Kintyre, known as Cantyre until at least the 1930s, is very nearly an island. It is the long droopy-down bit of southwest Scotland that separates the Clyde from the west coast proper, and from Ireland. In fact it is so droopy that legend has it that it was once the benchmark for how erect a penis could become before being banned on BBC television (i.e. hardly at all). The Mull of Kintyre, the pointy end bit, became very well known as a result of the Paul McCartney and Denny Laine 1970s song. The west side of Kintyre, which is what we are concerned with here, is of course exposed to the south and west but there are some convenient lochs to escape into, as well as shelter around the lovely island of Gigha. And Northern Ireland is only 11 nautical miles away, across the strong tides of the North Channel.