an easterly storm.

Today was very calm and the only thing streaming thorough the cave entrance was the late morning sunshine.  Duncan was able to land at a boulder beach in the gloup itself to get a further perspective on the feature which emerges in the middle of a farmer's field! After spending some time exploring the extent of the cave we headed back towards the light.

There's an angle from which the whole length of the cave can be seen, though not the extent of the interior.  Duncan and Joan can just be made out at the gloup end, giving scale to the place.

If you kayak this section of the Angus coastline on a calm day, Gaylet Pot is a real "must do"!

The next point of interest on this remarkable paddle is  Lud Castle, an Iron Age promontory fort site.  The site would have been defended by fortifying the narrow neck of land leading out to the headland; it would have mad a great vantage point but appears to have no natural source of water.

Since setting out from Arbroath in the morning, the 6 linear kilometres we'd paddled had taken well over two and a half hours such is the constant interest along this stunningly colourful and featured coast.  We must have added half as much distance again in exploring the various geos, caves and channels around the cliffs  though!  We put some extra energy into the short distance from Lud Castle to Auchmithie in order to land for coffee and first luncheon on the beach adjacent to the harbour.

The harbour itself is delapidated, almost ruinous, but was once a thriving fishing harbour.  At lower states of tide the easier landings are on the beach as the harbour bottom has some rocky obstructions.  Auchmithie is the home of the "Arbroath Smokie", a local delicacy.  Haddock are cleaned then dried for a period before being split and tied by the tail over a slow burning fire of beech and oak (usually in a barrel lined with slate) and covered with hessian.  After smoking for 30-40 minutes the fish are cured and ready to eat hot or cold.  The result incredibly tasty and very healthy too - a real treat.  Unfortunately we didn't have smokies with us, maybe next time it would be fun to bring one back to Aucmithie by sea.....

Colours and caves - Arbroath to the Deil's Heid

The Angus coast is a stretch which I've walked along but not kayaked.  Joan and Duncan have recently been exploring the caves and bays around Auchmithie and I joined them at Arbroath harbour on a warm sunny morning when we hoped to investigate some more of this coast. 

There's a good place to park and launch immediately south of the Bell Rock signal station and Tourist Information centre in the outer part of Arbroath harbour.  It was around low water Springs when we were preparing to head out and although there was some gloopy mud exposed we were able to avoid it and were soon heading out of the harbour entrance.

 We paddled north across the bay and soon came across the first of the geos as the cliffs start to rise.  The rock of this coastline is Devonian sandstone laid down in alternate arid periods and floods 400 million years ago.  The strata are easily seen, some with fine grained red sand and some of conglomerate containing polished river pebbles. The dominant colour is a really vibrant red shade which we had to great effect as we'd chosen to paddle north during the morning and had the sun behind us

The day we'd chosen was completely calm, and the low tide enabled us to get into just about all of the caves we found.  Some were quite narrow chambers straight into the cliffs.......

.... whilst some had exquisite lighting effects; in this one a tiny sea-level secondary entrance had the sun shining diectly through it to light the water but not the cave.

A well-known feature of the cliffs is the "Needle's E'e", an arch formed by the collapse of a sea cave.  The cave would have been on the original shoreline but is now 7 metres above the sea, the result of the land lifting as the weight of ice from the last Ice Age has been released.

Farther along and the bigger caves start to appear.  This one was definitely better to explore at lower states of tide, when we passed back in the afternoon near to high water it looked difficult and low at the entrance.

This cave had a spotlighting effect from a hole in the roof at the rear of a long geo.

Gradually the cliffs get a little higher on this section, as do the caves themselves and we continued to explore where we could reach, the five kilometres north from Arbroath took us the best part of two hours to paddle - it's a place to savour when conditions are so good!

The collapse of a long cave with a double entrance has formed the geo of Dickmont's Den,  at high water it would be possible to land on a small beach of rounded boulders at the back of the geo.

We emerged from the northern entrance to Dickmont's Den and got our first view of one of the best known landmarks on the Angus Coast - the Deil's Heid (Devil's Head) sea stack.  The promontory adjacent to it looks like it will form a similar feature in the future - we wondered whether people who walk out to the end in order to photograph the stack realise what's below their feet!

The seaward face of the Deil's Heid was climbed in the 1970's when four pegs were placed for protection, but these have now been replaced by steel and resin protection, making a superbly situated and no doubt atmospheric climb. 

Sea Trials

Having seen at first hand what a versatile day and (particularly) multi-day capable boat the P & H Cetus MV is, I was very happy when the opportunity came up to purchase a very well cared for example.

Regular readers of the blog may previously have noticed this particular boat in Orange with Golden Yellow graphic in quite a few posts; whilst readers of this blog will certainly be familiar with it!  It has seen some outstanding adventures already and I hope it will continue to see many more :o)

The boat feels comfortable, alive and capable right from the start and sea trials have been underway with the aim of getting the personalised fit "just so"......

Image courtesy of Chris Sugden


......whilst paddling along the Moray Firth coast......

....during some interesting luncheon stops.....

......in the swirling tidal waters around Buchan Ness.......

....and along the stunningly colourful Angus coast. 

The boat has a custom bulkhead, a real bonus in my opinion, and the final few adjustments have been made to a minicell foam block (thanks Douglas!) which now forms a footrest at just the same angle as the footplate which I've found so comfortable in the Tiderace Xcite.  There may be a couple of adjustments still to make around the seat, but the Cetus MV really does feel superb on the water.

The Xcite will continue to be the boat of choice for tight rockhopping and rough stuff, while the Cetus seems the logical "go to" boat for longer paddles.....  I'm very fortunate to be able to be able to choose between two such boats, but of course there's another important aspect to the choice of boat for a particular paddle.....

