a trip around the cumbraes

on sunday we went for a wee paddle around great cumbrae and little cumbrae. the start was very cold with an icy start.

we circumnavigated the islands anticlock wise. down the west side and took advantage of the tide and wind. we enjoyed a following sea. the weather stayed cold and overcast but every now and again there would be a break in the clouds

by the time we were heading north again towards millport the sun had broken through.

looking north west we were rewarded with fantastic views of the snow capped mountains.

then we looked south west the view of the snow capped arran mountains took my breath away. wow!!!!

what a beautiful view

i sat in the middle of the tan and took in the beautiful view of arran. it took all my will power to leave and paddle on towards millport.

looking south we could see where we had paddled from. you can just make out the castle on the left.

tony in millport bay

heading out of millport bay enjoying the warmth of the sun as we head back to largs.

a fantastic sunset to finish off a fantastic day.

Loch Lomond

This is Loch Lomond last sunday. I drove through rain wind and sleet to get here. I worried that i was mayby getting a little obsessive and questioned my sanity!!!!

Its not until you drift slowly and silently through still waters that you realise that this is what it is all about.

You have to push yourself a little sometimes and you will be rewarded with views like this.

Just south of Luss in a little bay there is a statue of a child.

I remember as a child sitting in the back of my fathers car and seeing this statue in the loch. The urban myth about this statue was that it had been erected in respect of a child that had drownd there, but in actual fact it was erected in 1890 by a local stone masson. This was erected by local stone masson william kerr and is known as "wee peter" or kerrs folly. William kerr placed the statue were he was happy as a child. One story is that he found the statue in a London scrap yard and another is that he made it for a client that rejected it.

Wee peter

Looking south.

seals

while i was paddling up the west side of little cumbrae i got the feeling i was being followed! I could hear the sound of an inquisative seal following me. he came right up to me several times to check me out. i let myself drift along as he got more bold. i took this picture over my shoulder and caught him out.

sunday in dunure

I sat watching sadly from the shore.

Beautiful day.

Douglas and Phil.

With a longing heart i watched the guys disappear around the coast.

Little Cumbrae

On the way i had a visit from one of the many seals. This chap was very inquisative coming very close and not showing any fear at all.  As you can see i have a new toy fitted to the deck its a waterproof video cam!!!! i have just started to use this so look out for some clips soon. i will have to turn off the mic as it picks up every sound even the bad jokes we tell as we paddle lol

A few months back i spent a weekend stuck on Little Cumbrae and this is Long Bay where I camped. It has a nice pebble beach to land on.

Looking north west from Long bay. Millport to the right.

Rounding the north of the island I was looking back towards the castle.

Time for lunch.

This is a very beautiful castle standing strong with a watchfull eye on the Clyde.

Little Cumbrae

I always enjoy a trip round Little Cumbrae. It is only a few miles out on the Clyde but gives you a very nice day out. The swell had picked up and was giving me a bit of a challange.

Portencross

Last saturday I went for a wee paddle round Little Cumbrae. Starting from Portencross harbour.

Ayr India to Dunure and back

First i have to apologise for the lack of pictures as my camera died last time out. Yesterday Phil, David and I took a wee trip from ayr to Dunure and back. I had a look at the forcast on wednesday night and it did not look good! The wind was to be a grade 5/6! I didn't like the thought of that.  But thursday morning broke with a perfect start and we decided that we should go for a little paddle. We met at Ayr India at seafield Ayr beach at one o'clock and the sea was almost flat calm.

The trip started in the rain but was just a great feeling to be out on the water with friends again. We traveled at a steady pace enjoying the perfect peace (apart from the rain). We arrived at Dunure and gave the bar maid a bit of a start when we walked into the bar dressed in our dry suits. Now it is customly to partake in a little refreshment while in Dunure and not wanting to offend. After a light refeshment we made our we back to Ayr whith a stop at Bracken bay for a bite to eat. The sun was now set and we finished our sandwichies and coffee in the dark, enjoying the beautiful night. With head torchies adorned we made our way back to Ayr. Very surreal paddling in the dark watching the lights on the shore. A perfect trip.

Enjoying the day

Enjoying the day. we had no real plans, only to get out on the water and enjoy ourselves. Blair was having so much fun we decided to head down to Bracken bay and have lunch there. Sorry no pictures of that as my camera suffered a soaking and stopped working. Now i have an excuse to go shopping for new gadget (ha ha ha )

greenan to bracken bay with Blair

You cant see it but Blair had the biggest smile on his face I have ever seen.

castle from the sea

always love seeing greenan castle from the sea.

coming out of greenan we enjoyed just drifting and chatting

greenan castle

Blair at Greenan castle

the new owner of the tempest

This is my son blairs first trip out in a sea kayak. He enjoyed the experience and very keen to do more.

Ailsa craig

I could not believe my eyes as i paddled south into the most beautiful sunset ever. Little did i know that sunsets like this are NORMAL! What have i been missing? Everytime I am out on the sea I kick myself for not doing this sooner.

Journey home

Heading back to Maidens I was treated to a fantastic sunset.

Light refreshment

Now if you ever get the chance to meet these guys i recommend you say hello, you will not regret it. We met David on the way. Phil couldn't make it. We stopped in at Dunure for a little light refreshment before I had to leave them and head back south to Maidens while Douglas,Tony and David carried on to Ayr.

sunset dunure castle

Having just met Douglas and Tony I hoped I was not to rude and asked if they would mind if I joined them for the days paddle. Douglas and Tony were on their way north to Ayr meeting up with friends David and Phil who were paddling south to meet them.

sun set dunure

This was taken November last year. I drove down to maidens with the plan to paddle south past turnberry. I had just left the bay heading south when i met two kayakers heading north. I had not met anyone kayaking before so was unsure if i should say hello! not knowing the etiquette of kayaking. Do i wave and pass by or stop and chat? I decided to stop and chat. This was to turn out to be a good choice, the two guys were Douglas Wilcox and Tony Page. I had been reading Douglas's blog http://seakayakphoto.blogspot.com/ for a while now and loved the vivid discriptions and fantastic images on his site.

Wet

Heading back home Sunday was a little wet. Very sureal as the raindrops made the surface of the sea look as if it was boiling! Low cloud and mist brought the visability down to around 50 meters. I felt very small out in the sound. Large boats passing close. A pod of dolphins were jumping clean out of the water between bute and little cumbrae made me smile. wow dolphins in the clyde i never knew we had so much right here in front of us.

St Ninians point

Enjoyed the sunset.

St Ninians point

Found a nice campsite at St Ninians point.

landfall on south west bute

Left little cumbrae and landed on south west end of bute. Enjoyed lunch then headed north looking for a nice campsite.

I let myself drift past watchful eyes.

seals of little cumbrae

This was taken on a trip from portencross to bute. I went over to Little cumbrae first to look at the castle and was surprised by the number of seals basking in the sun.

looking back south towards prestwick.

The weather was fantastic. Sat and enjoyed my lunch in perfect peace.

prestwick to meikle craigs

This was taken last winter. I paddled out from prestwick north to meikle craigs at Troon. This is a rocky outcrop extending out from the beach into the Clyde.

Lady isle lays 2 miles west of troon. not very big but very noisy with the high number of nesting birds. Lady isle is a bird sanctuary and succesful by the looks of it.