Twelve, Twelve,Twelve...The Bass Rock in Winter

A visit to the Bass Rock in winter is very different to what we have become used to in the summer months. The wheeling Gannets that normally fill the sky had long since left for Africa, the white stains of guano washed clean from the rocks by the first storms of winter. A handful of Fullmers, a  few Turnstones, and a solitary Peregrine were all that remained to welcome us on this visit.

A mid week trip is a bonus and getting a nice settled bit of weather to coincide with your day off is a near miracle at this time of year. We met at Milsey Bay on this crisp December morning, the tide was now well into the flood and each wave was chasing the white frosty frozen line further up the beach. Our plan was to paddle along the coast against the flow towards Tantallon Castle. We would then ferry across to circumnavigate the Bass Rock before heading back over to Seacliff Beach for lunch. We were kept entertained as we paddled inside the Leithies  towards Canty Bay. A nice rolling swell around a meter in height created some fantastic play features amongst the shallow reefs off Leckmoram Ness.

 

 

 

 

Upon reaching Canty Bay we turned seaward and made our way out to the Bass Rock. A light breeze form the land pushed us along effortlessly against the remnants of the flood tide. As we approached the Rock we could see some exciting clapotis along the West shore. This coupled with the height of the tide prevented us from getting into the cave on this side of the island. We bumped and bounced round the corner, the sea state improving as we progressed.

 

 

As we approached the East side the sea was relatively calm. This allowed us to stick our heads into the cave on this side for a look. 

 

A lot has been written about the cave that intersects the centre of the Bass Rock. It was an ideal opportunity today to get inside for a look for myself. I climbed in and managed to clamber through, appearing through the gloom into the sea on the West side. A small pool in the middle made for a tricky scramble but it was a worth while investigation . We visited there at HW on a decent spring tide and I still had to climb up onto the ledge to get through so I can't ever see it ever being possible to paddle through.

 

From here we carried on round to the South of the Rock and then made our way over to Sea cliff beach for a spot of lunch.  

 

 

 

Note the lone figure standing on the Gegan Rock, more about him in a minute....






Lunchtime was overdue as by now we were all starving. Within minutes Alan was brewing his beans and sausage in some new fangled lime/water stove where at the other end of the beach George was trying to ignite wet sea weed in his wood burning stove.

 

We kept our lunch stop short. As you can see by our picnic table the temperature was still well below freezing and we were cooling down rapidly.

 

 It turned out that the lone figure standing on the Gegan had been cut off by the tide and had been stranded there for 2 hours. The tide had now turned and dropped back enough to allow him to cross back to the mainland. Someone had called Aberdeen CG to alert them of his situation so we hailed them on 16 to stand them down once we knew he was safe. A good test for our radios and a lesson learnt.... they don't like being addressed as Forth CG anymore...Woops..!

 



 

A quick look into Seacliff harbour on our way back up the coast to Milsey Bay.

 

 Late afternoon and the light was starting to fade, a low winter sun now lighting up the SW side of Tantallon Castle.

 

 

As we once more approached the Leithies the sun had set, leaving a watery red hue in the sky behind Berwick Law. This really is a magical time of the day to be on the water.  We arrived back at Milsey Bay in darkness, the sand above the HW mark still white and solid with frost. 

 Another great day to be out on the sea, even without the Gannet colony in residence and the lack of any warmth in the air this can still be a fantastic trip.