A Dumbarton museum is marking the 40th anniversary of Scotland’s first major sea kayaking expedition with a new exhibition.

The Scottish Maritime Museum’s ‘Into the Maelstrom: The Scottish Kayak Expedition to Northwest Norway 1980’ is now open at the museum's Denny Tank centre in the town's Castle Street.

It charts the story of Jim Breen, Angus Mathieson, Bill Turnbull and Peter Wilson who, together, paddled 394 miles (634 kilometres) as they circumnavigated the two island groups of Lofoten and Vesterålen in north-western Norway, 200 miles inside the Arctic Circle.

During the 28-day expedition, the team successfully achieved the first-ever crossing of one of the world’s largest whirlpools, the ‘Maelstrom’ or, as it is sometimes known, the ‘Moskenstraumen’.

Abigail McIntyre, senior curator at the Scottish Maritime Museum, said: “Our ‘Into the Maelstrom’ exhibition tells a captivating story of a real adventure which people of all ages and interests will enjoy.

“Not only was it the first major sea kayaking expedition and the first recorded sea kayak crossing of the Maelstrom, the story of the expedition also offers a fascinating insight into the development of this popular sport in the latter half of the 20th century.

“The kayak was invented out of necessity in Arctic North America some four thousand years ago when Inuit people stretched animal skins over driftwood or whalebone frames to hunt sea animals and move around by water. 

“Kayaking as a sport became popular in Europe in the 1800s but advances in the design of equipment were slow. It wasn’t until the 1950s when the hard-shell resin and fibreglass kayaks used on the 1980 expedition were developed.

“Faced with the limitations of the equipment at the time, the expedition team needed to design some of their own kit. 

“New designs included tents with storage space for the kayaks and, with an eye to budget, watertight dry bags customised with neoprene backed vinyl and used car tyre inner tubes!”

Exhibition highlights include equipment, clothing, archive news footage and photographs from the expedition.