This trip was led and organised by Stuart. We set off from the now redundant Finnart Oil Terminal, also known as Finnart Ocean Terminal. With Loch Long being a deep water loch, this oil terminal could take oil tankers up to 324,000 tonnes. The oil was discharged here and pipped all the way across Scotland, for refining in Grangemounth. Operation ceased in June 2025. Our starting point is also a popular sub aqua dive site and indeed there were lots of divers kitting up for a dive when we arrived.
We headed across Loch Long to a small beach, opposite the oil terminal, where we spotted a fox running across the beach, much to the annoyance of a pair of very noisy Oyster Catchers. If you blotted out the oil terminal from your sight, it is still very beautiful. Stuart was telling me nature was slowly taking over the oil terminal, with many nesting bird using the site earlier in the year. Hopefully, Ineos will return the site back to its natural state, one day, maybe...
I was surprised by how beautiful Loch Goil is. It reminded me very much of a Norwegian Fjord, with its steep wooded sides. The weather was a mixture of clouds, sunshine and the occasional shower, not that the weather mattered. It was just a case of drinking in the scenery as we made our way up the side of the loch.
I was paddling along hugging the rocks when I heard and saw a splash just in front of me on the shoreline. I wondered what it was, until I realised I was being stared at by a, what I believe was a Pine Marten, which was stood up vertically on its hind legs looking at me to see what I was. It danced about the shoreline rocks but didn't run away. It just kept appearing in different spots staring at us. Eventually, it disappeared. Gordon thought it could have been a young otter, but I remain convinced it was a Pine Marten, although it did lack a white bib. But it was certainly very stoat like and I've since read not all Pine Martens have a white bib. This one certainly didn't.
We stopped for some lunch on a beach not far from Stuckbeg, before heading back down the Loch. Back at Carraig nan Ron (Dog Rock Lighthouse), the tide was out to get a couple of laps in for the Performance Sea Kayak 1000 Islands competition.
On Loch Long, we stopped at Mark Bothy to take a look around, before heading back to Loch Finnart oil terminal.
A big thanks to Stuart for organising and leading.
Paddlers were: Stuart, Steve, Steve, Gordon, Al, Geoff and me.
Fab!
9.9 Nm Time 5 hours 8 minutes
GPS track
