Nature offers many surprises. It generates impressive phenomena such as marine maelstroms, those inexorable whirlpools found in the literature of Jules Verne or Edgar Allan Poe. What is the reality? Here is an example with the Corryvreckan, one of the three largest maelstroms in the world.
A whirlwind in the Scottish islands
The Corryvreckan Strait is located in the Inner Hebrides archipelago in Scotland. It separates the islands of Jura and Scarba, and connects the Atlantic Ocean with the Jura Strait inlet. The passage is a bottleneck of 1100 meters wide in its narrowest part, and about one and a half kilometers long.
The tidal current that concentrates there makes it unfit for navigation according to the Royal Navy . Indeed, in addition to the current that can exceed 8 knots, there are eddies and standing waves that can reach 8 meters in height.
These events are largely due to the presence of a basalt pillar nearly 170 meters high in the middle of the strait, creating a high bottom at 29 meters below the water level. This pillar is called The Old Hag , that is, the old witchèreâeuros¦
The history and legends of Corryvreckan
The strength of this current and the phenomena it generates, have favored the emergence of many legends. For example, it is said in Scotland that the winter witch, Cailleach Bheur, uses the Corryvreckan Strait to wash her large plaid as winter approaches. The washing lasts three days, and the sound of the storm it generates can be heard for miles around.
When she has finished washing the plaid, the fabric is pure white and becomes the blanket of snow that covers the land. This is why it is called the Corryvreckan Strait. In Gaelic, the Coire Bhreacain can be translated as "the cauldron of plaid".
Gilbert Pillot considers, in his book The secret code of the Odyssey the Corryvreckan is none other than the whirlpools of Scylla and Charybdis, a cave on the island of Scarba.
Finally, the famous author George Orwell, who had retired to the island of Jura to write his famous book 1984 one day, during a boat trip, he almost fell into the Corryvreckan whirlpool.
Passing the Corryvreckan by boat
It is nevertheless possible to cross the Corryvreckan by boat. As in any area with strong currents, it is however necessary to choose the right moment and the appropriate weather conditions. When the weather is very calm, the Corryvreckan can be crossed at slack water, i.e. when the tide is turning.
There are waiting anchorages on both sides of the strait, on the island of Jura. The one in Port Tiobairt, on the Jura Strait side, is splendid and shelters a colony of curious seals. The place is also known to be a breeding area for eagles.
Once in the Strait, it is best to stay away from the coast, be cautious and vigilant at all times and follow the safety rules for navigation. Each person on board must be equipped with a life jacket, preferably with a lanyard attached to the boat.
Indeed, an experiment conducted by a Scottish production company, Northlight Productions the rescue operation consisted of throwing a dummy equipped with a life jacket and a depth probe into the Corryvreckan eddies. The dummy, after being sucked in, was found far downstream. Its probe indicated that it had been dragged to a depth of 262 meters, and the marks on it showed that it had scraped the bottom over a long distance.
Guillaume, who crossed the Strait on a 33-foot sailboat, says: " Wind in the nose, we leave Loch Craignish to enter the currents of the famous Corryvreckan Gulf, preceded by eddies and bars with impressive swirls. I had taken the time to make my calculations before entering, thanks to the Reeds, a very practical book.
There were eddies everywhere and 9 knots on the meter, despite a moderate wind. At the end of the course, there is a bar with big waves that it is surprising to get into after the flat eddies of the narrows. When we passed the Corryvreckan again in the opposite direction, the current was laminar this time, but still strong. The speedometer shows 10 knots. "
