A Paddle Down Memory Lane (castle2castle)

Culzean Castle from the sea

I have fond memories of trips to Culzean Castle Country Park as a child and as an adult. I’ve visited countless times and never get bored. But up until this year, I always arrived on foot or by car; never by stand-up paddle board. 2022 was the year to come by sea.

As an extra treat to myself, I decided to make it a castle2castle adventure; getting on the water at Dunure Castle and paddling south as far as Culzean Castle.

Dunure Castle

The Beach at Dunure

I set off one hour before low tide, with the benefit of the outgoing tide pushing me south for the first hour or so. I passed by Culzean Castle on my way south and headed directly for Port Carrick Beach, the setting for many a family visit and a place very dear to my heart. We scattered my Dad’s ashes here after he passed away in 2020. I didn’t feel sad or morbid here; rather, I chose to remember the countless good times.

Port Carrick Beach, Culzean

On this occasion I stopped for 20 minutes for a snack and some water before heading back up the coast, stopping to take some photos from the sea.

On reaching Dunure, I had time for a quick look into the small harbour there before it was time to head back to the beach and my trip down memory lane way over. The only downside to the whole day was the steep climb, with all my equipment, back up to the car park.

Dunure Harbour

THE FACTS AND FIGURES:

This round trip was 15.77 km in total and I spent 3 hours 31 minutes actual paddling time.

I parked at Kennedy car park in Dunure (what3words: ///storeroom.veal.automatic)

It was a steep walk down to my launch point on the rocky beach at ///wacky.rumbles.transcribes

My picnic lunch and turnaround point was on Port Carrick Beach, just south of Culzean Castle at ///loudly.lunging.heartache

Dunure Castle from the sea