Tuesday 11th June 2024 -Arisaig
The first evening paddle in June was held in Arisaig on 11th with four club members practising incident management ably led by Janek. Participants learned how to make use of their team during an incident and how to ensure everyone is safe. Although this involved everyone getting wet while practising rescues, everyone had a great time and learned a lot!
Paddlers: Ruth, Jeremy, John C and Peter K.
Tuesday 18th June 2024 -Arisaig
The second evening a week later was held in Fort William. Again, four members put in behind the college and practised boat handling skills including turning in the wind, effective strokes for turning, moving sideways, edging the boat to aid the turn and body position. After playing some games around the diving school pier concrete pillars the group paddled up to where the river Lochy meets the sea with water also coming in from the Aluminium factory outflow and the river Nevis. Here they practised crossing eddy lines and ferry gliding. Again, thanks to Janek for the coaching!
Paddlers: Ruth, Joan, Bill& Elvire.
Saturday 23rd – Sunday 24th June 2024 – A “circumnavigation” of the Ardnamurchan peninsular
DAY 1
Three days in June to kayak from Salen to Ardtoe. Long days, good weather .… what could possibly go wrong? Let’s guess – the weather. A week (and more) of forecast watching kept us guessing, planning and re-planning until, a day before start date things fell into a sort of place, a plan was finally hatched and ….. it worked! Ardnamurchan or bust. Friday and Saturday’s force 4/5 wind and rain forecasts made the prospect of paddling in either direction unattractive and unadvisable along challenging sections of coast. A last minute opportunity to camp at Ardnamurchan campsite presented a possibility for two good days at the far end of the peninsular. On Saturday four tents were pitched by 12.30 and 4 of the group enjoyed a walk to the historic village site at Glendrian, in the inner ring of the caldera (apparently technically a lopolith rather than a caldera) of the 5 mile diameter volcanic crater, which is thought to have been inhabited from the 1300s until this century. Photo credited to “The Real Wild West”. There were many golden-ringed dragonfly, one of which became rather attached to Joan, possibly attracted by her tasty-looking purple socks. On leaving the settlement we were treated to a fly-by of 9 Red Arrows, en route to Morar. Continuing towards the Glendrian caves the terrain became difficult, a deer fence blocked the way, the weather deteriorated and time ran out, so a retreat was beat to join the Sanna swimmer group back at the campsite, where a congenial evening was enjoyed in the comfort of a campervan.
DAY 2
Expecting to wake to sunshine, it was disappointing to discover drizzle and grey skies but, by the planned shuttle time of 09:15 things were looking brighter. While the shuttle to Portuairk was effected, the remaining team stumbled down the stony shore with boats and kit ready for a 10:30 departure to maximise the journey round the Point. Getting away at 10:40 a 6km paddle into a comfortable force 3 got us to the wonderful little beach and hinterland at Eilean nan Seacdh Seisrichean (island of the seven sixes?). Although the time allowance was 30 minutes, a sunny hour of eating, chatting, admiring the vegetation and watching three birds, one hovering impressively on the spot above the cliffs (possibly a red kite) and 2 Peregrine falcons squabbling noisily up high, elapsed before re-embarking for the 4kms to the lighthouse, with whatever conditions that might bring (forecast following sea force 3/4 with 1.3m swell). A glance over the back suggested it would be more of the same, but experience proved to be a bit more challenging, with swell, clapotis, a following sea and a generally bumpy ride that required a good amount of focus and loose hips. Leaving the sheltered first lunch spot we took on the challenge of a line of incoming lively waves over rocks that proved to be fun rather than deadly. The lighthouse hove into view with much jubilation. Whilst most refrained from photography for fear of losing one thing or another, Iain, riding on Cloud Nine and clearly unphased by the rock and roll, impressively managed quite a few. Somewhere along the way a fantastically agile and very large fish (salmon?) was seen leaping vertically out of the water and returning with gravity three times. The Point passed and no crisis required immediate landing, so we continued on to the headland before Portuairk and convened to plan the onward route. Speeds of 11kms were achieved on this stretch, where we had the benefit of south westerly wind and the north easterly tidal stream pushing us along, with surfy waves to ride. It was originally thought we might continue round to Rubha an Dun Bhain or beyond and maybe check out the caves and Dun, but strengthening winds from the SW discouraged this, so it was agreed to paddle across to the far Sanna beach, where the tide was by now low but incoming, for a celebratory cake-fest. By this time Sanna was living up to its Caribbean reputation (but much, much better) with bright blue skies and sparkling blue seas. Views across to the cliffs of Muck were striking. Dragging the boats up the beach we encountered Roddy McDowell (Kayak Bute) who noted a Tiderace boat and various connections were made. As the boats began to drift about on the incoming tide a move was reluctantly made to continue. An outward trajectory being proposed, we headed out into more lively seas and wind and set our sights on Portuairk (which we now knew how to pronounce) where the vehicles were parked up the hill. The tide being still fairly well out (day before Springs), the haul up the beach was rather protracted. A later arrival would have facilitated a more easterly approach up a watercourse. Azure seas and skies of an indescribably bright blue made this all a pleasure. It was just a shame that we weren’t continuing the journey. Farewells and shuttles were made and everyone went their way with memories of a foreshortened but brilliant trip.
Distance paddled: 16.4km. Distance swum: ?
Paddlers: Joan, Ruth, Elizabeth, Iain, Chris and Sheila
