Coldwetwater

Back on the sea

2012-01-19T17:03:00.000Z

It seems ages since I was out on the sea, though I've had some cracking hill walking days, and a couple of river trips on water far too high to stop for photographs.
The forecast today wasn't great, and I was resigned to household tasks. The morning, however, was lovely here at home, sunny and still. A quick dash to the nearest bit of sea seemed reasonable. As I got in the car, the radio gave a high wind warning for the Forth Bridge (20 miles away as the crow flies).
Seafield beach is close to the site of the old colliery, now a housing estate. The beach still has big black areas. When I was wee it was common to see folk collecting coal from the beach.

The bay here was calm and sheltered, and I initially thought of heading to Inchkeith Island. Unfortunately the wind started to pick up quickly, and the sky clouded over. It looked as if the forecast snow wasn't far away. A crossing against the wind and tide would have been hard work.
I simply headed up the coast to Kinghorn harbour. By the time I arrived, progress was slow.
Kinghorn could be a pretty place, but it's spoiled by the rows of caravans so familiar to anyone who uses the East coast main rail line.

I had my soup as the wind picked up again. It was now very cold, and a downwind sprint for home seemed the best bet. My Chillcheater spray deck is really hard to get onto this boat, and by the time I was properly lauched my hands were frozen. By the time I was home, the snow was lying on Falkland Hill.

A Winter Afternoon

2011-12-15T20:49:00.000Z

It's been a fine crisp winter's day, and I had a chance to get out for some exercise this afternoon. The recent strong winds have dropped, and the light was crystal clear.

I'd started at Elie and had an easy drift along past St Monans and Pittenweem, with a following sea. There had seemed to be no wind at all until I turned round.
The timing was spot on to arrive back at Ruby Bay just as darkness fell.

Winter arrives

2011-12-04T16:51:00.001Z

9 o'clock in the morning and it felt like sunset was imminent- the light and the temperature suggested it.

Snow had closed a lane of the M8 and it was coming our way...

but after a short foray up to the road bridge we turned our backs to the wind and cruised down past Inchcolm. On the VHF there was lifeboat traffic for a rescue off Inchkeith.

Ashore, I was nearly home before my hands thawed out.

Too calm to go paddling

2011-11-18T19:06:00.001Z

Up here in Scotland November has been, so far, much finer that most of the summer.
Mrs CWW and I had arranged a short holiday to Skye. The plan was that I would be a "mock client" on a Glenmore Lodge leader assessment for a day. Mrs CWW would play golf, and the rest of the time would be spent hill walking.
It's a long way from Fife to Skye, but as we passed Loch Garry with its map of Scotland, the weather was picking up.

It was to stay wonderful. The following day we bussed from Uig to Flodigarry, and walked back via the fantastic pinnacles of the Quiraing.

From the Trotternish ridge, we had the hills of Harris to one side, and a view to the far north-west on the other. These hills are too low to attract munro bashers, but give wonderful walking.

Unfortunately, the complete lack of wind meant that the Glenmore Lodge assessment was cancelled due to excessively nice weather, a decision which didn't seem to take into account the forecast. The morning dawned to much more typical Skye November weather.
With a southerly force 5, forecast to strengthen, I made a solo start into Loch Bracadale. This wasn't the most sensible place to go, as it was fully exposed to the wind.

It was an atmospheric day of sudden sun and rainbows, but very quickly the sea was rough and getting rougher. No more pictures were taken!
I got no further than the south of end of Harlosh Island, where a big swell was reflecting off the cliffs. A short retreat and exploration of the other shore followed, but it wasn't long before I turned and ran back to shelter. It did occur to me that the nearest lifeboat station here is probably Mallaig. Even at 25 knots that's well over an hour away!
Unfortunately, news of family illness meant we had to return home early. It still feels a privilege, however, to have had such a wonderful day at this time of year.

Sunny St Andrews

2011-11-06T21:23:00.000Z

There have been few fine weekends this year, but this one has been wonderful. Inspired by Gordon Brown's new DVD, several us spent Saturday afternoon doing some rescue practice at the East Sands in St Andrews. Several of us have minor parts in the DVD, mostly showing how to do things wrongly.

The intention was some rough water rescues, but there was barely a breath of wind. There was, however, some completely unforecast but delightful surf. We even had an audience of folk sunning themselves on the pier.
As the afternoon wore on, we decided to take the plunge.

As one of the party has a big assessment coming up we got him to do the hard work, towing us back....

... to a darkening beach.

Going Forth of an evening

2011-09-28T20:06:00.001Z

Late September and it was 23 degrees when I finished work. It would have been criminal to spend such a day cutting the grass, so I made a quick dash down to Aberdour and out to Inchcolm.

To begin with there was a wee breeze to keep things cool and the sea more interesting, but it soon calmed down completely.

This warship seemed to be called Sean, judging from the VHF traffic. Sean doesn't sound too warlike, somehow.

Berwick to Berwick

2011-09-06T19:01:00.000Z

Mrs CWW doesn't like to have her menfolk cluttering up the house, so she was happy to enough to transport us out of the country to set off from Berwick on Tweed. The idea was a journey from England to Elie. Planning a trip round some alliteration is probably a bit daft, but it had a nice ring to it. Unfortunately it didn't quite work out.

CWW junior(2) and I set off north from the mouth of the Tweed. Normally I like to keep close to the coast, admiring the scenery and so on. Junior, however, prefers a wider line somewhere out near the oil rigs. It wasn't until Eyemouth that I could make out much on the shore.

It being tea time, we stopped for some chips before heading on towards St Abbs.

When I first thought of this trip I was thinking of 4 leisurely days. Junior, however, doesn't really do the hanging about the campfire bit, so we pressed on round St Abbs Head, with no prospect of camping before nightfall. On the plus side we had a gentle following breeze, on the minus we had little time for exploration, and the cliffs were already in the shade from a setting sun.
We came across a shelf of grass at the Hirst Rocks, a wee way short of Pease Bay, just as the light went completely.In the morning light the red rocks glowed spectacularly. There is no digital manipulation of the colours in these photographs. A curious old boatshed would have made a reasonable bivvi, though rather damp.

First stop of the morning was Torness power station. With a gentle tide against us, we could feel the water warming about a kilometre before we reached it. Close to the coolant outflow, the sea temperature was tropical.

We had been toying with trying to cross the Firth of Forth on the same day, but a headwind was making progress hard work, and we were getting tired as we passed the Bass Rock.

Instead, we made an earlier than usual camp in Canty Bay, just short of North Berwick. We had the luxury of putting tents up by daylight, and there was time to play with the camera before complete darkness. We were both quite tired after several hours straight into a force 3/4. Despite being a short distance from the town, the beach had a remote feel to it. The lights of the Bass Rock and Isle of May were winking, and ships were passing regularly.

Despite the serenity of the evening, the forecast was bad, and I didn't sleep well due to heavy rain and gusts of wind. I was finally woken by a phone call- an alarm company telling me there was an intruder at work! After 20 years first on their call list, it was a pleasure to tell them that someone else would have to check it out. I then stuck my head out of the tent and was surprised to find the sun shining and the sea looking smooth. We rushed out, breakfastless, to see if the Forth crossing was on.
It rapidly became apparent that it wasn't. It was breezy and getting breezier. By the time we had struggled up to North Berwick, the sea was alive with white horses.

We summoned the RAC (rescue a canoe) service, staffed by Little Miss CWW. This was very good of her, as it was a long drive with a small car and 2 big kayaks in a strong wind. She was also still in bed when we phoned.
All in all, still a good trip, even though the alliteration changed from EE to BB.

Berwick Law

Going Forth

2011-09-01T18:45:00.000Z

The day was very grey, but there was a big tide in the Forth today. We even found a wee standing wave at the east end of Inchgarvie.

Inchmickery

Inchgarvie

East Neuk of Fife

2011-08-21T18:44:00.000Z

It may not have spectacular tide races or intricate rock hopping, but it's close to home and a beautiful place on a fine day. There are more ice cream shops than caves, but that's fine by me.

It's been the first sunny weekend here for a long time here, so Mrs CWW and I had a walk on the Fife Coastal Path on Saturday, then I had a paddle with FCAG along the same stretch of coast on Sunday.

The Fife Coastal Path is well marked easy walking. For the most part it's only small stretches between the villages.

Pittenweem is the main working port. The fishermen here had been investing in new creels.

Crow stepped gables are one of the features of the houses here. The fishing villages from St Monance to Crail are blessed with lots of them.

From the sea, the views are different. There are ruins of towers and castles. This used to be the bathing tower for the local bigwig. A bell was rung to keep lesser mortals away when she entered the water.

The fisherman's church in St Monance is as close to the sea as you can get.

The folk around here are very friendly and always willing to lend a hand.

We landed in Crail- one of the prettiest places in Scotland. Not a long journey, and not a demanding one, but lovely nevertheless.

Poser!

2011-08-07T20:33:00.000Z

It didn't last for long!

FCAG had a family fun day yesterday. Members brought friends and relations, and we had dozens of folk out boating. Great fun!

The pain and the pleasure

2011-07-17T20:14:00.003+01:00

It's a long walk to the river in Glen Feshie. Not Little Miss CWW's cup of tea at all.

Who'd be a coach?

2011-07-12T15:16:00.003+01:00

I recently spent 2 days in the courts in Newcastle. It was a very enlightening experience, but appearing in the witness box was not at all pleasant.
In 2005 I was at a local climbing indoor climbing wall. A group of Territorial Army soldiers were there too, and one fell off the bouldering wall. He hurt his ankle, and I went over to give assistance. He clearly needed hospital, and an ambulance was called. End of story, I thought.
In 2010, 5 years later, I was contacted by the owner of the climbing wall. The soldier had sued the Ministry of Defence, who had in turn pulled in the owner, presumably to share the blame. I gave a statement about the little I could remember. End of story, I thought again.
This year I was asked to set aside 3 days to appear at court. This involved finding cover for work, and travelling to the deep south (well, deep south from where I am). It was fascinating to watch, but deeply uncomfortable to be involved in.
The TA had had a climbing instructor with them, clearly a very experienced chap. He took to the witness stand, I think expecting to give a simple description of events.
One and a half hours later he stood down, having been reduced to a literally speechless shadow of his earlier self. The claimant's barrister took him to pieces.
The instructor's briefing to the climbers included the statement that "spotters" should be used on the climbing wall. He hadn't enforced this. No doubt he was thinking to himself, as I would have done, that spotters are a waste of time and probably dangerous.
Unfortunately he didn't defend himself well on this, I guess because panic was setting in.
Of all the witnesses I probably had the simplest statement to speak to. At work I'm well used to defending my position on things, but I don't deal with professional hostile interrogators. Part of their technique is clearly to make you look silly, and they are good at it. I found myself reasonably flustered as he attempted to make me withdraw my evidence.
The lesson for coaches is that minor things can come and bite you long after you think they are dealt with. If you have a protocol or guidance, you must be able to defend a decision to deviate from it. Documentation at the time of an incident is vital, including a record of who said what. Photographs are incredibly useful.
I still don't know the outcome. I hope the wall is exonerated- it seems to me a well run and safe place.

