We left Glasgow at 6:30am on Saturday 21/08/04 and drove north on the A82 to Fort William where we turned west on the A830 and arrived in Arisaig at 10:40am after several stops on the way. There are a few parking places opposite the shops, just south of the jetty. Public toilets are opposite the jetty . As the tide was in we launched from the village but Arisaig Marine kindly let us leave our cars overnight in their car park. On this trip there were seven of us, Douglas, Jennifer, Billy, Mair, David, Alan and Angela.
Sometimes in life, everything comes together in a perfect way. On this trip, floating amongst the skerries of Arisaig, with their dazzlingly white shell sand beaches dominated by the Cuillin of Rum and Skye, we really were paddling the thin line between reality and fantasy.
Forecast and tide tables:
References:
Common sense:
Local information:
GPS track of
route. total 27.2 km, average speed irrelevant, max speed 13.1 km/hr.
Forecast: Wind NW 3-4 easing variable 2 or 3 later.
Tide times (BST) at Mallaig: HW 10:36 LW 16:58 (midway neaps to springs).
11:59
Looking
out towards the Small Isles from the launch site.
12:10
Sgurr
of Eigg from Loch nan Ceall.
121:29
The
Cuillin of Skye from Loch nan Ceall.
12:34
Rois
Bhein 882m from Loch nan Ceall.
12:40
The
Cuillin of Rum from the coral beach on Sgeir Ghainmheach.
12:44
Sgeir
Ghainmheach.
The
"coral" sand is made up of the bleached skeletons of the red algae, Lithothamnium
calcareum. There is a similar but better known beach on Loch
Dunvegan, Skye.
12:57
The
Cuillin of Skye from the skerries of Arisaig.
13:01
The
Skerries of Arisaig.
13:17
The
Cuillin of Rum from the skerries of Arisaig.
13:18
13:23
13:26
13:31
13:36
David
launches his new P&H Quest with a really excellent Champagne.
13:49Am
Fraoch-eilean.
13:50
Am
Fraoch-eilean.
13:54
Am
Fraoch-eilean.
13:56
Am
Fraoch-eilean.
13:57
Am
Fraoch-eilean.
13:58
Am Fraoch-eilean.
14:17
Leaving
Loch nan Ceall
14:30
Heading
south for the Sound of Arisaig.
14:54
Arrival.
14:55
We
meet Bath CC on a 10 day tour of Scotland. They were camping at Back of Keppoch
nand had arranged to be picked up at the head of Loch nan Uamh.
14:43
A
shell sand cove in the Sound of Arisaig. The
grass was pockmarked with thousands of little circles of white sand on slopes
that faced the sun. As the sun travelled round its course, each bank in turn burst into activity and the air was filled with the buzzing of sand bees.
15:58
Paradise.
15:58
I
went for a swim in this amazing clear, turquoise water.
17:04
Heading south east up the Sound of Arisaig towards Eilean a' Ghaill.. The wind had picked up to about force four and it
was a bit bumpy rounding the headlands as the swells bounced back from the
cliffs, great fun. Max speed was 13.1 km/hr.
17:06
17:10
17:13
17:14
17:34
Heading west again towards Eilean a' Ghaill.
17:44
Another white sand cove in the Sound of Arisaig.
17:50
There
is an iron age fort perched on the top of the volcanic plug of Eilean a' Ghaill.
18:22
Heading west again, back to the camp site.
18:26
19:43
20:35
Sunset
over the Cuillin of Skye.
20:37
Sunset
over Rum.
20:39
Sunset
over Rum.
21:00
Soft
evening light in Port nam Murrach. A minke whale was feeding just off the mouth
of the bay.
21:03
Over
countless years, countless shellfish have lived and died and countless
waves have broken their shells down into the countless grains of white
shell sand that have been deposited here by countless tides to give Port nam
Murrach a timeless beauty. We are privileged to stand on these sands, even if
only once or twice in our lifetimes. Looking at my footprints, I pondered on
their transitory nature and realized that these sands had glowed softly in the
evening light long before men first set foot here and there is nothing more
certain that they will still be glowing long after those tides have washed away
our last footprints.
21:30
We
collected driftwood from two beaches but we had also brought two bags of logs
from the Shell garage in Glencoe village. The logs lasted very well. At 1 am I
was lying on my back looking up at the most amazing night sky I have ever seen:
Milky way, shooting stars, innumerable satellites and even the space station!
Forecast: Wind variable 2-3 increasing east 5 or 6 locally 7 later.
Tide times (BST) at Mallaig: HW 10:36 LW 16:58 (midway neaps to springs).
06:07
Dawn
breaks over Eigg and Rum.
06:13
Dawn
light in Port nam Murrach.
07:30
07:37
Distant
Moidart and Ardnamurchan over the Sound of Arisaig.
09:46
Leaving.
09:48
A
very sick razorbill. I have seen a number like this on the West coast
this year. I wondered if they might have been some of the "lucky"
survivors from the tanker disaster off Spain in 2003 where most Scottish
Razorbills winter.
09:50
Nearby
was another dead razorbill.
09:50
The
south-western horizon, bounded only by Arnamurchan, Muck, Eilean nan Each and
Eigg.
09:55
Formation
paddling on the lookout for the humpback whale.
09:55
North
towards Skye.
09:59
Billy
looking at the Bhasteir Tooth on the
Cuillin which I was lucky to be able to climb
last year.
10:11
Still
no sign of the humpback.
10:29
The
hills of Moidart above Rubh Arisaig.
10:36
Eigg and Rum.
10:37
The Skye Cuillin.
10:41
This
guillemot and its chick seemed OK.
10:45
Rum.
10:50
Moidart.
10:52
Skye.
11:41
The
shallow narrows at Gortenachulish that allowed us to slip back into Loch nan
Ceall from the north east.
11:54
The
seal colony in Loch na Ceall.
12:12
Sgeir Ghainmheach for a leisurely lunch..
13:02
Nearly
home but no sign of the otter and its cubs.
As we were packing up at the Arisaig slipway, I met Ronnie Weir a long time kayaker, sailor and professional natural history photographer (he was out photographing the hump back whale which was in the vicinity of 5km south of the Point of Sleat. We got talking about a recent article in the Herald about Scottish sightings of great white sharks, including one sighting by a diver who is a marine biologist. Ronnie then told me of his encounter with a Scottish great white. They were paddling round Rum. Earlier they had seen a seal carcase on a beach with its hind quarters bitten off and they assumed that it was the work of the Orca pod that inhabit these waters. They came upon a seal colony basking on the rocks and Ronnie started to photograph them. He was amazed when he got right up to them and still they did not slither into the water. Suddenly his pal shouted "basking shark" but when Ronnie turned round he saw straight away it was no basking shark. It was a 5m great white, not quite full grown but easily big enough to take three kayakers apart for its second breakfast. There was nowhere to land safely, and it followed, circling them for 5km till they could get out the water.
Scottish Mountain Photo Gallery Main MenuSite editor: Douglas Wilcox (D.E.Wilcox@clinmed.gla.ac.uk
)
Last edited 30/08/04
Created 29/08/04
