Having a Hazy Day

I needed a trip to Glasgow to see infirm in-laws, so combined it with a trip down to Largs. At home there seemed to an east coast haar, and I was confident of a sunny clear day on the Clyde. It wasn't to be- a haze persisted all day, obscuring the fine views that are around here.
The marina at Largs is a good launch point.

The sea was silky on the way over to Cumbrae.
I was overtaken by a chap out for a fitness blast. We paddled together down to the Tan (the channel between the Cumbraes). He was in a light, long Epic, and I was overheating badly in the attempt to stay with him, despite him clearly paddling at half throttle. I was dressed for the water, and steam was beginning to rise.

We parted company as I turned towards Millport, and he headed off to circumnavigate Little Cumbrae. It was time for refreshment.

The ice cream came from the Ritz. The proprietor of the Ritz was not entirely welcoming and made a point of inspecting my footwear before he let me in. I suspect he must have experience of dripping kayakers.
From Millport I had a wee tour over to Bute. The haze caused a little anxiety about spotting oncoming shipping, but luckily there was little about. Unfortunately the weather forecast was completely wrong- instead of light south easterlies there was a force 4 northerly. This resulted in more effort being expended than I had hoped for. I stopped for a break before crossing Kilchattan Bay.

 I'm sure I remember seeing a picture of this building on another blog recently- it looks remarkably like the house in Psycho.

Another rather dull crossing back to Cumbrae followed. There are times when you wish that the Coastguard could play a few good tunes to brighten up misty days. I was cheered up by this fellow when I arrived back at Cumbrae, however.

No more posts for a while, as we're off to South Africa to visit The Adventurous Engineer.