Birds, birds, birds

2011-07-03T21:30:00.003+01:00

I had a quick trip from Kinghorn to Inchkeith today. Inchkeith looks nice from a distance, but up close is more like an industrial estate with the added disadvantage of thousands of gulls. I didn't explore far.

There are lots of cute puffins on the water, though.

Mull, part 3

2011-06-25T18:03:00.015+01:00

We decamped on a dry morning, but with a poor forecast. First stop, under darkening skies, was Inch Kenneth.

The ancient stones here are fascinating. It's said that some of the Kings of Scotland may have been buried here, if weather prevented them being taken to Iona.

It was only a short hop to a more cheerful spot- the Ulva Boathouse. This is surely my favourite cafe in the world. Good coffee and fresh local seafood with home made bread are a must for every passing kayaker.

Unfortunately, the rain had well and truly started by the time we left. It was to continue for the rest of the day. Not wanting to camp too early, we made a detour out to Fladda in the Treshnish Isles. When I last visited the Treshnish, they were a riot of colour. Today they were hostile, end of the earth islands.

We had a quick brew up of soup before heading north again. Campsites weren't too thick on the ground, but we eventually found a platform above a black, bouldery beach in Calgary Bay.

On a more pleasant evening, we would have had a fine view of the sun setting over Coll.
It was, however, a comfortable night, and we woke refreshed for our next stage to Tobermory. Just as well, as we had an unfriendly wind to contend with for most of the day. Our first roughish water of the trip started at Caliach Point, and stayed with us. Mostly we had waves on the beam. The wind seemed evil enough to change direction every time that we did, so that it was always from in front or the side. It was a long stretch to Bloody Bay, outside Tobermory. The name supposedly commemorates a battle, but it summed up my feelings about it perfectly.
Tobermory was a relief. We rehydrated in the Mishnish Hotel, leaving its floor a little damp. A campsite was found on Calve Island, in the bay. I was pleased to be here because of its connections with the "Canoe Boys", who spent a long time here in the 1930's.

Our last day was to be very pleasant. The sun was out and we had the prospect of a following wind to take us down the Sound of Mull. We another trip into Tobermory first, having been to late for ice cream the night before.

The "Lord of the Glens" was carrying folk in more luxurious style than our kayaks. The lowest port holes were so close to water level that we could have knocked on their windows as we went past.
A relaxing paddle back to Loch Aline followed. The Sound of Mull was bright and sparkling.

We had a stop for a team picture at a lovely camping/ caravaning site just north of Loch Aline.
The team was Kevin, Ken, Sarah and myself. It was a grand trip, with good company and a bit of everything thrown in. My paddling trips are often fuelled by pasta with a cup-a-soup thrown in, but on this occasion we had a wealth of good food- mostly prepared by Ken and Sarah.

Mull, part 2

2011-06-24T19:15:00.015+01:00

Traigh Ghael was very midgy in the morning. I still regularly make the mistake of trying to drink my coffee through my head net. It's an old habit I haven't managed to shake off.
We had a grand day in store and the weather was being good to us. The Ross of Mull beckoned- red granite, white beaches and turquoise seas. It didn't disappoint.

We stopped off at Erraid, to climb up to the observatory there. It's home to an offshoot of the Findhorn Community, but I'd wanted to visit it because of its connections to "Kidnapped", and the great lighthouses of Dubh Artach and Skerryvore.

There is a very convenient shop and pub at Fionnphort, where the Iona ferry lands.

We stopped for lunch, but refreshments were restrained. Our next stop was to be about 14km away, at Staffa. With mostly open sea ahead, fluid balance had to be carefully judged.
The first puffins of the trip brightened up the long haul ahead. We arrived at Staffa in the company of several tourist boats and yachts.

Fingal's cave had surging waves, but the two adjacent, though more protected by breaking seas, were calm within.

After a short break ashore we headed next to Ulva, looking for a campsite. We were rewarded with an idyllic evening on Traigh Bhan.

We opened the bar,

and settled down to a lovely evening. Another big day, well rewarded.

Mull, part 1

2011-06-24T17:36:00.004+01:00

Four of us from FCAG had hatched a plan to visit Mull. Lured by the thought of sea eagles, castles and rocky cliffs and caves, we departed late on a Saturday from Lochaline. We were late partly because it suited the tides, and partly because of the very slow service at the Clachaig Inn.

It was, for June, a damp grey evening, but the trip south was livened up by finding the tall ship Lord Nelson at anchor near Duart Castle. She is run by the Jubilee Sailing Trust to allow folk of all abilities to get a taste of sailing.

It can be quite rough off Duart Castle, but we slid by on a smooth sea.

There didn't seem any rush to find a campsite on such an evening, so it was late when we pulled into the mouth of Loch Spelvie.

Some wild goats shared our campsite, here pictured with the oyster catcher which tried to keep us awake for nights to come.
The morning started just as grey, but the scenery rapidly turned more spectacular. The strangely shaped promontory between lochs Spelvie and Buie is steep and inhospitable. There would be few escapes if a forced landing was needed along here.

The weather began to improve a little as we called into the bay of Carsaig. An improvised hammock outside a fishing hut could have had me staying all afternoon, but we were keen to use this day to cover a lot of ground, so pushed on.

The cliffs started to give way to beaches, there were glimpses of blue sky, and it was with lightening hearts but destroyed stomach muscles that we pulled into Traigh Gheal. It was a delightful campsite, much needed after nearly 50km paddling, much of it into the wind.

Where's Wallaby?

2011-06-05T20:49:00.010+01:00

It's a long time since I spent any time around Loch Lomond, but it was fun to have a weekend staying at Rowardennan Youth Hostel with Mrs CWW, and her sister and brother in law. Despite the hoards of people around here, many embarking on the West Highland Way, it's still a beautiful spot. This is the first year of the camping ban along the loch shores. They have certainly been tidied up a bit. The last time I came here there were frequent camps of drunken weegies, but there is now a significant police presence to deter them.
We enjoyed a ferry boat across the loch, with return by bike, and a climb of Ben Lomond (the hostel is in the background in this picture).

We even saw some dragon boat racing in Balloch. Balloch really needed something to brighten it up. It's an eyesore of a place. Whoever thought of building a shopping mall and aquarium (disguised as a dungeon) in a spot like this needs shot.

It may be apparent from the pictures that the weather was ridiculously cold this weekend. On Saturday evening I took my boat for a quick sprint up the loch, but returned cold and numb.
On Sunday CWW junior (2) came over to join me for a wallaby hunt. One of the Loch Lomond islands is said to be home to a small number of wild wallaby. I did wonder if this was another myth (like the existence of basking sharks), so a search seemed in order. A brisk breeze helped us across to Inchconnachan.

We landed in a scene from "Swallows and Amazons".

Unarmed, we quietly and cautiously crept up towards the highest point of the island. Having little knowledge of wallaby behaviour, we kept an eagle eye open for attacking creatures (or weegies, for that matter).

Dense vegetation made progress difficult, but after long last there was a rustling in the bushes and there it was. Our first glimpse of the elusive wild Scottish wallaby. David Attenborough would have been proud of us!

Though maybe not of the photography.

Breezy!

2011-05-23T20:12:00.004+01:00

Yesterday I was helping out at a "come and try" day run by the Fife Outdoor Education team. There were free taster sessions for adults and kids in all sorts of water sports. It was called "Taste of Adventure" and was so adventurous/ windy that some of them vowed never to go near water again. I had quite a strenuous time collecting blown away people and righting boats.
Today our garden changed quite dramatically when a big old cherry tree keeled over.

Driving home from work was quite scary. The forecast isn't letting up much either.

The Long and the Short in Lewis

2011-05-15T17:42:00.007+01:00

Following our Taransay debacle the weather turned truly awful for a day.

Harris is still a very atmospheric place when it's wild, We walked to the abandoned village of Strup Arasaig. The last family left in living memory, and their names were still on stones within one of the ruins.

Not all was lost on the paddling front, though. Bill has a sit on top, and we planned a more sheltered route on Little Loch Roag, in Lewis. It's a fair drive from Harris, but gave us the chance of a down wind, not too challenging paddle. The downside was an hour long cycle into the wind and rain to complete the shuttle.
The scenery is wild, if not dramatic, and the weather added to an edge of the world atmosphere.

We were glad to have managed to squeeze in some more time in boats, even if they were a bit mismatched.

Castaway on Taransay

2011-05-14T18:23:00.026+01:00

I've just returned from a wonderful stay on Harris. Bill, an old hill walking friend, and his wife Agnes have built a wonderful house on their croft at Luskentyre. There are sweeping views across the sound to Taransay. Even on cloudy days the waters of Luskentyre bay are all shades of turquoise.

Agnes runs bed and breakfast, and they also have a self catering apartment in a perfect location for anyone who either loves paddling, loves Harris or loves food!
Bill was very keen on a trip to Taransay. Unfortunately the weather was not kind, and Bill is rather a novice paddler. After some initial practice in the bay, we set off across the sound with a fair breeze behind us.

We landed on a delightful beach at Paible, where there are still 3 habitable houses.

One was in use by a shepherd who was living there for several weeks for the lambing season, which is still in full swing. We walked up to a cairn above his fields, and stopped for a chat on the way back down.

Unfortunately the wind had picked up a bit while we were stravaiging about. Bill isn't really used to waves, and this proved a bit of a problem for the return. A few hundred yards out from the shore he had a bit of a mishap. This was rapidly followed by another mishap. The wind was pushing us back to Taransay, and it wasn't long before we were back on the beach, one of us rather wet. A second try at it seemed likely to fail, so we sat down to consider our options.
The island is owned by Angus Mackay, who also is the boatman. It was, however, the Sabbath, and Bill wasn't keen on calling him. We thought about revisiting the shepherd, but were also reluctant to disturb him on a Sunday. We then found that one of the guest houses was open.

