On Saturday morning we paddled from Crinan through the Dorus Mor, up around Lunga and Rubha Fiola before landing on Eilean Dubh Mor. We then headed back South and "played" (got pushed around) in the Grey Dogs before camping on the west coast of Scarba. We then climbed up the southern flank of Scarba and scouted the Corryvreckan. Next morning, an early start allowed us to paddled through the Corryvreckan with the flow (an hour after it turned) and down the East Coast of Jura to Barnhill and then across the Sound of Jura to Carsaig Island for lunch, before heading back up to Crinan.
The trip was very enjoyable, but we only opted for the Dogs and the Corryvreckan when we had established that the wind was not going to be a problem. Both tide races feel like a big bouncy grade 3 river, but we did try to avoid the sharp eddies and whirlpools. One of our group, Gavin, managed to paddle right up into the mouth of the Dogs, against the flow, using the eddies, and got the front half of his boat sucked into a whirlpool. It does feel a bit strange paddling through the middle of the Gulf - the scale of the place from a kayak is really awesome. The tide that we encountered in the Sound of Jura was a big surprise- we were expecting a 2knt ebb, but found ourselves being pushed South at over 5 kms/h, without paddling! We basically had to ferry-glide most of the way across to Carsaig. It was a really pleasant weekend.
The
camp site on Scarba looking North to the Garvellachs and Mull.
Looking
NE from Rubha nam Faoileann, Scarba. Eilean Dubh Mor is the very dark island
in the distance.
Looking
from Scarba over the Gulf of Corryvreckan to Jura. The large inlet is Bagh
Gleann nam Muc which is amazingly a sheltered anchorage in the middle of one of
the strongest tidal streams in the world.
Looking
SE through the Corryvreckan from Scarba.
Looking
SE through the Corryvreckan from Scarba.
Paddling
safely through the Corryvreckan, approaching Carraig Mhor on Jura at 8.10am.
All photos copyright Tony Page.
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Site editor: Douglas E Wilcox (D.E.Wilcox@clinmed.gla.ac.uk
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Last edited 07/09/03
Created 03/09/03