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Where: Ailsa Craig
When: 20 June 2010
Who: Irene, Dotty, Robin, Fraser, Charlene
& more of the North Ayrshire crew
Why: Organised walk
Weather: Sunny Total ascent: 1,110 ft (338
m) Total time: 2hrs (not including boat
trip).
Irene had contacted me a few weeks
before to see if I would be interested in
coming along to visit Ailsa Craig as there
was room on the boat for another two.
Having seen Ailsa Craig from the summit of
Beinn Narnain, I done a bit of research and
thought why not, something a bit different
from the usual well-trodden Munros. It was
an early start, to get through to Girvan
for 9:15am to meet the others for the boat
leaving at 9.30am.
We arrived at the harbour car park early
and the first views I noticed were
obviously Ailsa Craig and Arran.
Girvan Harbour:
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We met the others, and got introduced to
everyone before walking round to board our
vessel and head over to Ailsa Craig.
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We were all pre-warned to wear
waterproofs as there would be spray…
Charlene was the only person to heed the
warning. Right enough the sea was a tad
choppy and we all got soaked, and mostly me
being at the front. Lol. It took an hour
and twenty minutes to cross the ten miles
of sea before we finally reached the jetty,
much to Dotty’s delight.
The skipper spoke with Irene to confirm
we had three hours on the island. This
would give us plenty time to reach the
summit and a quick explore before heading
back for mainland.
The jetty and the boat, M.F.V.
Glorious:
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The path climbs diagonally up directly
behind the lighthouse and gains height
pretty quickly:
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You then reach the castle:
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A view back to the lighthouse:
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Didn't take too long to reach the
summit, the views over to Arran were
fantastic:
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Back over towards mainland:
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Summit trig point, guarded by
nettles:
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Everyone else, minus me as I was taking
the piccy:
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We all took in the views had a bite to
eat but with our time constraints on the
island we didn't hang about too long so set
off to head back down. We got back down
fairly quickly so had around 40 minutes to
explore the lighthouse grounds, the old
living quarters are now derelict with some
interesting items kicking about:
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It was nearly 2pm, so it was waterproofs
on and ready for our tour around the island
to see the bird colonies:
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Heading round the island:
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The boat slowed down almost to a halt,
when all of a sudden someone shouted
‘seals, seals’. It was a mad
panic searching my bag as the boat rocked
awkwardly from side to side, I finally got
the bigger lens on and got snap happy,
hoping some photos would come out…
and some did
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The rock formation with roosting sea
birds:
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I think it is here, where they quarry
for the granite to make curling stones:
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We had now circled round the whole
island so it was time to head back to
mainland:
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The sea was a lot calmer coming back so
some of us managed to get a wee sleep on
the boat as we all looked shattered from a
great day out.
We got back to Girvan, where a couple
libations were on offer but both Charlene
and myself decided to head home as we had
the longest journey back.
What a fantastic trip out to Ailsa
Craig, I would recommend it! A boat trip,
hillwalk and wildlife spotting rolled into
one day.
Cheers Robin
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