Isle of Jura Day 3 - The Final Leg
Sea Kayak
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3y ago
The next morning the stiff breeze had gone and we were gifted with a beautiful sunny day, maybe the last.      There was no immediate rush to get on the water.  The flood tide that will take us north doesn't turn for a few hours yet. I sat on the makeshift bench outside the bothy under damp bits of kits, eating my pre-packed porridge rations, the staple diet of any kayaker. A green shipping bouy mid channel leaned heavily, straining on it's moorings with the force of the tide ebbing out of the Sound of Islay.  Boats cruised past with ease and rafts of sea birds drifte ..read more
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Isle of Jura Day 2 cont... Craighouse to An Cladach (part 3)
Sea Kayak
by
3y ago
Tired though we were, we reluctantly packed our belongings back into the full hatches and set off once more into the emerald green shallow waters.  Our desire to circumnavigate Jura was still strong, but it would mean arriving at what would have been tomorrow's destination tonight, doubling our current millage...This was plan B. Bows pushed on parting glassy waters mirroring clouds in the sky.  I stripped off my dry cag and allowed the splashes of salt water flicking off my paddle blades to cool my arms.  I set back into my rhythm,  the full laden boat sat low in the water ..read more
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Isle of Jura Day 2 Cont... - Tarbert Bay to Craighouse
Sea Kayak
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3y ago
Having left Tarbert Bay feeling refreshed we continued our journey south west with the ebbing tide along Juras east coast.  Sticking with plan A  our aim is to make it to Craighouse, Juras main settlement and home of the Jura Distillery. The east coast of Jura is mainly low lying forestry and grassland.  Dominating the view for..well the entire trip, are the Paps of Jura. The Paps of Jura consist of three conical quartzite mountains rising to 2575 feet.  The word 'pap' originates from the Old Norse word meaning 'breast'. Photo by Simon Ford - Myself and Chris - The Paps ..read more
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Isle of Jura Day 2 - Crossing the Sound of Jura
Sea Kayak
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3y ago
Lying in my sleeping bag, it's the end of July but it's cold this far north as the rising sun lights up the clear sky rousing me early from my slumber.  I manage to catch a few more minutes before Simons alarm sounds a few feet away, it's 0430am.  Four hours ago we were solving the worlds problems with a few beers on the beach...I should have gone to bed early. Breaking out of the fly sheet the cold air awakens my senses.  The waters velvet smooth apart from a bit of movement on a bed of seaweed close to shore.  A seagull stands patiently next to it..wait is that an otter ..read more
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Isle of Jura Day 1 - Testing The Tides of the Sound of Jura
Sea Kayak
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3y ago
I have been spending the last few months preparing for a circumnavigation of the Isle of Jura and the day had finally arrived.  Joining me were Simon, Chris, Jules and Martin.  The trip came about simply by posting an open invitation on social media.  We allowed ourselves a week to complete the trip and the pre-trip weather forecast looked very promising however likely to change.   The heavens opened as we crossed the border into Scotland however soon brightened up... We stopped off on the way at Inveraray.  Here the Vital Spark, the fictional Clyde puffer. A man ..read more
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Follow me on Facebook
Sea Kayak
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3y ago
You can now follow my adventures on Facebook where you will soon find more pictures and links to blog posts. Please follow the following link and like my page... Stuart Sea Kayak Facebook Page  You can also join our community page Sea Kayak Cymru, where you can share your own photos and adventures, ask questions or join in on paddles ..read more
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Ramsey Island
Sea Kayak
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3y ago
I haven't paddled since the end of January for a number of reasons and with light winds forecast for the weekend I was eager to get on the water again.  Pembrokeshire was the obvious choice and it was decided to paddle around Ramsey Island. The almost spring tides were flowing north for most of the day until around 2pm so we launched from Porth Clais hoping the weather window would allow us a full circumnavigation.  There were eight of us in total, Kay, Paul, Sean, Chris, Patrick, Peter and Eurion. The winds have been strong in previous days so it was no surprise the conditions wer ..read more
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Bristol Channel Crossing
Sea Kayak
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3y ago
The forecast was favourable for this time of year, originally easterly force 1-2.  Myself and Elan took the chance to do something a bit more exposed than normal.  There were two options when we arrived at Llantwit Major early morning.  Cross the Bristol Channel to Heddon's Mouth, a trip I've done once before with Eurion in 2012, or a crossing of Swansea Bay linking the shipping buoys from Nash Point. The forecast had since changed from my initial excitement three or four days before.  It was still a favourable force 2-3 but gusting force 4-6 later in the day.  The Sw ..read more
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The Bishops and the Clerks
Sea Kayak
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3y ago
It was the bi-annual West Wales Sea Kayak meet.  The forecast promised to be good for the long weekend of paddling, drinking and catching up with old friends.  I decided to join the Bishops and Clerks trip after turned down the invite for Grass Holm with Eurion and Mark. I have visited these off shore chain of islands when paddling out to The Smalls and on return from the Ireland Crossing.  I have since wanted to return to take in the trip in its entirety rather than a brief passing. Photo by Sean Hurrell Quite a few had wanted to join in the same trip so we split in to two l ..read more
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Loch Bracadale - Isle of Skye
Sea Kayak
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3y ago
Visiting Macleod's maidens by sea has been on the bucket list since we first visited Skye.  In 2013 we hiked out to Idrigill Point to see the Maiden's from land but I have since wanted to return and sit bellow the 200ft sea stack towering above me. The ideal trip starts out from beyond Neist Point in the west but the 32km trip has very few landing/escape points.  I'm writing this 19 months on but I seem to remember the tides for this trip didn't quite work so I opted to launch from a small beach called Camas Ban near Harlosh in Loch Bracadale to the east of the Maiden's. It wa ..read more
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