I've had worse forced bivouacs!
Taransay was the island featured in the "Castaway" series. Ben Fogle, who made his name during this, had returned to this very house for his honeymoon. Another couple from the series had been married here.
We occupied ourselves with another walk in the evening light.

We had a very comfortable night, albeit a bit of a hungry one.
In the morning, the wind was up to a good force 6, gusting more. The good news was that Angus was able to come over to pick us up, the bad news was that he wasn't sure if he could take the boats back. Not being keen to abandon ship, I set off to paddle across the sound. This proved hard going- the wind was sufficient to push me backwards at times and the effort was considerable. To cap it all a big fast ship appeared to starboard, and I was worried enough to have to turn away for some time. This lost me about half an hour's hard paddling.
As I reached the beach, Bill came flying past me in a fast RIB, piloted by Angus. He was feeling quite chuffed to be in one piece, as the motorised trip had been considerably more terrifying than the swimming one. It wasn't long before Agnes's postponed breakfast restored us to normal. We spent the afternoon on top of Ceapabhal.

The Great Glen, part 2

2011-04-07T16:31:00.007+01:00

Back in the rain, heading out from Fort Augustus, we were soon onto Loch Ness. Like Loch Lochy, it was initially calm, but before long we were being surfed along.

We travelled up the south shore, which is very wild and steep. There were lots of impressive waterfalls, but virtually no places to camp. Perhaps unwisely, we carried on past the one bit of flat ground we saw at a remote boathouse. We investigated a small cave, which was big enough for two, but had signs of recent rockfall. By eight o'clock I was worried that we were heading for a night paddle to Inverness, but fortunately we came across a small raised beach. Appropriately it was in a beech wood. There were two spots big enough for tents, and the ground was very soft and comfy. Not far above us, but out of sight, was the village of Foyers. The rain eased off a bit, and apart from wet sleeping bags, we had a good night.

The launch in the morning was into breaking waves. We headed down the loch in a force 5 to 6, with waves getting steadily bigger. A crossing took us over to Castle Urquhart for a short break.

The day was colder and windier than before, still with steady rain, and we didn't stay still for long. The northern part of the loch was relatively dull, and I was beginning to get a bit fed up, but Nessie had still to bare her teeth.
Two or three kilometres before its end, Loch Ness narrows and becomes shallower. Together with a funnelling of the wind, this causes the waves to grow and turn nasty. We were in breaking waves which were now over head height, and short and steep. Keeping our bows downwind was a big effort. The wind also chose this moment to pick up to a full on gale. Spray was flying off the top of the breakers, and as we turned to cross the wind towards the loch outflow we had to lean on the wind to avoid being blown over. A tight grip on paddles was needed. As I took one hand off my paddle to adjust my skeg, I nearly had it blown away.
It was with some relief that we sailed through the narrows into the shelter of the tiny Loch Dochfour. Much more gentle paddling took us down to Dochgarroch Locks, with an opportunity to warm up in the British Waterways toilets again. From here the canal winds its way down to Inverness. A limbo dance under Tomnahurich Bridge and a final bit of urban paddling took us to the last portage down to the car. I wanted to drive the car up to the top of the locks, but that was considered cheating.

Some folk do this trip in open boats. I suppose it's possible in fine weather, and if you have a couple of months to spare. It could be done in a more leisurely manner, stopping at the various pubs and cafes along the way. Done our way, it turned out to be a lot more of an adventure than I was expecting, thanks to CWW junior's insistence on paddling every hour of the day and a bit more. If you are thinking of trying it, I'd recommend warmer and less windy weather, and taking a trolley with wheels which turn.

The Great Glen, part 1

2011-04-07T15:13:00.012+01:00

It was meant to be a ski holiday. The flights were booked, but nothing else paid for. Then, on Saturday night came a text saying “no snow”. Sure enough, most lifts were closed and the alpine weather looked grim. A quick change of plan was needed.
CWW junior(2) wanted an adventure, preferably in sea kayaks. Unfortunately the forecast was for force 5 to 6, gusting to 8, for most of the country. A round trip, therefore, was unappealing.
From somewhere came a suggestion for the Great Glen paddle route. A quick unpacking and repacking ensued.
There was minimal time for research, but a quick search on the internet found us the Snowgoose Bunkhouse, quite literally at the last lock on the Fort William end of the Caledonian Canal. With gear elegantly packed in black bin bags we drove there in torrential rain.
The bunkhouse was excellent. They had no qualms about letting CWW jnr hang about for the morning while I embarked on the mammoth shuttle. It's the best part of a 2 hour bus journey back from Inverness, so between driving there, walking to the bus station and returning, I was away for a long time. On the return, the bus dropped me at the Mallaig road end. This is about 2 miles from the hostel- a long walk in typical Fort William weather. By the time I was back, my dry gear was thoroughly wet.
In the meantime CWW jnr had registered us as canal users. British Waterways, who run the canal, are very paddler friendly. They are happy for folk to camp on the tended grass beside locks, and for a small fee they give a key to the toilets along the way (these sometimes have showers and even washing machines).
We weren't underway until twenty to three in the afternoon. Already soaked, we had all of 15 minutes of paddling before the first major obstacle, Neptune's staircase. This is the name of the flight of locks rising from Corpach.

Neither of us had realised just how hard portaging was going to be. At each set of locks there are pontoons- essential because of the sharply rising canal banks. The pontoons, however, can be quite high, sometimes nearly shoulder height. Lifting a loaded boat on to these is hard enough, but it's often then necessary to lift it to shoulder height to get round the fences on the gangways and up to the towpath. Once there it is onto the trolley for a one at a time haul up the locks. Our trolley had a dodgy wheel, which increased the effort considerably.

At Neptune's staircase there is also a railway and a main road to cross, the former by an unsignalled crossing at a bend on the line!
Fortunately, CWW jnr had a couple of slings and karabiners in his BA. These helped a lot, but the climb up the locks was still hard going. There were 2 pubs and an ice cream shop on the way, but I was told to man up, this was an expedition.
There then followed some gentle flat paddling with a bit of wind assistance. This was definitely easier than playing at being a husky. An hour or so of paddling took us to the locks at the entrance to Loch Lochy. By the time we had negotiated these, with great effort again, it was after six o'clock. There was a pleasant, sheltered looking campsite which looked very attractive to me, but more mutterings about nancy boys were heard, so we had to go on.
When paddling downwind, the start of any loch is always very calm. As the “fetch” builds up, however, the waves get bigger. Loch Lochy demonstrated this perfectly. Two hours later, in gathering darkness, we were struggling with short steep waves up to head height. The benefit of wind assistance was lost because of the effort of constant stern ruddering and bracing. At twenty past eight, just as pitch darkness fell, we pulled into the pontoon at the north end.

The campsite at Laggan Locks is very exposed. This, combined with my 25 year old tent and gale driven torrential rain made for a bad night. Little sleep and a soaked sleeping bag were the consequence. Lingering in heated toilets made for a slow start to the day. The weather was a bit less windy, however, and we made good time up to Loch Oich, which is a pretty place. We stopped for a while at the Well of the Seven Heads, and explored a wrecked boat, which had been abandoned complete with food in the kitchen and duvets on the beds.

At this point there was quite a lot of traffic- mostly hired cabin cruisers, but also some bigger, more serious looking boats. The swing bridge at the north end gave us a lot of amusement as one of the cruisers failed miserably to deal with the wind. The bridge had opened for them, but the operator gave up in disgust and closed it before they managed to get through. They only caught us up hours later.

Loch Oich is the highest point of the trip, and it is possible to descend to Fort Augustus via the river, rather than the canal. Flowing water seemed very attractive to me, but again I was told that we were here to suffer, and it had to be the canal. More carthorse work followed on various locks. Fort Augustus would have been a welcome sight were in not for another monstrous bit of boat hauling. I finally persuaded junior to relent and let me into a cafe for a while. I think this was only because his camera battery needed recharging.

Cold out west

2011-03-24T14:47:00.003Z

I spent last weekend on a 5 star training course with Gordon Brown on Skye. Ken and Sarah, also FCAG members came along too. I don't have many pictures, as my hands were both very occupied and frozen solid. The one I've posted has the Pentax Optio blur, but demonstrates one of the difficult landing scenarios.
Skye was literally freezing with snow lying at low altitude. The temperature added to my anxieties about the course, though as usual it was just extremities which were cold.
The course mixed both navigation training and paddling. Skye has a fantastic range of venues, with something suitable in any conditions. We had a day off Armadale, landing and manoeuvring in the skerries there, followed by a big towing session at Kyleakin. The latter merged into a night paddle, with a lot of work on group management.
The last day was at Kylerhea. Our tidal calculations suggested a flow of 9.5 knots. I find it hard to judge speed from appearances, but it was certainly fast, and with wind against tide gave a roller coaster surging wave train- the highlight of the trip.
Having done the course I'm now questioning whether I really want to do the assessment. It's clearly tough, more so than I thought. The main tip for development was to "get out there in Force 8". My previous approach to trip planning was to avoid Force 8 at all costs!
There would be a marginal benefit for our club in having 5 star leaders, but I suppose the greater motive for doing this is the personal challenge. I think I like having targets to aim for. The next step is probably to go along as a guinea pig on a real assessment, before deciding whether to step up to the mark. Food for thought.
We were being filmed throughout. Simon Willis is working with Gordon on his next coaching DVD. They had spent the week on this, and the final version should have some of us trainees on it. Simon has posted a video of one of our towing sessions on his blog.. He's the only person who is on my iPod who I have ever met, and a thoroughly nice bloke.

Lethal Lighthouses

2011-03-13T19:12:00.002Z

It's been a bit of a grey cold weekend for getting out and about, so an indoor trip to the "Shining Lights" exhibition at the National Museum of Scotland seemed in order. Truth be told, it wasn't that fascinating, being mostly bits of old lighthouse lens. It did, however, have a curious lump of lead.

This picture comes off the net- the real thing is simply a lump of metal. It has a story behind it, though. It came from Henry Hall, who was a lighthouse keeper on Eddystone, when it was a wooden tower. It burned down in 1755. Mr Hall, in escaping, looked upwards just as a lump of molten lead descended. He swallowed it (shades of the Bass Rock and bird poo).
He did live for some time afterwards. The lump of lead was removed from his stomach at autopsy, carried out by a surgeon called Mr Spry. Apparently the Royal Society didn't believe that Mr Hall could have lived for any time at all, and Mr Spry was a bit miffed. To prove his point, he carried out various experiments on dropping lead down the throats of dogs- the start of a long line of scientific cruelty on animals.
Things haven't improved a lot of the centuries. Next time you're shivering cold in the middle of rescue practice remember that a lot of current medical knowledge on hypothermia comes from Nazi experiments on Jews.

