Neil spent the afternoon kayaking with me. He’s bought himself a kayak and wanted to learn some skills and practice some self rescue skills. He’s now got some techniques to go away and practice and knows about more safety kit that should be carried.

Fiona, Jeff, James (also known as Freddy), Isobel, Thomas, Clare, Garry, Mia and Sophie spent the afternoon kayaking about in sunshine with me. The Reids have just bought a house in Gairloch, so are keen to explore.

Alison and John booked me for the morning so that we could practice rescue skills. They live locally and often head out in their boats, exploring the great coastline around here. It’s been a while since they have practiced rescue skills so it was good for them to have a refresher and learn a few different ways of doing things. Hopefully they never need the skills for real!

Sean, Lily and Eliza had a sunny afternoon exploring the craggy coastline from Gairloch harbour. Eliza did a great job in the front of the canoe with me. The breeze meant that the sheltered bits in the sunshine were even more enjoyable!

Lloyd, James, Liam and Stuart spent the morning with me. We took the sea kayaks out to explore the bays by Gairloch. At one point we had a white tailed eagle flying above and then later a golden eagle put on a little display for us, they made up for the lack of seals this morning.

Stella and Scott took time off from their NC500 trip to have an adventure on the water in kayaks with me. The weather was kind to us and we had calm water and some sunshine to relax in.

Jamie, Lynn, Dani and Evan came kayaking with me this afternoon. We went for the sea kayaks and after practicing a few skills we set off to explore the craggy coastline and spot wildlife.

Kristin and Andy joined me again for another session of learning, practicing and enjoying. We started by chatting about suitable kit to take to keep yourself safe on the water, headed out and improved some of our paddling technique and then headed off to test some skills on a bit of bumpy wavy water. A brew is always better on a remote beach after you’ve put some effort in!

Toby, Megan, Anna and Nick spent a sunny afternoon with me kayaking from Gairloch harbour. A low tide meant plenty of starfish searching along the craggy coastline. Toby and Megan booked me initially and then realised that their friends from uni were doing the NC500 at the same time in opposite directions, so what better time to meet up than on the water!

Gerry was back with me today but sadly no Ailsa this time. We padded from Poolewe again but this time on the other side of the loch, so we headed around the shore of Inverewe Garden. For a while we had a good few seals swimming around us to keep us entertained.

Gerry and Ailsa spent the afternoon kayaking by Poolewe with me. They’re thinking about doing more kayaking in the future so were keen to learn about safe paddling and learn skills. After a slightly damp start the weather improved and turned into a lovely afternoon.

Kenny and Amanda were up here in a motorhome so they didn’t bring their own kayaks up. The had a session on the water with me to enjoy paddling up here without the hassle of bringing their boats but also to lean more skills and that they can use when they get back on the water by themselves.

Frances and Tim spent the morning kayaking around from Gairloch harbour. At the same time that seals swam around near us we had a white tailed eagle fly overhead.

I had met David and Claire last year up at the Mellon Charles boom beach, they were heading out snorkelling when I was paddling there with customers. They’re back up in the area and were keen to get out in kayaks. On our evening paddle we had a couple of otters scampering around on the shore to entertain us.

Julia and James stopped on their NC500 tour to have an afternoon kayaking with me. We had an enjoyable time paddling around the coastline at Inverewe garden. Quite a contrast up here to where they live in London.

Katia, Roy and Karl joined me for a morning paddle around the coastline from Gairloch harbour. The winds were due to pickup throughout the day so I’d sadly had to cancel my afternoon customers. Since they were paddling well we overran a bit in the knowledge that we’d have windier conditions to play in and they all did nicely fighting against the wind! Typical that I chose to overrun and then get a mountain rescue callout when I’m still on the water – not a problem though as we were heading back anyway and I was able to nip away sharpish.

Ali and Andrew met me in Poolewe to get out in sea kayaks. They’d recently been paddling down near Edinburgh and are enjoying it so want to do more. We paddled around the shoreline of Inverewe Garden, practicing some skills, enjoying the views, spotting seals, birds and even an otter.

I had blanked off my diary for the morning so that I could take out a small group of my explorer scouts. After practicing skills and exploring the coastline we decided to have our brew break on a little rocky island – it’s great to be able to get to very remote feeling spots to relax with a brew and cake! At this time of year it is however important not to disturb nesting birds, where we stopped doesn’t have any.