Alan, Amanda, Thomas, Harry and Matthew met me at Gairloch Harbour with the plan of having some fun on the water. We headed out in little kayaks, practised some skills, played some games and entertained some seals. The lads had been keen to get wet throughout the session, so at the end I made sure they couldn’t get any wetter!
Nicola, Mossy, Kadya and Libbi joined me just along from the cottage that they stay in up here. I’ve been out paddling with this family for a few year now, and this trip ended up being the first of two this holiday with them. They where all keen to get wet, so at the end of the session we played some really wet games!
Today Jacqui, Andy, Hollie and Sophie joined me near the Shieldaig Lodge Hotel. We headed out onto the water in kayaks to get away from the midges. The sun was shining nicely on us, the seals came out to watch us and we had a great time paddling around – learning skills, playing games and enjoying the scenery and wildlife.
Linda and Peter met me at my house before we made the short journey down to Mellon Charles big beach. We set off in kayaks as the tide was approaching it’s lowest point. Having the tide so low relieved lots of wildlife along the shore line, we saw huge numbers of star fish above and below the waterline along with vast quantities of sea urchins stuck all over the rocks. Some seals made an appearance right at the end too, they made up for the dead one we saw earlier.
Bill & Ruth, some old friends from uni were up in the area as part of a trip around the Scottish coastline #NC500. We went for a paddle from Mellon Charles’s ‘Boom’ beach on calm and peaceful water. We had the benefit of a high tide, giving us a small carry to get onto the water.
Jeremy, Rachel, Martha and Anne joined me for the afternoon paddling from Gairloch harbour. We started out in canoes before switching to kayaks, learning paddling skills in each, playing games and seeing the wildlife. Martha and Anne soon got to grips with the boats and we had flying piranhas all over the place.
Good luck with Strictly Come Dancing Jeremy!
Andrew and Angela met me in Gairloch for a session kayaking. They know the waters well from sailing around in their wayfarer dinghy, but found kayaking enabled them to get much closer to the shore line. Being in little robust boats lets us explore every nook and cranny of the rocky coastline.
Allison, Ian and William joined me for another session – the forth they’ve been on with me. There paddling skills where good, so I had a very easy session to run. We set off to see some sights, the seals didn’t disappoint and kept popping up along our journey. The one difference I noticed this year was that William wasn’t quite so keen to go in the water – must be cold, or he’s gaining some sense.
Euan and Donald had met me earlier on in the week at the Gairloch climbing wall, where I’d pushed Donald to try some tricky climbs. They were keen to get out in some boats, so we arranged a session. As normal from Badachro, we met some seals and saw plenty of jelly fish along with other sea creatures and sights.
David and Rhianne arrived for the afternoon session in Badachro. The wind died a little throughout the session, turning the water into a calm and tranquil place to be. The seal came out again to greet and watch us as we paddled along the coast.
Jane, Isabella, Christopher and Jennifer joined me in Badachro for a breezy session. We managed to find lots of sheltered spots from the breeze, enabling us to practice some strokes, play some games and see some wildlife.
Stuart and Louise joined me for a slightly early birthday present for Stuart. We had a good paddle around the coast and found a seal that wanted to be our friend. He kept swimming with us, under our boats and surfacing next to us.
The wind direction dictated that little Loch Shieldaig was the place to be again, that’s where I met Peter, Jane, Millie, Harry, Bryony and Edith. Despite the forecast the wind held off initially and let the midges come out to play, after a speedy initial chat we headed onto the water to get away from them. Harry took it a step further and threw himself into the loch at the very start – presumably to wash off any remaining midges.
We had a good session paddling – getting to grips with the kayaks and seeing the coast and wildlife around it.
Richard, Lindsay, Katie, James and Andrew joined me for a wet session at Gairloch Harbour. As we set off the weather was perfect, but soon after the rain started. It chose not to stop, so we just had to keep having fun in the rain. At the end of the session James, Andrew and Katie where fairly wet from the rain, so falling in (or maybe being pushed…) didn’t matter!
Chris and Rosemary joined me for the evening paddle. They had been trying to get out with me for ages, a session that we had had planned last week had to be cancelled due to the strong winds. Luckily we found some calm conditions after days of winter like winds.
They have otters on their ‘spot list’, sadly we were not able to tick them off – in fact, we ended up only seeing a few seals in a spot where lots are normally spotted. That’s wildlife for you – never predictable!
Rosemary didn’t actually spend her time reading a book whilst paddling, it was just a picture for the school library competition where she is a teacher.
Peter, Jane and Jonah arrived for the afternoon session – another session in little Loch Shieldaig, nestled in the south eastern end of Loch Gairloch.
We had a few drops of rain, but that wasn’t going to ruin the day. As we paddled around we even spotted some crabs hiding in the seaweed.
After a break from padding for a few days due to strong winds I was back on the water for a busy day. Gareth, Rhys and Siân joined me in the morning for a fun paddling session heading around little Loch Shieldaig, learning to paddle, looking at the wildlife, and of course having fun.
Lynne, mum of the group, chose not to join us on our paddling session. Instead she visited the newly renovated Shieldaig Lodge Hotel for coffee. The whole place has been renovated recently and is certainly worth a visit.
Richard, Jo, Cameron and Daniel joined me for the afternoon on the water. We had a low tide which meant we had to carry the boats further at the start and end of the session but it has the advantage that we get to see lots more in the water just below the low water level.
We had a good time searching for creatures along the shoreline as we paddled. Lots of star fish, sea urchins, jelly fish and seals where seen all around us, not forgetting lots of Loch Gairloch piranhas!
Towards the end of the session the rain came, but that didn’t matter in the slightest because it was time to get a little wet! Time for a few ‘wet games’ to make sure they didn’t notice the rain.