There's more to life than paddling

2011-02-18T18:55:00.002Z

Little Miss CWW on Cairngorm. Click on the picture for the full panorama.

Big Plans (and a bad start)

2011-01-21T20:09:00.006Z

A lot of paddling seems to be in store for this year. I'd already arranged a week off in June, and a long weekend in March, when messages arrived from two old hill walking and climbing friends, both saying they had bought sea kayaks! Plans are afoot for 5 star training, a circumnavigation of Mull and a trip to Harris.
With this in mind, some training seemed in order. Until yesterday, I hadn't been in a boat for over a month- the longest paddle free stretch since I took this up 6 or 7 years ago. Here at home there was not of a breath of wind, so even with a latish start a wee bimble out to the Isle of May seemed a good idea.
Driving into Anstruther, the horizon looked a bit jaggier than expected. There were even a few waves hitting the beach within the harbour. Slightly surprised at the state of the sea, I set off with a following breeze. Before long it was clear this was going to be more exciting than expected. The sea state was out of proportion to the wind, which I put down to a big tide and some North Sea swell. I've usually assumed that tides in the outer Forth didn't need too much consideration, but I found myself down tide from the May, and struggling to move at all despite wind and wave assistance. Turning back seemed a good idea, but I was very close and needed a pee.
A very hard half hour of paddling got me to shelter, with a chance to refuel and rest.

I'd given the outer rocks a wide berth, trying not to disturb the seals. Unfortunately there was a strong smell of dead animals, and there were several dead pups close to the landing spot. I guess it has been a hard winter for them too.
Anxious to get going, I didn't stop long. At 3pm I was at the north end of the island and things didn't look good. The sea was rough, Fife was a long way off, and wind and tide were against me. "Challenging" might have been the term for it, but it wasn't the one I had in mind. The crossing normally takes an hour and a quarter, but it clearly wasn't going to be that quick today. A kilometer later there was an area of confused breaking waves, which rather cruelly reminded that my cag wasn't zipped up.
At ten past four the sun set, and Fife was still a long way off. I would have enjoyed the sunset if I'd been in a happier state of mind.

Some time later, in the gloom, it became clear I was barely moving. I estimated the tide at 2-3 knots, much faster that I had thought possible here. It seemed time to abandon a direct course to harbour and simply head for land instead. This at least gave a sense of movement, and with some relief I made landfall some way east of Anstruther. Despite the dark, creeping up the coast was a relief. It was ten to six when I entered the harbour, cream crackered.
A temperature of minus one ensured another minor epic getting the boat on the car. Today the blisters are weeping, but all in all it was a learning experience.

It's cold outside

2010-12-15T19:55:00.004Z

So it was a short trip. Despite the snow, I have been much more miserably cold in a boat. We only stayed under the icicles long enough to take the pictures. They looked a bit unstable, not unlike the houses perched on the cliff above them.

It's our local bit of river at Stanley, on the Tay.

Snowwhere to go

2010-12-02T16:59:00.002Z

So much snow that the schools are shut, and just getting to any water would be difficult. Little Miss CWW did get her boat out, though.

Industrial Paddling

2010-11-17T20:23:00.004Z

Living in Fife means that not all my paddling is done in the wilds. Our local coastline sees a lot of industry, and the close by rivers have powered a lot of mills over the years. There are some pretty sights in unlikely places, however. FCAG recently had a paddle from Leven to Kirkcaldy. This must be one of the most unpromising bits of coastline in Scotland, but the low winter light did cheer it up a lot.

Methil is not a place I would normally choose to pause in, but the patterns and colours in the docks were lovely.
Last weekend was a complete contrast, paddling the Allen Water through Dunblane to Bridge of Allen. Old mills, rail bridges, motorway bridges and industrial debris are everywhere, The river is heavily engineered and channeled in places, but it all adds to the interest of he trip.

The weirs make for the big excitement!

Stonehaven Swell

2010-09-26T16:33:00.011Z

A while ago I had a return trip from Catterline to Stonehaven. This is a spectacular part of the east coast and I was keen for a return trip. This Sunday Ken and Sarah came along for a wind and swell assisted run from Stonehaven down to Inverbervie. There has been a lot of swell on this side of the country over the last fortnight, and we were fortunate to catch a day when the weather was fine and the sea had dropped enough to make things reasonable along the cliffs.

We resisted ice creams and bacon rolls in Stonehaven harbour. It would be an easy place to relax in for an hour or two. The entrance to the inner harbour had been closed off, and as we hit some Yee Ha waves before we cleared the outer breakwater we began to see why. There was still a good big swell running, fortunately in our direction.

We bobbed up and down whilst keeping up about 4 knots with little effort. All good fun, but the downside was that we had to keep out from the cliffs, which are spectacular and full of caves along here. We did manage to get close in to the Garran, a rock arch leading to a pool and boulder beach.

Getting into the tiny harbour at Catterline looked tricky, so we found a wee cove sheltered from the breakers.

Another remarkably quick blast took us down to Inverbervie. The beach here is shingle and changes day to day. It isn't the best place to land- the surf dumps onto steep slopes, though fortunately it was sheltered from the biggest waves today. The first picture was taken at low tide, before we set off, and probably shows the problem best.

A quick jump out of the boat followed by a run up a 45 degree shingle slope left me a bit out of breath!

Journey's end.

A Day out of Crail

2010-09-18T16:23:00.005Z

Cellardyke Harbour. Click on the picture for the full panorama!
Trevor and I had a wee trip out from Crail Harbour today. Trevor has the good fortune to live 50 yards from the slipway, so started the day by trolleying down from his house to the harbour. It was on the breezy side, so we decided on a short haul to Cellardyke, with a picnic in the harbour and a pleasant drift back home. I was also trying out my new Werner paddles. They are marvellously, almost impossibly, light, but then they probably should be at the price.
We had our picnic in the company of Crispin Heath, the hugely experienced coach and owner of East Neuk Outdoors. He and Trevor are old friends, and whisky was changing hands. I've never before been on a paddling trip on which the return trip was better provisioned with Glenfiddich than the outward journey. Crispin's house is right on the water, at the extreme right of the panorama picture above.

The return was brisk and fun, with the necessity to dodge some big boomers on the way into the harbour. A short but lovely day out.

Arran

2010-08-18T19:43:00.010Z

To wind up our summer holiday, Mrs CWW and I had a long weekend in Arran. There was no way she was going near a wee boat again, after the Spey debacle, so Mrs CWW took her bike out on the ferry and I set off by kayak. Our destination was the Corrie Hotel. With carrying walking boots for 2, a smart shirt, tie and shoes, my cargo was a bit different from usual. The smart stuff turned out to be a bit unnecessary for the Corrie Hotel. It's pretty basic, but good value. The lack of a hair drier wasn't great for Mrs CWW, but not too much of an upset for me.
I was dropped off at Largs marina, which is a handy launching point. Millport came too quickly to be stopping (though an ice cream would have been welcome), so first rest came at Glencallum Bay on Bute before a fairly choppy crossing to Sannox. As is not unusual for me, I fell over on the beach and ended up with a sore leg for a few days. The approach to the mountains was quite dramatic, and I was welcomed by one of the pier sheep, which frequent these parts.

Arran is a place of wonderful dry weather, at least when I'm there, and the beer garden of the hotel sits right by the water. There was a fine evening for us to admire the view of Holy Island.

The following day Mrs CWW set off to circumnavigate Arran by bike, and I went to circumnavigate Holy Island by kayak. I had a fine downwind surf and paddle to get there, but the return was hard work. Crossing Brodick Bay gave a few anxieties about encounters with big boats.

There were no monks to be seen, but lots of people were out walking on the island.
Corrie was having what I think must be its busiest weekend of the year. A Viking festival was on, complete with burning of a long boat. The locals were out pillaging.

The Vikings seem a bit namby pamby these days- they wear life jackets and tow a RIB behind.
Corrie was also hosting a gig by Nick Harper, which was fantastic fun. The bar was set up in the local GP's consulting room, with the queue in the waiting room.
We had a day climbing Goatfell with our friends Ali and Elaine, then on Sunday set off home. In a flat calm I paddled over to Wee Cumbrae. It was rather a dull crossing, as the best views were behind me.

Wee Cumbrae is home of the international Yog Centre. There didn't seem to be a lot of Yog going on, so I'm none the wiser about what it is. It is a great place for bird life, however, despite having a huge number of small boats travelling around it.
We had planned to meet up at Portencross, but I had time to kill, so paddled south a bit. This took me off my map, and I had to navigate by unusual means. This involved asking someone on a beach what the name of the place was. It's not in "Sea Kayak Navigation", but it's very effective.

A bit deflated on the Spey

2010-08-09T16:21:00.009Z

The idea had been for a family trip down the Spey from the tiny village of Speybank to the sea. Mrs and Little Miss CWW were enrolled for a 3 day float/ paddle, bivvying by the river bank. We had one kayak and the inflatable canoe, with Mrs CWW up front and the gear in the middle. A car had been left by the beach in Spey Bay and we were all set for the big adventure.
Unfortunately the weather and water weren't on our side, there being a bit much of the former and not enough of the latter. We set off under grey skys.

In more lightly laden boats it usually takes just over an hour to reach Aviemore, but the lack of current was at times extreme.

It was a weary trio who arrived at Aviemore 2 hours later. The omens did not look good, though a riverside cup of coffee helped.

We were too late for breakfast and too early for lunch, so pressed on to Boat of Garten. Here we hid from the rain under the bridge and considered our options.

The map suggested a total loss of altitude of 10m between Speybank and Grantown on Spey (our next planned port of call). I think 10m is about the height of right-angle falls on the Etive, but the Spey took about 20 miles to drop this far! The heavily laden Sevylor inflatable clearly didn't have enough horse power to get there today. On top of this, Little Miss CWW had nipped up to the shop and returned with this week's edition of Heat!. This seemed like a hint.
We decided to call a halt. Mrs CWW returned for the car (by steam train and taxi), I paddled the kayak onto Grantown and Little Miss read Heat!
A long time later we regrouped at Grantown. It was cold and wet and we didn't feel like camping, so it was back to base, the expedition being considered a failure. The kayak was hidden under a bush, as car 2 didn't have a roof rack.
The following day we still had to collect car 1 from the sea. After the long drive to get it, the weather had brightened a bit, so we decided to squeeze a bit more out of the journey by continuing down to Knockando distillery.
The river was more interesting from the beginning (it drops 100m over this stage).

