End of the Gurnard's First Voyage

If you wonder where I have been, I have not been lost or drowned at sea in my new second hand inflatable, I have been too busy customising it to my needs and having several adventures that I could only dream about in my little inflatables. I will post those in due course.. but first.. it time to finish my tale of its first voyage in Loch Etive.

There were boats of all shapes and sizes on Loch Etive that wonderful summer's day. Im pleased for this couple that the wind and waves never got up. The term .... "Dont overload your boat" .. comes to mind. However they must have had a very memorably trip in their inflatable canoe in the heat wave.



I stopped for a late lunch on the sandy shores to the west of Ben Starav. I had to really struggle to keep myself from falling asleep after lunch. I was worried that at any moment I would awaken and find the day was all just a dream.



I decided to head to the west end of Loch Etive past the Bonawe narrows to see if there were any waves around. I was curious to see how she would handle a little chop. There were no waves there either...just a deep blue mirror.



I played in the tidal flows to the east of Connel Bridge and the Falls of Laura. It was now low tide so I didnt want to try going over the falls in case I struck the ground or a rock. Its a very fast flow ..so I will try it one day when the tide is in, so Im certain there is water depth.



Then I headed back to the Old Quarry at the narrows. I wanted to waste an hour or so to let the tide turn and start going up the beach a little at Kelly's pier. I dropped my fishing line and pulled out a fat little cod from the murky depths. Im glad my first fish was a Gurnard ..as "The Old Cod" ..doesnt have quite the same ring to it as .. "The Gurnard"..the new name of my inflatable. I let the cod go again as Im no cod lover.



Then I headed for Kelly's pier and the recovery of my boat. I floated it onto its trailer but then found the full weight too heavy to pull out the water. I tied a long rope to the trailer.. put the 4x4 car on the beach and hauled it out that way.. it was then as easy as changing gear :-D



Satisfied that the engine seemed reliable and that the boat was steady enough.. I now couldn't wait to take her out to sea... that adventure.. coming soon :-D

Camping and the clegs of Loch Etive

I decided to stop for a well earned rest and walkabout at an old abandoned pier, deep in the heart of Loch Etive. It was too hot for the midges to be around but the clegs were in abundance and made a meal of me as I ate my sandwiches. Clegs are a horrible kind of horse fly, with a steel proboscus that can drill through clothing to get human blood.

The boat anchored off shore had the right idea. The owner obviously had stayed over night on the loch and was in the process of dismantelling his tent cover as I watched from the shore.



It reminded me of the times I too anchored here and slept in my little red boat with the white cuddy. I swapped it for this much more sea worthy boat. I wondered if I could devise a way to sleep in it ?

I have a foldaway camp bed that would fit nicely...perhaps a tarpaulin on a stretcher type frame ? Yup..it could be possible with a bit of thought. anything to keep away from the clegs and midges.



Near by another group of boaters had pulled ashore had camped overnight in tents on the land ....but Im sure they must have made a meal or five for the vampire clegs.



Once my sandwich was finished I decided to leave the clegs to find another meal. I was fed up and had enough of them. I headed up the loch as fast as I could go.. fortunately it was too fast for the clegs to follow. The cool wind in my face, as I left a trail the lenght of the loch, helped soothe the bites.




I was smiling ear to ear in paradise ...to be continued

A hard days fishing on Loch Etive

As I zoomed through the Bonawe narrows and headed up the loch, the wind died to nothing just after high tide. It gave me a chance to play with the throttle ..putting the boat on and off the plane and of course..some full throttle to see how fast she would go. It was fast ..but I have no idea of the speed as I had nothing to measure it with. However, all high speed manouvers were kept in a straight line and ..yup..I did wear the kill cord.

This safety cord is attached to mysef and the engine stop button. The idea is that if I accidentally fall overboard.. the engine will stop instantly as the kill cord activates the stop button. This will save the boat disappearing over the horizon at a great rate of knots..or worse still..running round in circles ..cutting myself to pieces with the big propeller as happened to four folks just recently :-(

It only took minutes to get half way up the sea loch so I stopped for a rest off the site of the bothy..the little cottage seen in the distance in this photo. It was very hot and my throttle wrist was getting tired with its new work.



With my other hand.. I lowered the hokkai lures back to the bottom of the loch and gently bobbed them up and down. Five minutes later.. my now tired wrist was busy winding in another fish. This time it was a small cod. I dont eat cod so it was returned safely to grow bigger on the rubbish it eats off the bottom. Give me a fresh free range mackerel anyday.



Now that both my wrists were a little tired with all this work..on such a hot day.. I let the boat drift in the doldrums while I drifted off for a snooze. The surrounding scenery was simply stunning.



I felt a bit like the boy castaway on the boat in the movie .. The Life of Pi ..except of course there was no tiger in my inflatable. The movie had some stunning scenes filmed on flat calm water ..and so did my hard days fishing on Loch Etive.



