The Old Breakwater, Waterfoot

Before Carradale Harbour was rebuilt in 1958, many of the local fishing boats would tie up in the "hole" at Waterfoot. This is the deepest part of the river in all tides. It is bordered on one side by a rocky outcrop where metal posts, used to tie up the boat, can still be seen.

In the summer months the boats would be beached in an area not far from where our house is now and their bottoms would be cleaned before they were painted or varnished. I can remember seeing the boats being painted when we were on holiday here in the early 1960s.

In order to protect the area where the boats were beached and also narrow the river to provide a deep channel at the "hole", a breakwater was built. Wooden posts were piled into the sand to make a long box shape, which was filled with large stones. As children on holiday we used to play on the grassy top of the breakwater and tie up our very leaky clinker built rowing boat against it. Even then it was starting to break up and 50 years later It is no more than a few posts and a pile of stones. Interestingly, in the six years we have been mooring a small sailing dinghy on the sheltered side of the breakwater, we have seen large holes appear after storms and river spates. The result is that when in spate the river flows directly against our boat, flushing out the sand beneath it. Ironically, while the mooring may not be as safe, the water is a lot deeper now allowing us to get out to sea a bit earlier.

The breakwater is a little bit of local history and provides some interesting shapes and reflections to ponder on. As my recollections of it go back to the days of black and white I thought it should appear in that format.