......a yellow view from the cockpit.....

......or an orange one ?!

Astonishing Ailsa Craig

We had deliberately left kayaking around Ailsa Craig until the afternoon in order to get the best light on the cliffs of the south and west coasts.  It was around 5pm when we started our clockwise circumnavigation and still very warm.  In distance it is just 4.5 kilometres around the island but what an extraordinary hour of paddling it is.





 

Leaving the lighthouse, the first point of interest is the south fog signal.  This is one of two fog signals installed at about the same time as the lighthouse was constructed, one at the north and one at the south of Ailsa Craig.  They were powered by gas engines until 1911 when oil driven engines were introduced and these continued in service until 1966 when both signals were permanently discontinued and replaced by a single Tyfon fog signal situated close to the lighthouse.  This was itself discontinued in 1987 along with most other coastal fog signals.

A little way past the south fog signal the cliff scenery begins to dominate the view, first shattered basalt then more structured basalt columns.  Also here are some of the few Elder (Bour) trees which are the only type of tree to be found on the island.

Farther along and the columnar basalt gets really impressive; some of the individual columns are 120 metres/400 feet high.  The slight lean of the columns is quite strange whilst close in and looking straight upwards!

But then, as a corner is turned the scene goes from dramatic to truly jaw-dropping.....

Stretching away up the west coast of Ailsa Craig are cliffs covered in birds.  The sight, noise and smell seem to arrive almost simultaneously; this is the greatest and most impressive sight on the whole island and it's only when the eyes adjust to the scale that the true impact hits home.  The specks above the 300 metre cliffs are Gannets with a two metre wingspan.  Douglas has paddled here several times and says that it's the same each time - absolute astonishment.

The cacophony and smell can't be conveyed in an image, but the whole is so overwhelming that it is as much felt as heard or smelled.  And that's even before you look upwards........

.....into a sky which is simply full of Gannets.  Streaming from the cliffs, wheeling around and sometimes crashing into the sea around us; it's a stupendous sight.  Looking up comes with a fair risk - there is a steady rain of guano and our boats and clothing were soon liberally spattered, but it's a small price to pay for one of nature's great spectacles.

There are about 36,000 pairs of gannets breeding on Ailsa Craig, together with Guillemots, Razorbills, Black Guillemots, Cormorants and Puffins.  The cliffs of St Kilda are higher, but the Gannets on Ailsa Craig are more concentrated in one area... there are more Gannets at the Bass Rock, but the cliffs of Ailsa Craig are three times higher.  It's pointless to compare sites; all are magnificent but perhaps here at Ailsa Craig the combination of a sudden revealing of the cliff, the noise and the smell have the most effect.  We were particularly pleased to see good numbers of Puffins; they formerly bred here in huge numbers but were almost completely wiped out by Rats which arrived on the island on ships.  A comprehensive programme to eradicate the Rats has been successful and the "Tammie Norries" are, happily, breeding again and increasing their numbers.

While I moved off a little to get a sense of the scale and perspective of the west facing cliffs Douglas moved in close and captured some wonderful and intimate images of the birds close by the shoreline.  As we approached the end of the western face of the island the cliffs rear ever steeper until they are vertical and even overhanging; even the seabirds can't find nest sites here.

The astonishing cliff scenery culminates in the Eagle's Seat, an impending  230 metre/750 ft crag which looms over the north tip of the island, making paddlers feel very small.  White Tailed Eagles once nested here, finding good hunting amongst the seabird cities.  Maybe the great birds will return one day; it's good to think that they might.

Turning the corner on the last leg of our circumnavigation, we passed the Swine Cave and the north fog signal.  This twin to the signal at the south end of Ailsa Craig points towards the Arran coast; we reflected that it was only a few weeks previously that we'd looked down the bearing of the Pladda fog signal towards Ailsa Craig.

All too soon our circumnavigation was completed and we landed back at the lighthouse for a leg-stretch prior to the 14 kilometre crossing back to Lendalfoot.  The paddle around had been an astonishing wildlife and scenic experience, but not all of the interest had been avian......

For most of the way we'd had close company, and as we got on the water to  start the crossing back to the mainland we were again the subject of intense scrutiny.  A swirl of water, a snort and a fleeting underwater shape seemed to be leading us out......

.....this is "Gollum", the Grey Seal who followed us closely and probably the same animal with whom we shared the water whilst swimming earlier in the afternoon.  After the widescreen wildlife of the western cliffs, this was an enchanting and intimate experience.  We were followed for several kilometres on our crossing of the Firth of Clyde before the seal turned for home.

There aren't any images from our paddle back to Lendalfoot.  Soon after heading out into open water a dark squall line to the west brought a rising wind and a short, tricky swell from just on our beam.  The wind was from ahead of the beam and we experienced some interesting conditions as we crossed great swirls of tidal movement, sometimes the swell helped and sometimes it definitely didn't, requiring a couple of sharp and energetic brace strokes on occasion.  It's this distance from the mainland, the exposure to the prevailing weather and the potential for conditions to change rapidly which combine to make Ailsa Craig one of the more challenging paddles, even on the most benign of days.

We made the 14.2km crossing in under two hours and at an average speed of 7.4km/hr; it's amazing how a bit of adrenaline can increase the paddling rate!  We arrived about 12 hours after setting out from Lendalfoot and though I still had a four hour drive home I was absolutely buzzing from a superlative day.  I got home at 0130, having set out at 0430 the previous day, so it was a day trip but not actually in one day!

Much as I love the far north of Scotland for its mountainous and wild scenery and the north east for cliff scenery and bird life, Douglas and I are in complete agreement; we don't believe that there is a better combined day paddle and hillwalk to be enjoyed anywhere in the UK than the astonishing, awesome Ailsa Craig.