Loch Etive and the empty mussel beds

The last time I went through the narrows at Bonawe, the waves were around three foot high and very close together as a force seven gust battled with the incoming tide. The waters were very confused and so was I but the boat made it through safely. This time the wind had dropped to nothing and only the tide rippled the surface.



I got a good look at the quarry workings when I past the narrowest part of the loch. The Bonawe quarry is still operational and among other things, produces the gravel chips for resurfacing roads. I guess my photo shows the grader and grinder that makes the quarried rock into stone chips.



Well stone me, there are thousands of chips here.Now where is the fish to go with them ?



Just a little further up is the start of the mussel farms. This old boat which I presume is a floating store for the farms doesn’t look like it will stay afloat much longer, the hull is a heap or rust.



Then its mile after mile of deserted mussel farm beds and buoys



The ropes the mussels grow on are all piled neatly on the platforms.



The only life I saw was the silent seagulls, longing for the food the mussel farmers left behind.



It must be hard on the local workers. The farms have been shut because of a mutant strain of mussel. It's shell is very weak and there is hardly any flesh inside. The industry has stopped in the hope the mutants disappear again. I wondered if the owners lived in the huge houses to the west of Taynuilt, and if they did, how they would pay their bills now.



I was now past the abandoned mussel beds and heading for my wild camping mooring.

Loch Etive and the mutant mussels

I had been looking forward to the long weekend off work and heading for the wide open spaces of the north west but alas, it was not to be. The forecast was for wall to wall sunshine but with strong easterly winds. That put a scupper to my boating plans, except for the Friday. It looked the most promising day with winds of force three and gusts up to force six later in the afternoon. After Loch Leven, I knew the boat could handle a force three with ease and I could too ? I had no idea what a force six gust was like but I was prepared to find out ... if it came to that.

My plan was to head for Taynuilt and go boating on Loch Etive. I would head in an easterly direction to the head of the loch at Glen Etive and by the time the wind started to gust, I would either be off the water or heading with the wind behind me back to Tanyuilt. Its always a bit easier running with the wind behind the boat that having to pound into the waves head on.

I arrived at 6am at Kelly’s Pier in Taynuilt. The tide was full in, the wind was quiet and although it was still cold in the early morning air, blue sky ensured the sun would soon warm the air. The launch site beside the pier is the easiest I have put the boat in the water yet. I reversed onto the top on the hard packed shore, unhitched the trailer and pushed the boat down the gentle slope to the waters edge.



It didn’t take long to park the trailer on the beach above high water, park the car on the grassy area well clear of the pier car park and get the boat ready for my third journey by rigid boat.



The wind was blowing down through the narrows at Bonawe and the water was a little choppy but the boat took it easily, sending a little spray flying off the sides of its bow as it nodded into the waves. I didn’t take many photos as I didn’t want the spray to go on the camera lens but here is a shot looking back as I went through the narrows.



A little further on I passed the quarry site at Bonawe. Its a favourite spot for the fishermen, producing dog fish, thornback rays, conger eels etc and is around four hundred feet deep. I couldn’t anchor here if I wanted to as I only have one hundred and fifty feet of decent anchor rope. Perhaps I will try deep fishing for doggies and thornies once I learn to catch some fresh bait :-D



After the quarry I came to the start of the many mussel farms in Loch Etive. They are all closed down this year as a new species of mussel have been found growing alongside the standard blue mussel farmed in Loch Etive. This new species has a soft shell that tends to break open when harvesting the mussels and there is little meat inside the shell. Its unknown where the mussels came from but they are threatening the mussel farm industry of Loch Etive, hence the reason the farms have closed.



Needless to say, I didn't eat any mussels from Loch Etive either ...

Loch Leven and the mussels of the clansmen

It was too early to land at the campsite as the tide was now out, besides I was enjoying myself with the boat so headed off to the island of Eilean Munde. This is the burial ground of the MacDonalds and several other clans from the Glencoe and Ballachulish area. I visited it twice before in my inflatable so knew where to land.



