Published by the Open Canoe Sailing Group

Outing (DaveM)

Shamelessly lifted from DaveM's blog (with permission)

Tuesday was brighter but strong winds were again forecast. Most members elected to explore the surrounding area on foot, bicycle or by car rather than sail so I set off alone at about 11:30 am.

After beating down the loch, I passed the castle at 1:30 pm. I had marked this as my proposed destination on the OCSG sign-out sheet, but now elected to continue down to the entrance of the loch. Low spring tide had been due at about 12:50 pm at Tayvallich, so I thought that, after continuing round the Island of Danna into the Sound of Jura, I'd have an easy ride up to Carsaig, with both wind and tide helping me. I had discussed this possible trip with other members the previous evening in the pub. I thought the best course of action would be to see how conditions appeared in the Sound before making a decision.

I sailed between the two small islands at the entrance to Loch Sween (Sgeir Bun an Locha) and the Island of Danna (Rubha nam Maraich), getting my daggerboard snarled in kelp for a while. I could then see ahead of me a line of white water stretching across from the outermost island south of Danna (Sgeir Dhonncha) to the next pair of islands 1 km to their southwest (Cor Eilean and Eilean Ghamhna). This was a little worrying, since it would be the shortest route to Carsaig. As I sailed closer, this white water appeared as a tidal race, which puzzled me since I had expected slack water by this time. I saw an area close to Sgeir Dhonncha where the disturbed water only appeared about 100 metres wide, so decided to go for it. Sailing with a good strength wind on a port tack gave me some security and my Raptor handled the conditions well, although the confused water was unpredictable and I was glad once through it. I wish I had had my camera set up, as this would have made for some dramatic footage.

I turned NNW at 2 pm and, after sailing for 2-3 kms, I rounded Rubha na Cille and was then able to

steer NNE, which made for a much easier ride with the wind and swell onto my port quarter. I began looking for somewhere to stop and eat lunch but didn't see anywhere for about another 5 kms, when I spotted an inlet called Sàilean na h-Àirde. This is where we spent a night during the Luing '08 meet, but I didn't recognise it, maybe because of the state of the tide. Seals were basking on rocks and it was a sheltered spot to rest, despite the inlet facing southwest into the prevailing wind. I stopped at 2:45 pm, so had made good time from Danna.

With my camera now functioning, I started back down Sàilean na h-Àirde at 3:20 pm and then had an exhilarating ride onward to Carsaig with some good video shots showing the waves breaking over the side of my Raptor, which nevertheless felt entirely secure. Peak speed for the trip of 10.2 knots (11.7 mph) was achieved soon after lunch, as I passed An Aird. This was with minimal sail area deployed.

I sailed east of Eilean Fraoich and between Eilean Dubh and Eilean Tràighe before entering Carsaig Bay, where I was taken by

surprise by the large following swell as I passed north of Eilean Tràighe. By this time my camera was off so I don't have a visual record, but it felt like the stern of my Raptor was tilted up by 30 degrees as the wave caught and passed me. It would have been easy to be capsized in this situation if I hadn't kept my bow pointing in the direction of the wave. I arrived safely at the Carsaig boat ramp at 4:10 pm.

One of the reasons I had wanted to make this trip from Tayvallich to Carsaig was that it would give me an opportunity to portage my Raptor, which I had not taken during the Luing '08 meet. Most members apart from Ann & KeithM and myself had portaged their boats from Tayvallich to Carsaig. At that time I still hadn't devised a good portage solution for my Raptor, but I now felt much more confident in my setup and wanted to try it out over an extended distance. Initially, on leaving Carsaig, I left my mast rigged up. I was able (with care) to pass under telephone lines that crossed the road on three occasions but when I saw some low lying electricity lines I elected not to take the chance and so rigged down my mast and laid it on the sidecar. This is quick to do, so I should just have done it before leaving Carsaig. I made the mistake of not securing the mast though, with the result that it tipped off the back off the sidecar when I was climbing a hill to enter Tayvallich.

The road from Carsaig is single-track only but there were enough passing places/entrances for me to pull into, so I didn't impede traffic along this surprisingly busy little road. My Molly carts worked well and I arrived back at the launching area at 4:45 pm, so the complete circuit had taken me a total of 5 hours 10 minutes, with a sailing time of under 4 hours and the 1 mile portage took me about 35 minutes. This was probably my most enjoyable day with my Raptor to date. I believe that very few (if any) other boats that are sold today could have accomplished this journey in the same time under the prevailing conditions.

Dave's website contains further photographs and blog pages from the meet. - Ed.

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