It was that hot.. I imagined that even the cows were going swimming to try and keep their cool.



I pinched myself to see if I was dreaming .. but was delighted to find that I wasn't. I really was in paradise.... to be continued

The First Adventure in the Gurnard ... Loch Etive

What a day Sunday turned out to be. Its the kind of day that dreams are made off.

For me, it started at 3.30 am when I got up, had breakast then towed my new boat to Taynuilt for the first voyage in her. I was on the beach beside Kelly's Pier just before high tide and set up the boat while I let the trailer wheel bearings cool down.



It is the only thing that Im a bit wary about with my new set up. I have always avoided putting the road trailer in salt water on my last boat. However this large inflatable boat weights around 150kg which includes the engine, so is too heavy to manhandle off the trailer. My last boat was a fibreglass hull so it could be shoved around and pulled onto beaches, but this one has a soft inflatable bottom with aluminium floor boards ..so dragging it is just not wise. I pushed the trailer into the sea loch until the boat floated off. Only the tip of the tow hitch and top of the jockey wheel mount were left above water. However the boat floated great..even with the 52kg 25HP engine on the back. Once on the water..I topped up the tube pressures with the hand pump. It only took a couple of minutes. Then it was ready for the start of my new adventure.



One pull of the engine and it fired up with a healthy growl. I ran it a moment or two while I watched the water "pee" pour out its vent.. to ensure the cooling system was working as it should ..then I slowly opened the throttle. I carried my 3.3HP Mariner outboard in the boat as it was my first outing and I wasnt sure how reliable the second hand engine was. The inflatable is huge compared to my other boats so it was no problem having the spare engine on the floor. The boat slid agross the surface with easy. I didn't go far as I wanted to catch a mackerel or two for bait. I wanted to give my boat the workover but also incorporate it in a days fishing.



I stopped the boat after a couple of minutes running and dropped my line of hokkia lures to the sea bottom. The line ran out for ever.. indicating it was very deep. I bounced the lures along the bottom for a few moments then thought I felt a little tug. Reeling in, I was delighted so find I had caught my first Gurnard in many years. I know they have poisonous spines in the fins and gills so carefully shook it off my hook to allow it to swim away untouched.



The family I bought the boat from had mentioned that they had never named this boat so it didnt take me long to think of calling it "Old Gurnard" Well I can be a crabby old git at times. I fished another 15 mins or so but nothing else touched the lures. I got a little impatied as I had not tried planing in my boat yet. I wound in my line.. started the engine again on first pull of the started chord.. hung onto the ropes around the inflatable tubes and ... half opened the throttle. Within seconds..the boat made a little jump as she went over the "step" and started to plane. My eyes started to water a little in the cool sea air ... I left that I was floating in heaven.. and it was not yet 8am and I was still running on half throttle ....



How fast could she go ? .... to be continued

Loch Etive and almost another seagull

After watching the climbers do their climbing and not feeling the fish doing any nibbling, I headed for the new pier at the head of the loch. That is where the lumber boat "Ben Maye" was now moored patiently waiting for the felled trees to be loaded on board.



It has been proposed that the new pier will be left for recreation use once the timber operations are complete. There are also plans to provide a new cycle track along the north west banks of the loch from Bonawe to Glen Etive. I am enjoying the isolation while I can. It would be a shame for the loch to end up like Loch Lomond , full of jet skiers and weekend party campers. I already avoid going down the Glen Etive road in the summer months as the rubbish left by irresponsible campers breaks my heart.



It was almost mid day now so I started heading back down the loch, but first I stopped off at the lovely sandy bays at Rubha Aird Rainich. The bays are on the opposite side of the loch and almost level with Rubha Bharr. They would make a lovely wild camp mooring too..perhaps for my next visit.



I took a walk along the shore to explore a little of the area. The sun was still shining but a weather front was fast approaching and the white horses started to appear on the loch.



I decided to wait a while to let the wind settle again, so I cooked some sausages for lunch. Very tasty they were too.. but a poor substitute for a fresh caught fish.

Once the BBQ was finished, I took all my rubbish home, I left only footprints and took only photographs, although I must confess, I would have happily taken some fish away with me.



With the clouds gathering and thickening fast, I headed for Taynuilt and the narrows before the wind freshened again. It had dropped slightly during my lunch break and the white horses had disappeared again.



As I neared Taynuilt, I noticed this cheeky seagull swooping in low for my lures. It followed me for a while and every time it thought I was not watching..it came within six feet of my hooks. I can attract and catch seagulls but not fish ? I must be doing something wrong ?



I managed to get the boat back on its trailer and everything packed up before the rain started..and it rained all the way home. Not that I cared..I had the best of the weather for my trip.

Loch Etive and the Trilleachan Slabs

Unlike the last time I tried to get to the head of the loch, this time it was flat calm. Not a whisper of wind to ripple the water. I had the engine on tick over and trolled a lure behind the boat as I was in no hurry. I was savouring every moment of the calm morning.



