Setting sail in calm waters

I LOVE the Caithness weather, and we’ve had a fair bit of it in the last week. Days of glorious sunshine, light winds and calm seas, days of exhilarating storm with driving rain and ferocious waves. Make the most of it. Enjoy!

To paddle alone around Stroma in a kayak is often regarded as an exacting trip requiring high levels of qualification and experience. Choose a day with one of the smallest tidal ranges of the year combined with calm seas and light winds and, provided you get the timing right, it’s hardly more difficult than a paddle round Thurso boating pond.

I set off from Gills in the afternoon, just after the ferry had left for Orkney. The west-going ebb tide was dying away, I would be round the north of Stroma before the Swilkie whirlpool built up on the east-going flood. The sea was flat calm, the sun hot, the strong tides of the Inner Sound subdued to almost nothing.

Soon I was off the Stroma Beacon and heading up the west coast. Many years ago the Danika was wrecked here, ploughing at speed into the cliffs. The remains of the boat are still lodged in a geo. To get at all the valuable bits and pieces a ship gangway was used to bridge a narrow gap to a large sea-stack above the boat. Once, the stack housed Castle Mestag, probably a base of the notorious pirate Sweyn in the 12th century and later owned by the Sinclairs. There would then have been a drawbridge in place of the makeshift modern bridge.

Between the high rock walls of the castle stack and the mainland is a long narrow passage, barely wider than a kayak; amazingly the sea was calm enough to paddle right through. Beyond, the usual Stroma swell and tidal eddies were almost nonexistent, allowing a gentle potter up the wild western cliffs. Grey seals lay out and swam in their hundreds. They would quietly gather behind me till 30 or 40 heads were swimming after the boat, the occasional animal finding it was too close and diving with a loud unnerving splash. If I looked round, they would gently submerge, one by one. Others slept, head just above the surface. One only woke when I could nearly touch it, rocking the boat and spraying me with water as it dived right alongside.

Near the north end of the island is the subterranean passage leading to the famous Gloup, a cliff-rimmed basin in the moor. A few weeks ago the NorthCoast Explorer was wrecked here when her rear thrusters failed while taking tourists into the entrance of the passage. Her passengers and crew had to be rescued by Thurso lifeboat.

Now, with only the smallest of swells, the spectacular high-roofed tunnel gave an easy paddle through to the boulder beach surrounded by cliffs which I’d only before visited from the land. The wrecked boat had been salvaged, only a faint smell of diesel lingered.

From the island I’ve seen the tide-race like a raging river, now it was just a gentle current helped me round the corner towards the lighthouse, though choppy waves were already starting to build as the tide strengthened. A little more effort was needed against the eddy to make it into the lighthouse pier just to the south.

As I lazily enjoyed some food and a flask of tea in the sunshine, the Pentland Venture sailed up from John O’Groats packed with tourists enjoying the afternoon wildlife cruise; she sat offshore for a few minutes while folk watched the unconcerned seals then headed back the way she had come. There were other visitors to the island – three quad bikes came roaring down the old road and earlier I’d seen a small group of folk watching seals from the cliff tops.

I jogged up to the top of the island for the stunning view of sunlit islands and blue seas, then back to the lighthouse to see that, neap tide or no, the Swilkie had built into that mass of churning white which small boats are well advised to avoid. No, you shouldn’t actually attempt a trip like this unless you really know what you are doing.

Mostly though, tidal currents were weak and it wasn’t a hard paddle down the eastern side of the island and along the southern shore past the harbour.

In the beating sun I was much too hot so, perversely, landed to put on my waterproof cag. This, so that I could find a sheltered inlet and enjoy half a dozen rolls to cool off. There are those who reckon you don’t need to learn to roll a kayak, perhaps on safety grounds you don’t, but it’s a great playful thing to do on a hot day!

Nicely cooled down, I set off for the hard journey back to Gills with the tide against me, waving goodbye to the seals lying out on just-submerged rocks by the Beacon.

Pointing the boat south-west and paddling hard, my course ended up just east of south with the tide trying to carry me back past John O’Groats. It was just like crossing a wide river, with big smooth boils of water and currents running round. I wonder how the 400 tidal turbines to be installed here by 2020 will change things, especially with all the maintenance boat traffic.

Once across and out of the tide, an easy two miles past Canisbay Church took me back to Gills in the early evening where cars were queueing for the next Orkney ferry.

SO fine was the weather that the next day gave a rare opportunity for paddling with a couple of others from Portskerra to Armadale, rounding Strathy Point. I’ll not bore you with more descriptions of amazing seascapes and geos and arches and huge caves and cliffs... suffice to say that the gentle rolling swell in the sunshine was a complete contrast to my last visit when I almost had to crawl to reach the lighthouse via the road in a force-10 gale, driving rain and clouds of blowing spume.

Indeed, just a couple of days later gave a spell of gloriously wild weather with gales and three inches of rain. The wind was cold but the rain had stopped when I set out again from Gills harbour. Not by boat this time, even from this distance you could see the white seas off Stroma. No, another training run for the Loch Ness marathon, along the roads to Freswick Castle then via Duncansby Head and Groats back to Gills.

It was the end of August, I wore gloves for the whole run and a woolly hat for much of the way and in 19 miles barely raised a sweat – a consequence of the air temperature, not my fitness!

The miles past Canisbay and over the moors to Freswick seemed to go very easily, but then there was a 25 mph following wind. You really need to walk or jog these roads to appreciate the wonderful views out over the Pentland Firth, with the big skies and open moorland as you cross Warth Hill.

I took the track down to Freswick Castle, imposing above the swollen Gill Burn, then across the soft sands of the bay with sand blowing in my face, and out along the Skirza road where the fences of a cottage garden are lavishly decorated with old fishing floats and buoys.

A track through Skirza farm led to the disused quarry with ancient stone-crushing machinery gradually mouldering into the ground, a faint path then headed north into a surprisingly bitter August wind.

The cliff tops were wet after the rains, burns swollen with waterfalls into the sea, Wifie Geo with its towering cliffs, passages and huge central sea-stack as spectacular as ever. Views of the Duncansby stacks and rough seas off the Skerries provided a backdrop for big patches of multi-hued purple heather.

A couple of tourists, well dressed in cagoules and winter clothing, had ventured as far as the hilltop opposite the stacks; I was getting cold after miles of slow going under cloudy skies so ran as fast as possible up to the lighthouse and carried on at a good pace past the breakers on the shell beach and above the rocky shoreline to Groats, meeting the occasional tourist wrapped for winter.

Now warmed up again, the four miles along the main road to Gills passed quickly with ever-changing views across rough seas to Stroma and Orkney and the white line of the Merry Men of Mey growing as the west-going tide increased.

My marathon in October will be in aid of the Highland Hospice. If you wish to sponsor me for this worthy cause you can do so online via the JustGiving website – go straight to http:/www.justgiving.com/Ralph-MacGregor or do a Google search for “justgiving” then input “Ralph MacGregor” in the friend’s name box. Thank you!

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