WEST IS BEST
From sheltered lochs, to secluded island beaches and wild azure seas, Argyll offers something for every type of watersports enthusiast, discovers Morag Bootland
Argyll is home to worldrenowned watersports, wildlife cameraman Gordon Buchanan, and some amazing walks for all the family
With 3,723km of coastline it’s little wonder that the sea is such a big part of life in Argyll. Wherever you are in the area you are never far from it, whether it be a sea loch, a glorious beach or on one of the many islands that lie off the coast.
All of this makes Argyll a prime destination for fans of watersports from surfing to snorkeling and diving to windsurfing and wild swimming. The area is also home to Scotland’s only sea kayak trail.
Will Self lives in Tayvallich and began exploring the seas around Argyll in small sailing boats at the age of twelve. By the time he was a teenager he had moved on to a kayak. More recently he became involved with his local kayaking club and is now a sea kayak leader who takes groups and individuals out exploring the natural and cultural heritage of Argyll.
‘I’m drawn to the area around Loch Sween,’ says Will. ‘It’s on my doorstep and it’s a great place to explore. All along this coastline are places where you can naturally pull in a kayak, a little harbour, or a clearing away of stones which is the obvious place to bring in a boat.
‘Some of them are underneath Iron Age duns, so that’s a couple of thousand years where they have remained unchanged. The hand of man has been fairly light in these parts, which is part of the joy of it.
‘The water just leads you to these places and then often you’ll find a little track that leads up to an old village or a mill. Sometimes you find yourself underneath a castle.
‘If you were walking you would never get to these places as it would be a good old tramp through the bracken. The way people moved about in the past was predominantly through sea routes. The fast route from Glasgow to Inverness even a couple of hundred years ago was to come out here to Argyll and go up the Crinan Canal and then the Caledonian Canal as the roads were so terrible.’
Will encounters a vast array of wildlife as he explores the indented coastline in his kayak, including red deer, golden eagles and sea eagles, red squirrels and even the Eurasian beavers who now call Knapdale home.
‘We have golden eagles coming across the Sound of Jura and you see them most in the winter when daylight is limited and they are hungry – they come out between storms to hunt. I see otters regularly and seals all the time. In a kayak you can get really close, they don’t seem to mind, you can slide up very close before they even notice you.’
Will likes to encourage people to share in his experiences, but due to the potentially hazardous nature of the waters he’s keen to stress the importance of being suitably trained, or to only venture out with the help of a guide.
‘You’ve got some really challenging water like the Gulf of Corryvreckan, which has the world’s third largest whirlpool in the middle of it. It’s a boiling mass of ripping tides which are very exciting, but also very dangerous. We also have nice sheltered lochs, great big long fingers that go up, and they can
The Tiree Wave Classic is the longest-running windsurfing event on the planet
provide very sheltered conditions. This variety is part of the appeal of the place.’
One of the islands off the Argyll coast is Tiree, renowned for its beautiful beaches. The island is a mecca for windsurfers and home to the Tiree Wave Classic, the world’s longest standing professional windsurfing competition.
Willie Maclean runs Wild Diamond Watersports on the island and the Wave Classic. Wild Diamond started with windsurfing and surfing then sand yachting and kite surfing came shortly afterwards. They have now added kayaking, stand-up paddle boarding and dinghy sailing to their portfolio.
Willie grew up on Tiree and his love of watersports began with windsurfing. ‘I was an uncomfortable child because I wasn’t very good at anything sporty,’ says Willie. ‘I had a friend who was the son of a fisherman and an excellent swimmer and he started windsurfing.
‘He nagged me for weeks to try it and eventually he twisted my arm up my back and I agreed to give it a go. I went out for a few hours and didn’t fall off, I appeared to be a bit of a natural.’
Willie spent the next few years with his recently retired grandfather, who took him around the island and helped him through his training. When he left the island to run a watersports centre in County Kerry on the south coast of Ireland, he didn’t expect to return, but unemployment struck and on a visit to family on Tiree a unique opportunity presented itself to take on a watersports business on his home island.
‘Coming back to Tiree in my early 20s was a bitter pill to swallow,’ Willie remembers. ‘But a good friend told me that I shouldn’t be the guy who looks back in 20 years’ time and regrets not going for it. Now I’m at that point in my life and I don’t regret a single minute.’
Willie’s favourite place on Tiree is Maze Beach on the west coast. ‘It is arguably the home of windsurfing on Tiree,’ he says. ‘It’s very removed from the embrace of human culture – there are no houses and no vehicles – it’s an untouched paradise from that point of view. Everyone has a soft spot for Maze Beach but all the beaches here are world-class on their day.’