I chose a deep water mooring off the rocks on the north of the island instead of the more accessable “beach” area to the east. The reason is the boat could be too heavy for me to re launch if it got stranded on a beach with a falling tide. Either that or its bottom could get damaged pushing it on sharp rocks. I intend devising a two anchor landing system soon so I can land and keep the boat off shore, pulling it in when I want to board again.

I then went for a walk round the island, keeping a close eye on the boat.



I visited the ruined church again and tried to imagine the services that went on here over a century ago. Were they fire and brimstone sermons ?



Then I visited the graves. Its still in use to this day. Most stones are made from the slate quarried at the nearby Ballachulish quarry.





Heading back to the boat, I stopped and collected a few mussels from the rocks. They were nice big ones and I wondered if they were fattened on the juices of the buried clansmen ?



I popped them in a pot and heated them till they opened, then ate them. You cant get fresher seafood than that. Loch Leven mussels have a unique meaty taste too. Yum :-D

Loch Laxford and its world famous mussels

As the afternoon brightened, I decided to explore the outer area of the loch a bit further, but this time by car. I saw from the OS map that a single track road wound its way over the hills in a loop to places called Foindle, Fanagmore and Tarbet. Most of the eastern end of the loch with the tide out, and surrounding hills looked very similar to this photograph. It was indeed a wilderness.



Views of the loch opened up again as I approached the village of Foindle. There was some evidence of human activity here as there were a few sheep munching some green grass. In the sheltered bays I could see more signs of the Laxford Shellfish Company. They are famed over the world for their Scottish mussels.



Next stop was Fanagmore where the village turned out to be no more than a couple of houses and a small slipway for launching boats.



I took a walk onto the shore and discovered there were plenty of "free range" mussels growing on the rocks. I collected a pot full thinking they would make a decent dinner. On the way back to the car I met a local man and asked if the mussels would be good to eat as it was still August and there was no “r” in the month. I was under the impression that mussels absorbed poisonous toxins from the algae that breed in the warmer water of summer.



The local fellow just laughed and mentioned they exported mussels from the loch, world wide, every day of the year and no one had complained yet. I put my free range stash in the car for later.

I headed over the hill to the next stop which was Tarbet. Again the village consisted of nothing more than a couple of houses, plus a pier and a restaurant which boasted fresh Loch Laxford seafood. I guess they didn’t get any mackerel today either as it was closed. I climbed to the top of the hill behind the car park to get my photo of the restaurant.



The sea view also looked great from the hill. A few rocky islands to explore and the pier which is the ferry terminal for Handa Island, once populated and even had its own Queen but now deserted and a bird sanctuary.



The large car park indicated Tarbet was a popular place at one time but there was only a small handfull of people to be seen when I was there.



Everything was closed including the ferry ticket office. I asked the only likely looking local if he thought anyone would mind me going to the island on my own boat. He said thought it would not go down too well as someone owned the franchaise for the ferry and made their living taking tourists across. I thanked him for the information and said "No worries..I wont go to Handa as there are plenty of free islands in the area". He gave me a funny look before he disappeared into the closed ticket office.



I looked at the menu in the restaurant and saw a starter dish of “Fresh Laxford Mussels in a sizzling garlic butter sauce” I thought of my stash in the car and felt hungry. I filled my pot with seawater and set it on my little gaz stove.



When it was boiling, I dropped a handful of mussels into the pot until the shells opened. I then cleaned the pot, added some butter and sizzled the scooped out mussels for a few seconds. I doubt if the restaurant’s dish could have been any fresher or tastier.

Just as I started eating the mussels, the likely looking local came out the ticket office and headed for the still closed restraunt. I resisted the temptation to ask him if he had any spare garlic.



I now felt that I had savoured enough flavour of the area to boast that I had survived my ordeal in the wilderness of the far north west coast of Scotland and even enjoyed the experience. As I headed for Ullapool I stopped for one more photo.

A shot of my car dwarfed by the mighty triple buttress of Sail Gharbh. I didn’t realise it at that time, but the following week I was to stand on its very summit.. but that’s another chapter for my inflatable journey blog.