ron-t kayaking blog
10 October 2012 .............. Cuan and the Sound of Luing
It was another fine day, except that the forecast was for SE wind increasing throughout the afternoon, so I reckoned an open crossing was off the menu.
The other thing that I was interested in doing was to take out the Anas Acuta - I haven`t used it for a while, and I have only once had it anywhere that wasn`t the Falls of Lora.
So I took it down to Cuan - originally I thought about heading east from Cuan, maybe round Torsa, but with the high pressure dying, I decided to get one last day out in the Sound of Luing. So I headed down the coast of Luing, looking for some rock hopping if I could find it, and eventually ended up on Eilean Mhic Chiarain.
Just as a couple of days ago, the views from there are excellent, but this time Mull was rather faint, so it was the nearer islands that featured. Belnahua and Fladda were lit up nicely by the sun.
So was Dubh Sgeir -
Looking north up towards Insh Island and Easdale, you can see how rugged Insh Island is.
Standing on the island you get a good view of the tidal currents in that area, and even though it was still pretty much Neaps, there were some strong currents out there. I noticed that just to the south of Eilean Mhic Chiarain, there was a nice looking tide race between the small islands there.
So I got back into my boat, and went down to investigate, and spent a while playing in the tide race and in the currents around those wee islands.
Then it was back up, and I headed out for Dubh Sgeir. I never got there, just like a few days ago. There is a strong ebb current between Dubh Sgeir and Eilean Mhic Chiarain sweeping round and out into the Sound of Luing, and even though it was Neaps, I couldn`t paddle against it. I think a trip during Springs is definitely called for, to see what it is like.
So it was back across to Luing, and up the coast. By now the SE wind was getting quite strong, and the wind and waves on the rear quarter of the Anas Acuta had a considerable effect. The back end is pushed round, and it just wants to turn broadside on. So it was quite a struggle back up to Cuan.
Once I turned into Cuan Sound, the full force of the wind hit me face on, and it was a real fight to make any distance at all. It wasn`t helped by the fact that there was now a flood tide through the Cuan Sound.
Apart from the fact that it needs a skeg, I was quite happy with the way the Anas Acuta performed. I do wish though that I could do self rescues in it by my preferred method of re-entry and roll-up, I just can`t get it to roll up when it is full of water. Whether it is me or the boat I don`t know, but it is a bit of a stumbling block. I do have another way to do a self rescue in it, but it is more clunky than a re-entry and roll-up. My Avocet RM was absolute magic for doing re-entry and roll-ups - very easy.
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