Willie took on hosting the Tiree Wave Classic just over three years ago. The competition lasts for around a week and is held each year in the third week of October. It is the longest running windsurfing event on the planet, a unique accolade for Scotland, Argyll and Tiree. The competition attracts a mix of national and international competitors as well as youth competitors.
‘There’s a real festival feel to the event now,’ says Willie. ‘Alongside the competition there’s hospitality and we showcase lots of local food, breweries and distilleries. Overall, there are probably around 200 people who come to the festival. Around 70 of these are competitors, 30 or so are members of the press, and about 100 are spectators. Around half a million people watch the Tiree Wave Classic on TV each year.
‘My wife and I are full-time partners in Wild Diamond. We’re never going to get rich quick, but it does provide a very comfortable lifestyle for me and my family. My kids are outdoors all the time and involved in sport – life is good.’
For those who prefer a more leisurely way to experience Argyll’s stunning coast, there’s the option to set sail. Argyll is world-renowned as a sailing destination and the perfect place for beginners to learn is Tighnabruaich Sailing School. Fiona McPhail has been at the helm of the school – the oldest in the country – with her husband Derek since 1999.
‘I didn’t learn to sail as such, I was brought up doing it,’ Fiona tells me. ‘It was one of those processes that I started as a baby and was a learned process. Mum and Dad had a small boat which was based at Gourock and then on Loch Fyne, where we spent a lot of time and used it as a base to sail out west.’
The school teaches dinghy sailing to budding seafarers of all ages, as well as running power boating classes. Fiona is keen to attract more sailors to experience what Argyll has to offer. ‘We are so lucky here,’ she says. ‘You just need to sail anywhere else in the UK to realise that.
‘Everywhere else, you leave the harbour and turn right or left, but in Argyll you’ve got island after island. You’ve got nearly 4,000km of coastline to play with, without even going out of the area. It is renowned for world-class sailing, particularly around the Kyles of Bute where we are based.
‘Argyll’s secret coast is so close to Glasgow; I think if everyone knew how close it was and how easy it is to get to, we would be mobbed. I love sailing round
Ardlamont Point, which harks back to my childhood. It was a high point of sailing holidays and it’s now where I live.
‘There, the seas get a bit rougher and the views get a little larger with Arran approaching you. But Argyll has so many beautiful places. Sailing out northwards from Crinan towards the Garvellachs, the sea becomes distinctly azure-coloured and really beautiful.’
Having been brought up with the wildlife that can be spotted in Argyll, Fiona is often struck by how little other people have seen.
‘When you have sailed all your life off the west coast you see basking sharks, minke whales, seals and pods of dolphins. Ardlamont Point used to be a real hotspot for basking sharks and we used to always see them there but their numbers have been down.
‘However, Shane from Basking Sharks Scotland in Oban has been down doing research from our centre and numbers are looking like they are on the up again.
‘I’ve been here for 25 years, brought up my three children in a rural location and it’s been a joy. I was brought up in Renfrewshire, so they’ve had a very different upbringing to me. I think there’s definitely an added awareness of the natural environment from spending their life in it.
‘They are aware that they are custodians of the future of it. I have absolutely no inclination to live anywhere else.’
You need to be a brave soul to swim in Scottish waters, but Iona Barr has been immersing herself in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Argyll for ten years now.
Looking for a sport that would help her combat stress and ill health, and guided by her friend Lottie Goodlett, a fellow wild swimmer, she has built up her time in the water from just a few strokes to competing in UK Cold Water Swimming Championships.
Swimming alone in the shallow waters of Carsaig Bay overlooking the Sound of Jura near Tayvallich is an almost daily routine for Iona. ‘I just don’t feel right if a day goes by without a swim,’ she says. ‘It’s invigorating and leaves me happy and energised and it’s great for clarity of thought.
‘I mainly swim in just a swimming costume as I feel more in touch with the water that way. Unless we’re doing a storm swim in winter and then a wetsuit provides buoyancy and warmth.’
As part of an unofficial club known as The Sound of Jura Wild Swimmers, Iona enjoys swim safaris where even in grey weather she knows she’ll spot starfish, corals and a colourful world beneath the waves.
They also participate in distance swims and a special hot tub swim at Christmas, where a freezing dip is finished off in the welcome warmth of a friend’s hot tub. ‘The beauty of cold water swimming is that it’s a real leveller,’ says Iona.
‘Everyone has their own reasons for swimming, but I’ll be 60 next year and my mum, who is 87, only gave up swimming last year. In the summer after school the local children can all be found swimming.’
Wild swimmers come in all shapes and sizes, as well as ages. From the overweight and unfit to triathletes, it gives everyone a sense of achievement. The other beauty of the sport is that you don’t need any specialist equipment and it costs nothing.
Looking at Argyll from the water provides a unique perspective on a part of Scotland that is already renowned for its islands, scenery and incredible wildlife.