What a long winter.

Efforts to get fit for my Big Paddle have been hampered considerably by the weather. Partly it's a reluctance to be out on the water in freezing weather, partly competing attractions. The hills have been great for walking and skiing recently. FCAG had an Easter Egg hunt on Friday evening, though. It was a short trip, but good fun. Snow was clearly visible on the Lammermuirs before we launched at the Silver Sands in Aberdour.


Despite low temperatures, wildlife is returning to the Forth. A porpoise cruised past us- the first I have ever seen around here. Gulls are flocking back to Inchcolm.

Perennial wallflower are starting to flower on the island, much earlier than the ones in my garden.

We stayed on the island as the light started to fade. There was a big ebb tide, clearly visible from the fortifications at the summit.

Soon it was time to head for home.

Winter on the Forth

Soggy Sarah had arranged a sunset cruise for the club today. I couldn't go, so instead did it the day before. It's pretty cold around here just now, and the sun sets around 3.30 in the afternoon.
Not surprisingly, there weren't a lot of folk around Inchcolm late on a Friday afternoon. There were some pretty creepy noises from the seals, though, and one followed me around for a while. I hung around till sunset, took some pictures then headed back for the beach just as it got pitch dark.

Going Forth of an evening

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.

The Trouble with Sea Kayaking

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.

Blustery weather on the Forth

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.

Inchmickery

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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.