Whitehead Kayak, Loch Shieldaig
It was a busy day, so I was meeting Emily, Tim, Elliot and George in the evening near the Shieldaig Lodge Hotel. We hadn’t managed to get out the morning before due to the wind speeds so we managed to fit it in now. Like with the rest of the day the midges found us early on, but soon got left behind on land as we paddled away from them. George took a quick dip early on in the session, I think a piranha to the face was partly to blame! Everyone else stayed dryish, ignoring the rain, till the end when Tim and George managed to go for a swim whilst Emily and Elliot kept their balance.
Pete and Linda joined me again this year, the #NC500 got them up here last year but the fantastic scenery and places brought them back to explore more. Last year we paddled from Mellon Charles, due to the very low tide we saw huge amounts of wildlife, this year we had another low tide and managed to see a fair amount of wildlife from star fish to urchins to seals.
The afternoon was spent enjoying some paddling around the harbour and coastline at Gairloch. The only unfortunate bit of the session was when Yu had his GoPro knocked off his head by a flying piranha. After a lot of searching (it was 4′-5′ deep water) we couldn’t find it. Luckily I spotted it the next day when it was low tide, so was able go get it out for Yu. After that a good session was had, seeing seals and enjoying the coastline.
Donna, Jed and Christy met me at the boom beach in Mellon Charles. Coming across from the Isle of Ewe, they had already been on a boat this morning. Donna had grown up on the island, they where back in the area for a few weeks. Donna knows the waters well but had never paddled around them in a kayak. They all had a great time exploring the rocky coastline, playing some games and getting drenched!
Iain, Christine, Frazer, Calum and Cara joined me again for a session by the Shieldaig Lodge Hotel. We had paddled together a few years ago, from that experience I guessed it was going to be a very wet session with them! It was, and not just because of the rain! It was a fun session with plenty of games but we also managed to get some good views of seals whilst on the water.
Lorna had more friends up in the area, so Maureen, Cerys along with Iain and Lorna joined me on a sunny calm afternoon at Mellon Charles. Cerys paddles a lot at home but her mum hasn’t done any. After a short while on the water Maureen realised that it is actually fun, so had a fantastic time. Iain and Lorna have paddled with me many many times before, so know my normal games but still seemed to enjoy every minute.