Unfortunately it soon became apparent that out now lightly laden inflatable had a leak. How this happened I don't know- it was above the water line so probably not related to bumping the shallow river. It meant that I could only sit and paddle on the right side. We also couldn't lean to the left. The end result was a very sore back and shoulders after 6 hours on board.
We had a little bit of warmth to picnic by the river. This area has some of the prime fishing in the country, and the banks are often neatly tended. There were plenty of expensive looking fishing lodges with Range Rovers parked outside.

The final few miles to Knockando were the most fun from the paddling side, but we were very tired. With better weather on the first day our spirits might have been higher and the last stage a possibility, but it was good to get back to a bed. There might be a next time, but I don't think it will be with a blow up boat.

The Treshnish Isles and Staffa

2010-06-30T20:55:00.008+01:00

I spent last weekend at Onich, doing my 4 star sea leader assessment. Despite the inevitable anxieties about being assessed, it was a fun weekend. A lack of wind meant that we had to do the personal skills bit in the Falls of Lora. I had a brief encounter with the whirlpool that sank Freya Hofmeister in This is the Sea 3, though it wasn't so vicious on this occasion. I've no photographs of this as my mind was on other things.
Having gone west for this, and having also taken a few days holiday, I then took the ferry to Mull, with a vague plan to paddle off it's west coast.
With a good forecast I set off from the ferry slipway for Ulva. A paddle of 100 yards took me to the first stop of the day.

The Ulva Boathouse is a wonderful place!
The north coast of Ulva and Gometra was pleasantly sheltered. I rested for a while at the westerly end of Gometra

before tackling the open crossing to Lunga. There was a biggish but unthreatening swell to liven up the journey.
Lunga is a wonderful place- green and alive with birdlife. It was also inhabited by some ornithologists netting and ringing storm petrels- this done at midnight outside my tent! They were a bit of a pain. One of them tried to tell me that I needed permission to camp, and they left a some litter behind them. I've written to the Hebridean Trust (who own the island, and on whose behalf they were working) to complain about them. Fortunately our access laws give sensible protection against outdated attitudes such as theirs.

The following day was dull and windless to begin with. I headed first for Staffa. It was a long open crossing with little to liven it up until the first columns of basalt appeared.

The underwater geography here must also be interesting, as big surf waves suddenly appear out of an apparently calm sea. The Boat Cave is particularly well protected by these, but Fingal's Cave was easy enough to get into.
From here to the Ulva Ferry involves another open crossing. By the time I reached the Ulva coast the sun was out and colour had returned to the day.

The boathouse deserved a bit more custom before loading up for the long journey home.

Where's the Water?

2010-06-20T11:12:00.009+01:00

Rivers are very low just now- I can't remember such a dry start to the summer. Where's the water hasn't registered much over a scrape level for ages, and the Tay is the only river near us with water.

The section at Stanley is still fun, even at low water. I've had a trip here with one of the CWW lads recently- he enjoyed popping out at the weir-

But that water is shallow, and I didn't fancy a head plant in it!.
I also had a trip down from the Isla Bridge with Jonathon, son of a friend. It was his first paddling trip. He's a Ray Mears survival enthusiast and had an emergency kit that was heavier that the boat! It was a lovely day with big bouncy waves down through the Thistlebrig Rapid.
The boat is a Sevylor inflatable- far comfier than a proper open boat for those of us with creaking knees.

Ardnamurchan, day 3

2010-05-23T14:18:00.010+01:00

At low tide my sandy beach became a field of kelp covered boulders- a nightmare to launch from, involving lots of slippery shuttling back and forward with gear. Again low cloud obscured everything, the coast sometimes being invisible from 100 yards away.
There are a few houses scattered along the coast, some in tiny communities such as Fascadale.

Others are remote holiday hideaways.

This is a remote and beautiful coast. Clearer weather would have given views of the Small Isles, but I was happy to be here as it was. The bay between Ockle Point and Rubha Aird Druimnich is particularly craggy and wild. With any weather coming from the north or west this would be a committing place to be in a sea kayak.
I came across some other paddlers. They had come across from the old village of Smirisary. I had considered heading there for another night out, but they reckoned it was busy with campers, so I opted simply to head for Ardtoe and my landing point. The sun was beginning to appear as I came to the glorious beaches around Camas an Lighe.

It was warm enough now to induce me to do some rolling and rescue practice before a short paddle into the entrance to Kentra bay, where there is a handy pier beside the road.

Unfortunately I now had a 6 mile walk back to my car. I hitched a lift part of the way, from a fisherman who had "lost a boat" off Ockle Point. He didn't elaborate, but a fishing boat was lost with all hands near here fairly recently.
The scenery round Kentra bay eased the pain of the walk.

Only a 4 hour drive home from here!

Ardnamurchan, day 2

2010-05-23T11:33:00.011+01:00

I left Auliston Point in flat calm again, crossing Loch Sunart to "MacLean's Nose". I don't know who MacLean is, but his nose is certainly enormous. A short haul up the coast is Mingary Castle.

King James IV at one time used this to keep troublesome islanders under control. It's a pretty formidable defensive spot, though from the sea now very well camouflaged.
I stopped for a short break close to Kilchoan, with a view to Ben Hiant.

From this point it was only a few hundred yards to the point where I turned north towards Ardnamurchan Point itself. As I turned the corner the cliffs soared up, the wind freshened, the swell grew and the rain started to pour down. It made for an intimidating passage to the lighthouse. This was a calm day- this coast must be a wild place in more challenging weather.

It took one and a quarter hours to reach the light, and a little longer to reach the shelter of a bay beyond. The lighthouse is now a visitor attraction, but I felt a bit oddly dressed to call in. Instead I moved down the coast a little to Portuairk.

Here I stopped to phone home (an expensive business, remote phones no longer take coins, and reversing the charges is extortionate), and have some lunch. As I strolled along from the phone box, two folks out walking asked me to take a photograph for them. They then commented, "you've got all the gear, you must be a serious walker!" I was still wearing my buoyancy aid and spraydeck.

To be fair, I wasn't carrying my paddle at the time, but I still don't think I look like a walker!
I finally stopped to camp just round the corner from Sanna Bay. It was a delightful sandy beach at high tide. It was still early afternoon, but I felt suitably tired. A short walk took me to the houses at Sanna, with a view back to the lighthouse.

It was a strange evening of mist coming and going. Oddly, another paddler went past at about 9pm.

Was it you?

Ardnamurchan, day 1

2010-05-23T09:44:00.010+01:00

It's one of the major geographical landmarks of the UK, as being the most westerly point of the mainland. The Ardnamurchan peninsula also has a narrow "neck" which makes a circumnavigation almost a possibility.
A long weekend and a forecast for light winds had me heading for the tiny village of Salen, which lies on Loch Sunart

The big high pressure over the country had brought warmth and sun to the east coast, but here on the west everything was grey.

Loch Sunart was glassy calm as I headed for the islands of Carna and Oronsay, which mark the offshoot of Loch Teacuis. This is remote from roads, and the narrow channels and fast tides running from it make it a challenging destination for yachts. Even now at neap tides the current was running quickly.

A few boats were hiding among the inlets.
I headed for Auliston Point for the evening. On the OS map this seems important enough to be given capital letters. I thought it would have big views round 270 degrees, but the weather made it a pretty dreich spot. It did, however, have a reasonable supply of firewood. It also, as I started to find out the following night, had a huge number of ticks. I'm still finding them now, 3 days later.

I'd forgotten to take a phone, so my only company was the coastguard and a bottle of wine.

Extending the Roof Bars

2010-05-13T15:44:00.003+01:00

I've been wondering about a better way to carry my sea kayak on the car for some time. My roof bars are in a fixed position, only just over 2 feet apart. They are wide aero bars, and also have a slight curve in them. The latter can be of no practical use at all and I think is just to make them follow the roof line. The car, a Honda CRV, is also quite high, making J bars a non-starter. All this makes getting an 18 foot boat up and down a bit of a nightmare.
With my old plastic sea boat it wasn't a problem using Thule kayak bars, which are fine for river boats, but don't seem so secure with a bigger composite boat.
After a bit of thought I asked Kari-tek if they could make me a bolt on extension. They've just come up with the goods.

It looks a lot more secure for the boat, and it'll be much easier to load it over the back of the car. It's a fiddle to attach, and I may get back to them to see if they could make a bracket to fit into the channels on the bars. The uprights in the pictures are the Thule ones, which don't need taken off to fit it.

Niall's New Boat

2010-04-25T19:41:00.003Z

Niall has just got a shiny new P+H Scorpio, and it was needing an outing. We took the opportunity of a slight rise in the temperature for trip south from St Andrews yesterday. The sunshine was hazy at first, but as it broke through there was an extraordinary amount of steam rising from the fields. It didn't photograph well, unfortunately, though it was a bit surreal.
We paused at the Rock and Spindle. The strange shape is apparently because of basalt cooling in a cavity.

Lunch and turning point was at the Kenly Water, the small burn that runs through Boarhills.

I love the rocks along this coast- lovely warm red sandstone, which weathers into crazy paving patterns.

Glen Feshie

2010-03-28T17:16:00.013Z

The CWWs have a wee hidey hole just at the point where the River Feshie joins the Spey. At some point of the year we always end up paddling back to the house, and the spring melt water made this an attractive trip on Saturday. It needs a fair amount of water to make it worthwhile as a large stretch is shallow and bouldery.
There is something pleasingly odd about being abandoned with boats at the top of the Achlean road. The river is a wee trek away, and sometimes we end up carrying boats alongside hillwalkers with ice-axes and crampons.

A lot of the paddling isn't wonderfully exciting, but the scenery is wonderful and at times the river feels very remote. I'd taken my big boat due to it's extra soup carrying capacity.

The upper river has a few easy bedrock rapids, then there's a long braided stretch through the open part of the glen.

This is where I once saw a wild capercaillie- my only encounter ever.
In paddling terms the main event of the river is a short gorge running down to Feshiebridge. This is a bit of a tourist attraction, but there was no audience today.

Once upon a time I spent a long time in this stopper, and I was a bit wary of it again. Luckily it had wee line round the side today.

From this point the Feshie has been artificially rearranged over the years. It spreads out into a kind of delta before dropping into the Spey. We stopped for a bit to eat, then Little Miss CWW, who is more of an indoor polo sort of a paddler, came out for a quick float down to Aviemore.

