Kyles of Bute and Ettrick Bay

Just as I was contemplating finishing my fishing, a whole shoal of sail boats came through the narrows. Unlike motor powered boats, they cant go in straight lines and have to tack back and forth to head in the direction of the wind. As the wind was coming straight up the west Kyle, the boats had to sail back and forth across the narrow stretch I was fishing in. I felt it was time to move on.



I soon left them far behind as the wind direction suited me fine. I decided to explore the west Kyle of Bute.



A lovely view of the island of Arran opened up as I headed south in the west Kyle.



A lone yacht was heading for the little island of Inchmarnock, just off the south western end of Bute.



The sea around Bute had that lovely green sheen which happens when the sun shines on the water and there is a sandy bottom. Sadly the trees didn't seem to have the same green sheen ? I couldn’t help notice how autumn coloured they looked and this was the beginning of July ? Its been a funny year this year.



There were more rust coloured leaves around the village of Kildavanan, in fact if it wasn’t so warm a day I could have been fooled into thinking it was autumn. I blamed the world recession and falling pound for the lack of greenery.



Next stop was Ettrick bay which is a popular place for the locals to collect on a sunny day. It was so popular that I decided not to land but to drift with a strip of mackerel on my line instead. Sandy bottoms are supposed to be good for flat fish. I never caught a thing so I guess its not such a popular place with the plaice ?



I contemplated about going round Inchmarnock Island and was on my way when the wind started to freshen and the sea rose slightly. I decided against it as the water was very open and exposed to the south westerly wind.



I headed for the mainland just noth of Ardlamont Point instead and was quite glad as the waves did get up for a little while mid channel. I then turned north and started heading back up the western Kyle .... straight into the middle of the yacht race ...