Day 05 Thursday 21st Nave Island to Shian Bay by Christine B

A day of crossings and decisions.

People heard deer by the tents overnight, the heavy breathing and grunting….  Thursday was another lovely start to the day.  A few seals are still watching the campsite from their vantage point of the water, just off Nave Island also known as Seal Island and Blue Duck Island to the LCC crew.

We had a 9:00am start, though one person was on the water at 8:40am, 20 minutes ahead of the last person, who was very timely.

We had our first crossing of the day to complete as soon as we got on the water, not only heading back to the mainland mass known as Islay, with our small escort of seals, but passing Ardnave point and Loch Gruinart to head further up the north coast of Islay. The coast was interesting with high cliffs, caves, arches and lots of goats.  We headed out for our usual elevenses stop, looking to stop at Port an t-Stuthain, but finding no easy landing spots, especially for 9 kayaks, we headed to Rubha Bholsa to the arch and a beautiful sandy beach.

After the appropriate elevenses snack, we decided to start heading along the coast to the end of the north-eastern end of the Island of Islay, where the Ruvaal, Rhuvaal, or Rubh’a’ Mhàil lighthouse is situated.  A working lighthouse which was built in the 19th century (construction starting in 1857 and completed in 1859, costing £6,500 (£822,402 in current day terms)), which marks the approach to the Sound of Islay, a narrow channel which separates the islands of Islay and Jura and allows a ferry passage to Colonsay.  The lighthouse, its keeper’s cottages and boundary walls are all category B listed buildings.

While admiring the lighthouse, Keith brought up the options A, B, C and D.  Time to make a decision, though none of us could remember which option was which….  Keith did provide a couple of options. He thought, given the tides and wind, we would be able to circumnavigate Jura before the storm arrived on Monday / Tuesday, or we could head to Loch Tarbert on Jura, but would be heading back against the wind and tide. After some discussion, it was agreed to follow our circumnavigation of Islay with a circumnavigation of Jura. This meant a crossing of about 10Km or 6 miles to a point on Jura – described as the third sandy beach above the cliffs !!!  An area on the map which shows the raised beaches.  In readiness for the long crossing, jackets were removed as the sun had come out and the temperature was certainly heating up (a heady 16C was noted for the day with a mere 1 – 2 Bft of wind).  We managed to avoid the ferry to Colonsay and had an uneventful crossing, but with many large jellyfish sightings, lots of chatter of the trip to date, the trip ahead and any ad hoc conversation to pass the time.

As we neared our third sandy beach above the cliffs, Keith asked if everyone had 3 days of water left, as he was unsure if there would be fresh water where we could camp.  Also, we had passed Loch Tarbert with its potential water sources.  Our priority at this point was to find a stop for second elevenses, lunch or another break for eating and replenishing our depleting source of energy.  As we found a small rocky bay to stretch our legs, there was much discussion of where exactly we were on Jura.  Andy was asked to check on his GPS !!! unheard of.  We found we were at Rubha Dubh, and only about 1 Km away from our potential campsite. We were given one last vote on carry on or return down the Straight of Islay.  We decided to carry on our quest to circumnavigate both islands.

We headed on our last leg of the day to find a camping spot for the night, which would take all 8 tents, not always an easy task. We headed to Shian Bay, a nice sandy cove. Keith also provided another option we could camp on Shian Island; however, the sandy beach won the day.

We were off the water by 4 pm, having completed about 20 miles of paddling (though slightly less in distance due to backtracking for elevenses) we even found that we had a fresh water source at the Bay, so those low on water were no more.

So, time to set up home once more and start cooking in case the wind dropped and the midges arrived – luckily for us, no midges arrived all evening…. At this point, we had a request from Catriona for a group “Happy Birthday” to her son Ian as she had forgotten his birthday   before the usual washing and cleaning of pots, pans and ourselves took place in the fresh water by the campsite.

There were many hoof prints on the sand and sightings of a small herd of deer nearby. But nothing to stop the snores from the tents from 9 tired kayakers dreaming of the day’s achievements and the worries of the following day as the Gulf of Corryvreckan neared.