Spring is here

2010-03-20T19:28:00.008Z

It's been a lovely morning here, and once Coldwetwater junior had stirred from his pit, we set off for an afternoon on the upper River Braan. Perthshire was looking very picturesque, with lambs and calves in the fields.
With only 2 of us paddling it was a bike shuttle. The day was balmy enough for CWW jun to have another snooze whilst senior did the hard work.

The Braan is always on the move, and generally good fun on the way down to the rapids above the road bridge.

The water was diabolically cold, though. We'd been out on the Tay 2 weeks ago, and it hadn't seemed nearly so bad. There is still snow lying in the fields, and the snow to flow time here is very short- there are no big lochs to warm it up.

As usual with paddling, there are no pictures of the main event. We had an audience for it as another group of paddlers arrived just as we finished our inspection. It was bumpy and splashy for a good long way.

And for a change no salty gear to clean out!

The Trouble with Sea Kayaking

2010-03-14T18:35:00.010Z

I'm quite an untidy person but it's not generally something that upsets me a lot. I do, however, make quite an effort to keep all my paddling stuff together; it makes the mornings an awful lot easier. Unfortunately it never seems to work- there is always something missing. In addition, I'm reasonably good at trying to soak all the briny stuff out of my gear after paddling. This gets to the stage of, fairly regularly, washing the car to get the sand off.
The upshot of all this is that a short day paddling can mean 10% of the time in the boat and the other 90% packing and unpacking. Today was a bit like this. Are there people who could be paid to do this? I need someone a bit like a home help but to get me ready to go out of doors. There seems to be a definite gap in the market here. Maybe there are au pairs who hate children but could clean all my kit for me.
This was a short day, Aberdour and round Inchcolm, but I have spent the last few hours cleaning up.
There was a loose plan to meet Ken and Sarah at the Silver Sands beach in Aberdour. I was there slightly early, and they were slightly late, so I ended up paddling over to Inchcolm myself. It was a busy day for ships.

I was happy to give way to the Moritz Shultz heading out of Braefoot Bay.

There were some climbers out at Hawkcraig, one of the even wearing shorts.

Inchcolm was looking quite spring like, and with no warden present, I was able to go for a wander. There is quite a crop of wild wallflower.

From the top of the wee hill I spotted Ken and Sarah heading for the west of the island. I ran down to my boat and gave chase. They thought they were chasing me (having spoken to another kayaker earlier), and I thought I was chasing them, so it was quite a quick circumnavigation before we met up. I really ought to start using my radio more often- it would save a lot of effort.

After a wee nosey in some rocks,

we headed back over to admire the harbour houses in Aberdour.

Isle of May

2010-03-06T21:28:00.012Z

The Isle of May beckoned today. It was a latish start from Anstruther, but this didn't seem to inject any urgency into proceedings- it never does with the junior Coldwetwaters.

On this occasion, though, it was Ken who was slowest to be on the water. The junior CWWs were away ahead, but on leaving the harbour it was noticeable that they were taking a devious down the tide route. This meant Ken and I could have a reasonable pace and still get there ahead of them.

We explored a wreck at the north end while we waited for them.

The west coast had a bit of a swell running, and we had a gentle wee surf into the beach and tiny harbour. This inlet is remarkably easy to miss from the sea. The tourist boat must have a tight fit to get through the channel to it.

Unfortunately the late start didn't allow for any exploration on land, so it was a quick snack then round to the cliffs on the east side. These were sheltered from the waves, so it was a treat to explore the tunnels and caves. This stretch of coast is a delight comparable to the Bass Rock. We had the added fun of some inquisitive seals coming up at arms' reach.

Angus and Calum decided to go down this rabbit hole at one point.

One last archway before heading back to Anstruther.

We hit the beach in the harbour at 6.15, in the gathering gloom.

Kerrera kayaking

2010-02-20T21:05:00.009Z

I had a day trip to Oban today. It's a bit bonkers going so far from here in a day, but the forecast was perfect and the tides just right for a trip round Kerrera.

It was minus 5 here in Markinch, and by the time my boat was on the roof and the car defrosted my hands were a bit painful to say the least. I was in Perth before my left thumb recovered. Crianlarich was minus 8, and even the beach at Ganavan was minus 3. Temperatures like these seem to be getting normal this winter. It did make for a scenic journey though, hill walking today would have been perfect. Loch Awe was covered in ice floes, and Loch Etive nearly distracted me from Oban.
I set off from Ganavan sands just north of Oban. I'd hoped for some help from the tide, but it was barely moving. First stop was Little Horseshoe Bay.

There were otters playing about- they didn't seem too shy.
From there it's a short haul to the lovely southern shore, where the highlight is the MacDougall stronghold of Gylen Castle. It's a stunning setting with a fantastic seascape view of Seil, Scarba, Jura and the Garvellachs.

There were a surprising number of walkers for such a remote spot.
The weather to the south was beginning to look a bit threatening, so I didn't hang about too much heading back up the west side.

I just kept up with the sun on the way back to Ganavan.

Surf's up

2010-01-30T20:58:00.007Z

Magic seaweed made it a 3 to 4 star day at St Andrews today, and the sun was out to match. Not surprisingly the East Sands were were mobbed with boarders and their groupies. We struggled to find a bit by ourselves.

The tide was pretty high when we arrived, and with the steepest part of the beach close to the sea wall, it could be hard work to get back out. A sea boat would have been fun, but I don't want to risk breaking my new one yet.

A couple of hours of this and we were pretty tired.

Too Cold for Wet Water

2009-12-29T21:24:00.004Z

Some days are just too cold for even dedicated paddlers. This was the temperature in Blair Atholl yesterday morning.

There are compensations, though. Coldwetwater junior and I enjoyed a fine day on Beinn a' Ghlo.

It's arrived!

2009-12-19T15:06:00.004Z

After a long gestation my new Rockpool GT has been delivered! She's absolutely beautiful- a sparkling blue deck with a couple of big starfish and two wee ones. Unfortunately today was not a wonderful one for her maiden voyage. There was a bitterly cold wind, up to force 5 in Elie Bay, with some snow. Her first 200 yards of paddling were distinctly rough, coming out from behind the harbour wall into first surf, then reflected waves. She behaved perfectly, though. A short haul across the bay, some fiddling with foot rests, and a blast back downwind was enough, given the weather.
Angus and Morgan took the pictures.

A November Day at the Chain Walk

2009-11-29T12:49:00.016Z

I've been recovering from a sore chest, inflicted on me when playing canoe polo recently. Having not paddled for about 3 weeks a fine Saturday morning seemed a good chance to see how much it hurt to get back on the water. I started in Lower Largo and set off towards Elie, following in the wake of Fife Sea Kayak Club, who had arrived shortly beforehand.

It takes under an hour to cross Largo Bay to Shell Bay then Kincraig Point. Here there is an interesting diversion to the Fife Coastal Path known as the chain walk. On foot it is a fun "via ferrata" along the rocks. The geology along here is very striking.

There were several other paddlers out enjoying the low sunshine catching the rocks and beaches. Largo Law was lit up by the afternoon light, as were the Lomonds in the distance.

End of Summer on the Tummel

2009-09-21T20:11:00.006Z

It feels as if summer has gone. The equinox is today and the weather has turned grey and damp. Yesterday, however, was lovely, and Calum and I spent it on the Tummel. Rafters were out in force, but we managed to avoid them and their large audience for most of the day.
Calum has a great liking for jumping off things, and found the Coronation Bridge hard to resist. We had to probe about underneath in order to find a suitably deep bit. The Tummel is very shallow, and he managed to find a rock some way down.

He sank again on the S-bends, but this time in his boat.

The Linn was so good we had to run it twice.

River Avon

2009-09-06T11:37:00.003Z

Two or three weeks ago we had a family walk down the Avon Heritage Trail, from Avonbridge to Linlithgow. It looked as if it would make a good paddle, so Calum and I went out to recce it for a club trip yesterday. The weather was foul and Avonbridge a pretty uninspiring place to start from, but the water level was high enough to make it navigable. We started out on what isn't much more than a big ditch, but it was fun enough. We met a guy wearing a BA on the bank. He was out looking for his open canoe, which he'd lost 2 days earlier, when the river was a couple of feet higher. We found it wrapped round a tree a few miles downstream, totally mangled. With a bit of effort we got it out of the river, and phoned him to give him the news. I suspect if he hadn't come out where he did he might be dead. There are some low lying obstacles (like bridges) which an open boat wouldn't have got under in higher water.

The run down to Linlithgow is long and reasonable sport. The river is constantly moving, mostly at around grade 2. There are a couple of harder drops, one of which we protected from the bank- it's a broken down weir just after the Forth-Clyde aqueduct.
We had to rescue a hypothermic sheep at one point! It was up to its neck in the water and had clearly lost the will to live. A wet sheep is incredibly heavy.

4 star leader training

2009-09-06T09:12:00.003Z

I'm not long back from Skye, where I went to do 4 star leader training with Gordon Brown. The drive there was livened up by some spectacularly wet weather. There were times when I was down to 20mph because it was barely possible to see out of the car. The following morning, however. I woke to a fantastic view from the window of Effie Nicolson's B+B in Saasaig.

The first day was fine and blowy. I'd thoroughly recommend training with Gordon. He pushes everyone, and is an entertaining as well as a talented teacher. He was accompanied by Rowland Woollven, another very interesting level 5 coach. 4 star training involves 2 days on the water (in the water, a good deal of the time), and a day of theory. The theory day was in many ways more taxing than the practical ones, but was lightened up by a slideshow on Rowland's attempt to circumnavigate the UK last year.
As always seems to be the case on sea paddling courses, the company was excellent. Isle Ornsay hotel does some lovely food and beer.

Warm Wet Summer

2009-08-20T20:26:00.008+01:00

The weather hasn't been particularly kind anywhere near me this summer, but some paddling adventures were still to be had. First was an FCAG trip to Austria. We had seven days paddling, mostly on the River Inn, in colder wet water than at home. Kevin, our club chairman, did a fantastic piece of organisation, as well as guiding us. Austrian rivers are by and large fast and furious, so I've not a lot of photographs.

This trip was followed up by a family outing to the Isle of Man. The weather here wasn't wonderful either, with some strong winds limiting the kayaking I could do. Some lulls in the wind did allow for a few outings though, and good ones at that. The Manx coastline is pretty wild for a reasonably densely populated island. Wildlife normally abounds, but wasn't really showing itself for me.

There are high cliffs around the south and south east, where some big seas were churning up the Irish Sea. Again it wasn't too easy to take pictures because of them!
Another attraction was doing a shuttle by steam train.

