Orkney Kayak / Gallery

Orkney Kayak. Section 01. The Eastern Seaboard

: 01. The green fields on the abandoned Island of Stroma with a few of the houses on the main road falling into disrepair

: O2. Nesting Fulmars on the Island of Stroma. If you get too close they will project a foul mix of bile and fish oil at you

: 03. The sandstone ledges on the west side of Stroma were ideal for the Guillemots and Razorbills who had the fishing grounds in the swirling currents below them

: 04. The Great Skua. A bully and a thug which predates the sea birds especially their eggs and chicks.

: 05. The swirling waters of the Swelkies off the north tip on Stroma. The island in the dostance some 6 km away is Swona; my next destination when the tide eases

: 06. The Tails of the Tarf at the south end of Swona island marked the end of my crossing of the Middle Sound of the Pentland Firth and was a welcome sight

: 07. The Sooth Clett stack on the SE corner of Swona is home to a seal colony and there are rafts of Guillemots and Puffins in the sea here from the nest and burrows above

: 08. Heading east from Swona over to South Ronaldsay without a care and oblivious to the strong tidal stream I was nearly caught in and swept past my destination of Burwick

: 09. The great cliffs and bird colonies of Halcro Head on the SE side of South Ronaldsay and out of the main tides of the Pentland Firth

: 10. The impressive cliffs of Mouster Head rose above a row of caves. Like Halcro Head just to the south it was also teeming in Guillemots.

: 11. The beautiful quiet waters of Taracliff Bay on the Isthmus of the Deerness Peninsular were is stark contrast to the ferocity of the Pentland Firth. It was a delight to relax and watch the small black headed gulls and eider ducks forage in the floating seaweed

: 12. A large grey seal colony taking to the water after I surprised them at Lamb Head on the SE of Stronsay Island

: 13. A curious raft of Guillemots come over to inspect my kayak off Burgh Head on the steep east coast of Stronsay

: 14. The cliffs at Burgh Head were riddles with caves, caverns, pillars and arches and were the most spectacular I had seen on Orkney so far. There was also a large bird colony here of the ubiquitous Guillemot and also nests of a large colony of the noisy Kittiwakes

: 15. The village of Whitehall on Stronsay had a wonderful community bunkhouse which was my shelter from “Storm Hector” for two nights. Although storm Hector was just a good gale despite Met Office hype.

: 16. Pumping out excess water after a very bumpy crossing from Stronsay to Sanday

: 17. The campsite on North Ronaldsay looking north to the lighthouses to the tip of the island

: 18. David Musk paddling round the North Ronaldsay lighthouse in surprisingly good conditions. There was a skerry further north which the lage swell was spent on

: 19. After pausing our attempt to go round the NW corner of North Ronaldsay we wenr for a walk until the tidal stream changed.

: 20. The 5 metre swell on the NW corner of North Ronaldsay was producing some hugw waves when they crashed on the skerries. Here is David Musk negotiating one set

: 23. David Musk sitting at the base of the cliffs on Grey Head on the Calf of Eday watching the busy birds life with Guillemots, Razorbills, Kittiwakes and Fulmars coming and going.

: 24. Sea kayakers are often lured into caves and arches, but always watch them for a while to see how they behave when a big set of waves arrive. Here is the arch on the Grey Head erupting as a big set crashed through.

: 25. Leaving the Red Head on Eday and about to head over the Sound of Faray to the island of Westray

: 22. Heading over from Sanday to Eday with the Grey Head on the Calf of Eday and the Red Head of Eday slightly beyond. The Grey Head was a large bird colony with my guesstimate of 5000 birds nesting.