As I approached the ruins of one of the old piers, I stopped the engine and changed over to a set of mackerel feathers. I drifted slowly in the tide as I fished the bottom of the loch. I guessed it was around 100ft deep at this point.



I admit that I was caught hook, line and sinker when I saw these rubbery sand eels in the local tackle shop. They look and feel exactly like I imagine a real sand eel would. I threaded one onto the bottom hook and as I moved it slowly in the water, it had a very realistic action. I guess they are designed to catch fishermen better than fish. I never got a nibble.



I wound in my line and headed for the head of the loch, I had a feeling there was a blind starving sea trout up there somewhere , just waiting for me to put it out its misery.



The north shore is very pretty with its natural forest. Sometimes I have see deer lurking in its shady parts. I’m pleased to say the lumber men won’t be cutting this forest down as it’s a protected area of special interest.



Just one more point to round and I will be in the basin that is the head of Loch Etive. The twin peaks of the big and small Bauchailles form the distinctive V shaped backdrop.



But the most impressive mountain from this angle must be Beinn Trilleachian. The huge slabs of granite are a favourite for rock climbers.



I stopped the boat and lowered my hooks and latex eel into the depths of the loch as I scoured the heights hoping to catch a glimpse of rock climbers.

I didn’t have to wait long on such a sunny morning until a couple turned up. I have circled the lower climber. His partner is just above him and looked like he was hanging on by his finger nails. Its a long way down but it’s even further to the top, as they are still on the bottom slab.



I watched them through my binoculars as they slowly moved upwards. They were moving very slowly so I suspected they would be there longer that I was going to be sitting at my vantage point.



I admit that I was much happier in my little boat fishing, than to be climbing on the slabs. I never ventured onto them myself but when I was younger I used to climb a cliff or two. I don’t miss those days now and doubt if I could handle the adrenalin rush of such exposure at my age.

I just wished I could get my adrenalin flowing by catching a fish, but never the less ... I was at peace with the world.

Loch Etive and a night afloat

It was the first time that I had ever slept on a boat and it was a strange kind of experience. Although there was not a breath of wind, I was awakened by a steady shaking motion. I guess when the tide turned after I fell asleep, a gentle swell started to rock the boat. Because its just a small boat, it rocked quite a bit.

Once awake I then started to feel the cold. The clear cloudless sky meant the temperatures fell to freezing and I felt it. There was not a sound to be heard. I pulled back the boat cover and looked around just to make sure I was still in paradise. The time was one A.M. in the morning and it was still light.

The silvery moon helped illuminate the landscape in its eerie sort of way.



The sun was skimming just below the horizon, throwing red shafts of light at the underside of the few clouds left in the sky.



The gentle swell that rocked me awake also distorted the perfect mirror of the loch surface.



When the sun touched the hills at 4.30 am, I was already up and on land. I discovered I had parked the boat in a garden of sea pinks.



I never realised before that they thrived submerged under the saline solution at high water.



Breakfast was very basic. A coffee and some cereal then it was time for a walk along the shore.



If you wonder why I love this wilderness, just take in the beauty of the photos from my morning walk, they don’t really do justice to the peace and quiet of nature on a lovely early summer morning but hopefully you get the idea :-D









Then the silence was broken. I head a heavy thumping noise coming up the loch and wondered what on earth it was. Then the wood carrier came into view. Loch Etive now has a regular large ship lugging logs out by sea instead of transporting them by the narrow Glen Etive road. I decided to follow the logger boat to its source.

Loch Etive and the Rubha Bharr wild mooring

Although it looked very stormy over the mountain tops, all was calm on the loch. There was a break in the clouds over to the west and the setting sun illuminated the hill slopes nicely. I knew it wouldn’t get completely dark during the night as its almost mid summer now. I just wish the temperatures reflected that fact. As the sun sank lower it felt like a frost was in the night air.

Heading into the wilderness and looking towards the hills of Glencoe under storm clouds.



The sun still warming the steep slopes of Ben Starav



Ben Cruachan and the Taynuilt Peak under the clear skies of the west



I was now approaching my mooring place, off the sandy beach at Rubha Bharr. I was please to see it was still in the sun and the waters of the loch were calm.



I set up a double anchor system to keep the boat off shore. The tide still had an hour or two to fall and I didn’t want the boat grounded during the night. I also wanted to land and walk about without it left high and dry on the receding tide.



I erected my home made tent / boat cover. It worked a treat and only took seconds to fasten round the boat.



I left half uncovered as I made my bunk in the boat. The scenery, the peace and quiet were all stunning after a hectic week in an office.



I pulled the tent cover over completely at half past ten. It was still light outside but the sun had set behind the hills. The temperature was lowering. I was snug in my little boat berth.



Here is the view from my boatroom window, now isn’t that is something to die for, and it cost little except the effort to get there :-D



I fell asleep in no time, dreaming of catching a fish.......