The Bass Rock

2009-06-15T21:22:00.005+01:00

A fine Sunday morning saw Ken, Sarah and I setting from North Berwick for the Bass Rock. North Berwick is a very busy place of a weekend, but a tiny carpark beside the sailing club gives a handy spot for dropping off boats beside the beach. We launched alongside sailing boats and RNLI ribs.

The first step was along the coast to Tantallon Castle- a fine stretch of beaches and rocky outcrops with views out to our destination.

Just past Tantallon is the secret Seacliffe harbour, cut out of the Gegan rock in the 19th century. A narrow passage cut into solid rock leads to a tiny 12m square recess.

We stopped at the beach here before the short stretch of open water out to the rock.

Unfortunately the lens of my camera had become fogged up at some point around here, so my pictures of the rock itself are all rather blurred. It is, however, an impressive place to be. The gannets are everywhere, nesting on the cliffs (which rise to over 300 feet) and circling overhead. The noise and the smell are considerable.

Despite the calm day, the water on the east side was quite lively. It's only a short circumnavigation, though. The caves on the west had some young seals in them, so we beat a retreat to the east landing spot. Steps cut into the rock give a slightly awkward disembarkation. Leaving the boats bobbing in the Forth did give a spot of anxiety and a doubling up of knots and ropes.

It's not possible to explore the rock too far. Nor would you want to in the nesting season. Birds, chicks and eggs are everywhere. Around the landing spot these are mostly herring gulls, and they make their displeasure very apparent. Just to stand below the lighthouse is a fantastic experience, however. It feels incredibly remote and wild for a spot only a few miles from Edinburgh.
All too soon we were struggling into our boats (not an easy launch) and making a beeline for Berwick. Tide and wind were with us for a quick passage under darkening skies. The lightening started as were were driving off. A fine day out.

Catterline caves

2009-06-13T20:15:00.006+01:00

Catterline is a quaint wee harbour between Inverbervie and Stonehaven. In the absence of a shuttle, it makes for an interesting 18km or so round trip to Stonehaven, along a coast with caves, arches and tunnels and seabirds by the thousands.

The first big arch is just out of Catterline at the The Garran.
It was rather a grey day, with a bigger swell than I was expecting- taking pictures was a bit tricky at times. The weather suited the mood of the scenery at Dunnottar Castle.

The rock along here is a conglomerate which presumably erodes easily to form the caves and passages. The hollows also give nesting points for the multitude of birds. The soundtrack of the day was crashing waves and screeching birds.
Stonehaven harbour was a lovely spot to stop

And I was careful not to break the speed limit. Cruise control was on.

With a return journey facing the swell it was easier to explore some of the caves.

This one had several skylights.

Busy Day in the Forth

2009-05-30T17:20:00.003Z

The Eurodan was in the Forth today, all 87,000 tons of her. My kayak may be a bit humble in comparison, but I still think she is prettier. I'm guessing their sandwiches tasted better, though.

Eigg and Muck, Day 3

2009-05-20T16:48:00.005Z

A comfortable night and leisurely morning had us well prepared for the return to Eigg and thence Arisaig. A friendly wind helped us across the Sound of Eigg to the tea room at Galmisdale. Will left us here to catch the ferry back to Muck. I'm sure he'll find other kayakers arriving soon.
Our crossing to Arisaig was quite a contrast to the trip out. The wind had turned a little more westerly and gave us an exhilarating and relatively effortless run back. The sun was out and the skerries around Arisaig lit up with a turquoise glow.

Eigg and Muck, Day 2

2009-05-20T12:56:00.010Z

Another perfect morning.

Unfortunately Accessorize was shut, so scrunchies had to be improvised.

We headed south along black cliffs where we spotted a sea eagle nesting. A short crossing then took us to Muck , just as rain moved in and the wind picked up. After circumnavigating the island we were feeling a bit cold and wet, so we sought out the bunkhouse at Port Mor. This proved a cosy place to spend the night. In the evening we had a visit from Will, whose partner is supply teacher to the island school. He is a kayaker, and was looking for some company to cross to Eigg the following day.

In the bunkhouse.

Rush hour on Muck.

Eigg and Muck, Day 1

2009-05-20T10:21:00.012Z

Angus and I set off for Arisaig with a weather forecast that was fair but not inspiring. It was a pleasant surprise to arrive on a perfect day- no wind, sunshine, and Eigg looking only a stone's throw away.

Two hours of paddling later it still looked only a stone's throw away. The Skye Cuillins filled the horizon to our right, though.

Long crossings on flat water can get a bit dull, and the approach to the north of Eigg was a relief. It's a dark hostile bit of coast, as this ship found out.

Our destination was the "Singing Sands" of Eigg. A small incident happened on the way there. Though the sea was flat calm, there was an apparently very gentle swell. Angus stopped to watch this breaking over some rocks. I had a fine view of a curling wave appear behind him, apparently out of nowhere. Well over head height, it threw him forward over the rocks, depositing him upside down. It was a bit of a relief to see him roll.

The singing sands are a Hebridean gem. We didn't hear them sing, but they definitely do squeak when walked upon.
A bottle of wine, a small fire and a purple sunset followed.

Playtime at Stanley

2009-05-14T18:13:00.003Z

It's only about a 3/4 hour drive to Stanley from our house. Great for a short afternoon trip.

Strange rocks in Fife

2009-05-06T18:23:00.004Z

Fife has its share of unusually shaped rocks. Last Sunday morning I had a short paddle out of St Andrews Bay. It was distinctly windier than forecast- a good Force 5 pushed me along towards Boarhills. Along this stretch of coast, probably the prettiest in Fife, is the Rock and Spindle.

Nearer Boarhills is the Buddo Rock.

Unfortunately I only had time for a quick outing, and I'd given the Maiden Rock too wide a berth to photograph it.

Summer's nearly here!

2009-05-04T15:37:00.004Z

It's not all about paddling.

But the water is still pretty cold in April! A fine day out with FCAG travelling down from the Isla to Stanley.

Raasay, Day 3

2009-04-12T09:26:00.005Z

It poured all night, but in the morning the sun appeared, and the forecast was for a weather window. I set off with a friendly north-westerly wind to help me along. The coastline of Raasay is lovely here- Torridonian sandstone cut into interesting shapes. To my right was the Trotternish peninsula of Skye, which is also full of interesting geology.

Conscious of the weather forecast I hurried along. As I crossed the Raasay narrows to Skye the wind was backing and strengthening. The final kilometre to the slipway was again a slow battle against a gale, with rain battering me in the face.

Raasay, Day 2

2009-04-12T08:40:00.008Z

It was a fine night in the bothy. Three others turned up, having walked in with 2 bags of coal, a fiddle, a guitar and several penny whistles. We had a pleasant evening of bothy stories, and I was lulled to sleep by the music.
I was woken by a brilliant light through the window. The dawn was fantastic, but the rainbows were short lived, as everything faded after 10 minutes. A strong wind was driving white horses down the coast, and the weather broadcast gave gale warnings for all the adjacent sea areas. The wind direction was predicted to vary from south-west to south-east, leaving me no completely sheltered escape route. Continuing to Rona looked scary, so it was back to bed after a big plate of porridge.

The midday forecast was no better, so I decided to try and gain some ground down the west coast. If I could at least reach the road end, I would have a way out if the weather deteriorated again. There followed a 9 km trip of strong headwinds. It also involved 2 short portages to avoid long detours in exposed waters. A narrow channel between Fladday and Raasay funneled the wind and proved to be an inch by inch struggle. A couple of sideways gusts resulted in bracing strokes to avoid being blown over. Finally I reached a narrow causeway which connects the 2 islands, unfortunately just too early to float over it.

The Fladday portage

Slightly easier paddling brought me to Loch Arnish, just as the sun came out. Arnish was the home of Calum MacLeod, a postman who, in the 1960's, built a 2 mile road across the island, in the ultimately futile hope of saving the village from depopulation. He built it entirely by hand, and his work is commemorated in the tune "Calum's Road".

Close to Manish Point I found a lovely camp site in a sheltered bay. Lots of driftwood fuelled a fine fire. I sat on the beach until the fire died and the wine bottle had turned from ballast to buoyancy.

Raasay, Day 1

2009-04-11T20:38:00.010Z

Raasay and Rona are islands I've wanted to visit for a long time. Raasay has a sad history, including all the worst aspects of Highland land ownership from the clearances up to the 1970's. It provided 120 pipers to play for Bonnie Prince Charlie at Culloden, a figure which is probably close to the current population.
It's also a fine destination for a short kayak trip. It is sheltered from the worst of the weather by Skye, and the tidal flows around are relatively weak.
After a comfortable night at Sligachan bunk house, I launched from the ferry slipway at Sconser. In true West Highland style, the ferry was running late, and I had to wait a bit for it to get away.
On a cold grey day I headed for the east coast, the Red Cuillin behind me.

A following wind made for easy progress up the coast. There are fine views here of Dun Caan, the highest point of Raasay. It looks remarkably like a submarine from most angles. This is rather ironic, as the area is a testing ground for the acoustic output of submarines. This creates a bit of a hazard if far out to sea, but also makes it one of the most reliable places in the world for mayday reception!

Moving north up the island the geology changes to the gneiss which makes the hard landscape of many of the outer isles. It can make for an inhospitable coastline, and the paddling was made harder by clapotis- reflected waves from the cliffs. It was with some relief that I finally turned a corner into the channel between Raasay and Rona. A short drift on calmer waters led to a quiet cove. From here it was a 5 minute walk to a fine bothy. After a 30km day I was pretty tired.

Butterfingers

2009-03-23T08:24:00.002Z

Another fine blowy day out on the Forth yesterday. Unfortunately I dropped my trusty waterproof but non-buoyant Pentax Optio overboard, so no pictures today and probably for some time to come.

North Esk

2009-03-18T20:33:00.008Z

The first warmish day paddling this year! A mid-week half day and lengthening evenings had as heading north to Edzell and the North Esk.
It's an interesting approach through the flatlands of Strathmore, into Edzell, then very suddenly into the Highlands. The river starts in the open glen, then turns into a mossy gorge, and the paddling is of the pooldrop variety.

The water level was described as a "scrape" on Wheresthewater, but this wasn't a problem other than on the introductory first few hundred yards. There are lots of tight twists, turns and drops, with a couple of more intimidating rapids. The "Triple Steps" seemed to have five steps thanks to the low water.

I didn't get a picture of the final Fishladder Falls as it was beginning to get a bit dark. Absolutely nothing to do with me being in the water at the bottom!

