Ailsa Craig, two straight lines and a circle.

 

Two straight lines and a circle, that was our recorded track log for the day. A 16 km open crossing out to Ailsa Craig, a 5 km loop round the Island and a 16 km return leg.  I'm not really into open crossings, on this occasion it was to visit somewhere new so the 2hr 30 min outgoing paddle passed really quickly.

 

When we arrived at our launch site near Lendalfoot the Fairy Isle was hiding underneath a veil of low cloud. As we made ourselves ready for the trip a dark shape was slowly appearing from the mist.

 

 

 

 

We started to carry the boats down to the shore line and just as per the forecast the visibility was rapidly improving.

 

 

 

 

The starting pistol went and we were out of the blocks, four of the six in our group had never been out to visit Ailsa Craig before so were eager to set a good pace. No need for adjusting our bearing for tide and wind, both were minimal and the target was in sight. As the land became smaller behind us the Lump of Granite ahead of us grew in stature.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After an hour on the water the sun made an appearance and lit up our target, the cloud had now lifted and the Ailsa Craig looked resplendent in the morning sun.

 

 

 

 

At last a sign that the outgoing crossing was almost complete, the advance greeting party had been sent out to welcome us.

 

 

 

We hauled out on the granite boulder beach below the light house, not the best place for a composite kayak to be dragged up. A welcome leg stretch before we had our lunch on a lovely sheltered spot behind the lighthouse perimeter wall.

 

 

 

After lunch we went for a walk round the Island to look at the  remains of the Quarrying that took place here between the mid 19th to the mid 20th century.

 

A view from the castle looking back towards our boats hauled out on Foreland Point beneath the light house.

 

 

Looking South from the same point towards the Rhins of Galloway, the entrance to Loch Ryan clearly visible in the distance.

 

 

 

The castle built in the late 1500s by the Hamilton family, the toilet clearly visible and looks like it may still be occupied.

 

 

 

 

 

We made our way back down the slippery track to our boats and went for a paddle around the Island. The steep Granite columns on the South side are resident to a colony of over seventy thousand Gannets and were busy feeding their young and making one almighty din.

 

 

 

Some of the young Gannets had fledged and were still looking for food from their parents on the boulder strewn shore line.

 

 

 

 

Our circumnavigation was complete, we had one straight line and a circle, it was now time to draw the final straight line. By now the wind had freshened to the top end of F3, The sky was brooding and the tops were coming off the waves. Worse still the wind was in the South, not ideal for a push home. It was to be a hard slog, the only incentive was fish and chips we had planned  in Girvan. It was now 3.15 pm and it would be 5.30 pm before we would make land fall.

 

 

 

 

Soon after 5.30 pm we stood up on the beach at Lendalfoot, our mission complete. We had drawn the second straight line on our track. It had been a lovely paddle with lots to see on the Island. The Icing on the cake was the fish and chips in Girvan, they were inhaled rather than savoured. Brian recorded a 2600 calorie burn for our days activity so there was room left for a beer when we got home.