: 21. A female shelduck with a raft of 16 ducklings. In many duck spieces ducklings are pooled so females can rotate there parenting duties with foraging for food for themselves

Orkney Kayak. Section 02. The Western Seaboard

: 01. We were marooned on Westray for a week with gales. Here are the birds cliffs of Noup Head in one such gale

: 11. The magnificent coastline on the west coast of Mainland Orkney around Marwick Head. it is rare to be able to paddle this exposed committing coast in these conditions

: 12. The approach to Warbeth Beach was riddled with skerries. Sometimes the skerries lie dormant, but if a bigger set of waves come over they erupt into crashing surf. One should always look ahead to see where these skerries are and avoid the spot

: 13. Our campspot in the evening at Warbeth Beach overlooking the Sound of Hoy. The headland in the distance are the 340 metre vertical cliffs of St John’s Head

: 14. Crossing the Sound of Hoy towards St John’s Head, which is just round the corner to the right

: 15. David Musk cruising beneath the cliffs near St John’s Head on Hoy on a superlative morning

: 16. The Old Man of Hoy. This is perhaps Britians most famous and spectacular sea stacks and it stands a 137 metres

: 17. The coastline south of Rackwick Bay was almost not as high as earlier in the morning around St John’s Head but it was as impressive and riddled with caves, arches and geos.

: 18. Paddling down towards Tor Ness, the SW corner of Hoy

: 19. A redshank at our camp spot by Cantick on the Island of South Walls

: 20. Crossing the North Channel of the Pentland Firth from Cantick to Swona. This was about half way across the 6 km in ridiculously good conditions

: 02. Gulliemots nest on ledges. Here on on ledge on Noup Head with some clustered along the ledge. If an Skua attacks they all present their sharp beaks to deter the predator.

: 21. The Haven on Swona is a deep inlet on the NE side which the islands once used as their harbour before the island was abandoned

: 06. A Tystie, or Black Guillemot, with a newly caught butterfish which often dwell in the intertidal zone.

: 22. One of the abandoned houses on Swona. There were perhaps 20 such houses on Swona in various states of disrepair and the feral cattle were using them as shelter

: 23. The tilted strata in the sandstone were laid bare and eroded uniformly in the bay on the SW side of Swona. The Tails of the Tarf light beacon and headland is just beyond

: 24. Looking from the Tails of the Tarf on the south tip of Swona across the Middle Sound of the Pentland Firth to the island of Stroma some 6 km away. The broken water is just the eddy line between the eddy on the SE side of Swona and the flood tide

: 25. A Greater Blackback Gull chick on Swona. It;s noisy parents were nearby watching me!

: 26. a Grey Seal hunting for fish in the current between Swona and the stack of the South Clett on the SE corner of Swona

: 27. Puffins on the steep grassy cliffs between Swona and the South Clett stack. The puffins were living in burrows nearby

: 28. The herd of feral cattle on the Island of Swona. They were turned loose some 45 years ago when the last inhabitants left and are not used to any human contact.

: 29. 2 eider duck mothers and their ducklings on Swona

: 30. Back at Huna harbour after two and a half weeks around the Orkney Islands

: 03. Gannets were also nesting on Noup Head on ledges. They required slightly deeper ledges. They just appeared at this bird colony at the turn of the century but are now firmly established

: 04. The puffins at Noup Head nest in narrow crevices as there are no good burrows. to make these crevices suitable they line them with grass and seaweed which they collect.

: 05. The Knap of Howar on the small island of Papa Westray is a neolithic farmstead inhabited some 5000 years ago. the families which lived here were mostly hunter gatherers. This house it thought to be the oldest in Northern Europs

: 07. David Musk just about to paddle into the mayhem of Noup Head in a big swell and tide. We had to paddle for a good hour before the conditions eased again.

: 08. David Musk about to paddle beneath the magnificent coastline from Costa Head to the Brough of Birsay on Orkney’s Mainland

: 09. The sea stack called The Standard lies beneath the cliffs near Costa Head. It was festooned with sea-birds. The 40 metre channel between it and the mainland was calm enough to paddle through on this day

: 10. Cruising along the calm coastline between Costa Head and the Brough of Birsay

: 31. The completed route around the Islands of Orkney