Blustery weather on the Forth

2009-03-08T16:00:00.007Z

Ken had arranged a paddle for five of us today. I looked out of the window in the morning to find horizontal snow, then settled back into bed after texting Ken to inform him of the fact. Much to my horror I got a message back to say we were still going.
The rendezvous was at Silver Sands at Aberdour, reached by driving through a blizzard. A car was left at we set of to the put in at North Queensferry harbour.

At this point the weather brightened, and the wind dropped for a while. Bizarrely there was a ticker tape welcome to the bridges as lumps of snow blew off the cables and towers. Luckily none were big enough to hurt too much.

We rounded the point towards Inverkeithing Bay in sheltered water, then headed downstream towards Inchcolm. Here the wind picked up to a good force 6. The following sea made for an exhilarating and quick ride down to the picnic spot on the beach at the Abbey. This was Sandy's first sea trip, and the feeling of getting airbourne over the waves made it a memorable one! Our picnic was repeatedly interrupted by Ken's great white whale of a kayak blowing out to sea. Oddly enough, it was Sarah and I who kept jumping in to to get it.

The return to Aberdour needed a big ferry glide against the wind. Some lumpy seas again made this hard work, and it was a bit of a relief when the point came to turn and simply blow downwind past Hawkcraig Point. Soon after arrival the sleet arrived again, and we were lucky to have caught the best of the day. XC Weather made it Force 6 all day at Turnhouse, and force 7 at Dundee.

The River Ericht

2009-02-22T17:08:00.006Z

Sunday brought a fine warm February day for "Uncle" Kris and I to paddle the Ericht down into Blairgowrie. I hadn't been here since the road north was re-engineered. To access the river there is now a turn off onto the old road through Craighall Gorge. It seemed rather odd to put our boats down in the middle of what used to be a very busy stretch of the A93.

A slithery walk down through the woods leads to a put in below Craighall House. I wouldn't like to live there- any shower of rain would have me worrying about landslides.

The river is a pleasant meander of grade 2/3 water. We were scouting this out for a club trip later on. Though Wheresthewater reckoned this water level was a "scrape" (0.884 on the gauge), there was enough water to keep us well afloat.

Fortunately access laws have improved!

There were a couple of bits we walked round.

These bits of kayaking nastiness were followed by a miniature gorge on the way into Blairgowrie. The river gives a fine mix of countryside and views of the big mills that once were powered from it.

2009-02-08T22:04:00.003Z

A gentle day out on the Teith, with Fife Canoeing Activities Group (FCAG). The temperature was minus 6 centigrade. but when the sun came out everyone was happy.

Wee Eric

2009-02-08T22:00:00.002Z

There has been some fantastic weather this winter, despite the cold. This was a short day on the Tay at Stanley. The water was high, giving a fantastic play spot at "Wee Eric".

The Tummel

2009-02-08T21:43:00.001Z

Calum and I have had a couple of good days on the Tummel recently. The first was in very wet weather. We put in at the S bends and had a short blast down to Loch Faskally. Despite the weather the level was low (it's dam fed), but the loch had turned into a raging river, thanks to a big brown flood pouring down the Garry. There was a sharp eddy line across the bay where the Tummel enters the loch- clear water on one side, debris and mud on the other!

Last Thursday we had a wintry tour down the upper (or uppper upper) river to Tummel Bridge. There are some nice rapids, including a reasonably meaty grade 4 drop, but an awful of lot of bumping and scraping in between. Calum managed to impress the tourists by going under the bridge right way up and appearing downside upside down. Funny how a roll looks better than doing things upright.

Inchmickery

2008-06-10T22:03:00.004+01:00

Inchmickery is a small island in the Forth. It is covered in crumbling wartime defences and from a distance looks like a warship. Presumably this was very deliberate. It makes for a short paddle from Aberdour, and on the way it's possible to visit some of the other rocks which pepper the Forth. On a recent calm day I paid a visit, stopping to look at the Oxcars light on the way.

The nesting season is now well under way, and the island was teeming with life. Birds flew out of every nook and cranny, and I was very glad to be wearing a big hat. I clearly wasn't a welcome visitor, so beat a hasty retreat to my kayak.

On the return I stopped off on Inchcolm, hoping to get an ice cream. Unfortunately it wasn't to be- the abbey doesn't stock them in case their generator breaks down. I skirted round the island and had a break at Braefoot Bay, which is still a lovely spot despite the tanker berth beside it.

On a quiet day the whole trip can easily be done in 3 or 4 hours, depending on how long you want to spend exploring.

Isle of May

2008-06-08T19:33:00.001+01:00

I paddled out here a little while ago. It was a spur of the moment thing on a late summer day, flat calm all the way out and back. The nesting season was finished, but the seals were still there, and their singing was audible long before they were visible. The island itself is a beautiful green serene spot. The turf is full of puffin burrows. I was surprised how high the cliffs are- it really isn't apparent from the mainland. There is a fine arch to paddle through.

Scotland's North Coast

2008-06-08T17:06:00.007+01:00

Huge Caves Everywhere

Neave Island

Duncansby Head

I recently spent a week kayaking the North Coast of Scotland. The outing was a coaching trip run by Glenmore Lodge, which is Scotland's outdoor education centre of excellence. We were based in Thurso, and had day trips to the coast and islands around. Winds were light to moderate, the sun was out, and some of the strongest tides in the world were running.

Inchkeith

2008-06-08T09:27:00.011+01:00

Spring is supposed to be here, though the weather hasn’t really caught up with it. It’s time to get out the big boat and be out to sea. The Easter holiday saw me with a half day and Angus home and wanting to get out paddling.

A late Wednesday afternoon saw us in Kinghorn, in order to set off for Inchkeith Island. I’d wanted to go to Inchkeith for some time. It has an interesting, but rather odd, history. At one time it was used as a quarantine island for Edinburgh, so goodness knows how many poor folks have died miserable deaths on it. Over the ages it’s been the site of various struggles between English navies and Scottish defenders, and it is covered with the remains of more modern wartime defences. King James IV carried out a rather bizarre experiment on it. He wanted to find out if there is a native human language that we would speak if not taught any other. To do this he imprisoned a mute woman with two babies on the island, and left them long enough to see if the children would speak. Accounts from the time suggest they grew up speaking good Hebrew!

We set off in calm conditions, about an hour before high tide. For a sea kayak it is quite a short trip, about 4km to reach land, with a few more for circumnavigation. The major hazard of the outing is the main Forth shipping channel, which has to be crossed. Once we were a third of the way over we noticed a big ship somewhere around the bridges. This prompted a bit of dithering, and finally a decision to sit it out until it passed. This proved to be a good idea. The speed with which ships move is very deceptive, and they are almost always going faster than it appears. If we’d kept moving we would undoubtedly have been rather close.

The Forth Islands that I have visited before have all been pleasant and mostly green places. On approaching Inchkeith it was clear that it was very different. There is no grass, at this time of year at least. It is littered with derelict wartime buildings. We passed along the east side, which has low cliffs and litter covered rocky beaches. The birds were all big gulls and cormorants, and all of them seemed angry- no friendly puffins here.

We circled the island to land on a slipway in a surprisingly well built and large harbour. Lots of scrap metal lay about. A series of concrete paths lead up to the summit, where there are more remains of wartime buildings, but also an unmanned lighthouse. For some reason there are a large number of dead rabbits, and the whole place stank. We explored concrete tunnels into some of the old gun emplacements. Areas of the island resemble a rundown industrial estate, and the whole atmosphere was rather threatening. By the time we left I felt a bit spooked by the grimness of the place.

We set off back to Kinghorn in a rising breeze, checking behind us for ships coming out of Leith. As we cleared the north end of the island the only boat in sight was the Forth Ports pilot vessel. It passed in front of us, and then came to a halt some way upstream. At this point we began to make out a big ship somewhere in the region of Inverkeithing, but we were happy it was no threat to us. Very quickly a smaller ship appeared from the other direction. It seemed to be heading in front of us, but again speed and direction were hard to judge. We paddled slowly, watching this carefully. As it neared it seemed likely, but not certain that it was clearing us. We didn’t know for sure that it had seen us, and a small change in its course would have been bad news. I was already composing the VHF message in my head- “huge blue boat, huge blue boat, this is tiny sea kayaker, over”. Just my luck if they only spoke Latvian. Fortunately it held its course, passing about 200 yards in front of us. At this point the other big boat was behind us. It must feel like this when you’re old and on a zimmer frame and crossing Prince’s Street.

After this it was a straightforward paddle back to Kinghorn Bay. We were just too late for the ice-cream shop, though.

The Misty Isle

2007-09-01T14:21:00.000Z

Looking to the Red Cuillin

I'm just back from 5 days of instruction and guiding with Gordon Brown at Skyak adventures. Gordon is a great coach, probably one of the most experienced in the world. Three of us spent all week with him, with a view to obtaining our 4 star certificate. We learned a lot- new strokes, navigation and rescue skills, weather lore and kayak design, and even how to take better kayaking photographs.
The weather, true to Skye's reputation, was mostly misty. Winds varied from negligible up to just about force 5. This is a fine level to fine tune skills without involving too much terror. On exposed seas the wave height was around 3 feet. This is a level which isn't too unsettling- it was still possible to see other paddlers all the time- but was enough to leave me slightly sea sick in the evenings.
Most of our time was spent paddling on the west coast of the Sleat peninsula. This was suitably exposed to the mostly westerly wind.
Other trips took us round the Skye bridge looking for tidal eddies. The tides in this area have been significantly changed by the bridge construction, and our carefully worked out planning simply didn't work.

Under the Skye Bridge

The main journey of the week was from Elgol to Loch Coruisk, with a return via Soay. The weather was damp, but I enjoyed my first visit to the heart of the Cuillins for 20 years. Curiously there wasn't a lot of marine life to be seen on the trip, bit we did spot Soay sheep, grazing on the seaweed of the island.

Setting off for the Cuillins

Gordon runs Skayak adventures with his wife, Morag. It's a great setup. They have an office and gathering point in a bothy in the garden. There are lots of boats to try out, and any equipment needed can be borrowed. In the garden is a hot tub- a great way to end the paddling day. I'm pretty sure I'll be back for more!

Anstruther and Crail

2007-08-20T19:55:00.001Z

Angus in Crail Harbour

We paddled out of Anstruther into a northerly headwind and going against any tidal movement. The combination of this and a bit of a swell made it hard work getting up to Crail harbour. It took an hour and 55 minutes, but only 55 minutes of relaxed paddling to return. Not a lot of wildlife about, and all in all a bit of a grey day.