Freddie and John moved to the area earlier this year and have been keen to get out on the water. We’d planned a session a while ago but the wind got in the way a wee bit. They had such a good time they’re now keen to get their own boats and book another session to learn more skills.

Robyn, Abbie and Stuart joined me for a sunny afternoon. Exploring the coastline around Inverewe is always enjoyable, seeing a side of the garden that most don’t get to. As we stopped for a brew at Camas Glas a seal swam about below us keeping a watchful eye on what we were up to.

Erin and Jordan met me for a morning canoeing. It started out very calm and we were able to paddle around Inverewe Garden easily, spotting seals and birds as we paddled around. The wind increased and gave us a very easy paddle back to the road – always nice to have the wind help us along!

Alison and Martin joined me again for another paddle, the last time being from Gairloch last year. They wanted a full day on Loch Maree, so we set off to explore the islands. Paddling around the islands is always nice, with the highlights generally being Isle Maree and the islands on the loch on the island on the loch!

Penny and Mike last paddled with me around Gruinard Island back in 2018. Great to see them again and explore a bit of different coastline with them this time. We had a stiff breeze to paddle into but it gave us a very very easy paddle back which went far quicker!

Caroline, Rob and Harry met me for a trip paddling around Inverewe Garden. Exploring the coastline around Inverewe is always a good way to spend a morning, it gives you a very different view of the spectacular garden. Whilst we had a brew some seals swam about to see what we were doing on the beach.

Shona, Alice and Peter joined me again but brought along Sheena too this time. It’s been a few years but it didn’t take long for their skills to return. We soon headed off to explore, have some fun and munch on some seaweed.

Yvonne, Scott and Sam met me to try out kayaking, learn some skills and have some fun. We headed out in sit on top kayaks and a small person kayak. After a bit of practice we were all paddling well and had a good time exploring the coastline. At the end Sam was keen to fall in, so threw himself over.

Julie joined me again for another session. This time she wanted to try out a sea kayak, so we headed out and practiced skills as well as exploring the coastline and enjoying the peace and scenery.

Sarah, Michael, Megan and Eilish spent a sunny afternoon with me. We headed out in sea kayaks and explored the craggy coastline by Inverewe Garden. As we sat having our brew on a beach an otter splashed about in the sea below us catching fish.

Izzi & Matt have been touring about in a van and exploring the fantastic north west highlands. We paddled from Poolewe around the shores of Inverewe Garden. They’ve got an inflatable kayak, so we spent a bit more time talking and practicing strokes that they’ll find useful when they’re out in it.

Hannah and Jodie joined me for the afternoon paddling from Poolewe. We had a low tide in our session which meant that we had quite a distance to carry the boats – the benefit of the low tide was that we got to paddle back spotting lots and lots of starfish scattered across the sea bed.

Jenna, Jodie and Ashleigh joined me as part of their NC500 trip. We headed out to explore the coastline and see what wildlife we could spot during the morning. Some seals came to investigate us and see what we were up to as we paddled about.

Steven and Sue met me for a paddle in canoes from Gairloch harbour. We had a low tide, so had to carry the boats further but then had the benefit of being able to spot star fish around the craggy coastline. The first half of the session gave us some fun waves to bob about in before it calmed for a more relaxing paddle back.

Dan, Pegs, Daisy and Edith have been living in the area for six months and have been keen to get out on the water with me. We had a great morning paddling about from Gairloch harbour. Learning some paddling skills was the first thing to do before we headed off to explore the craggy coastline and play games. Daisy was keen to capsize at the end, but realised it was actually quite cold in the water!

I had a handful of our local explorer scouts out on the sit on top kayaks again tonight. Kayaking is a great activity to do with them at the moment because it’s very easy to socially distance and still have great fun.

Jo and Ric came out on the water with me in sea kayaks. One of the things we talked about just before getting onto the water was the hope of spotting an otter. Explaining that I had seen one in the morning and so we might but we are far more likely not to…..later on just before our brew break we had two young otters swimming along towards the beach, then later on Richard spotted another swimming about in front of us. Not a bad day for otter spotting!

Patrick and Sophie met me for a morning on the water. We chose the sit on top kayaks and headed off to explore the coastline. It wasn’t long before we spotted a seal swimming about and then shortly after that we watched an otter swimming along catching it’s morning snack. Later on we had a snack of a bit of sea weed – better than you might think!