It was a special day and holiday for these folk, Donald was celebrating his birthday today and just a few days earlier Duncan and Mandy got married. What better way to celebrate than a session on the water with Ewe Canoe?!…
We had a great, fun session on the water (and in the water for a few folk!). An enjoyable evening for all.
Emma, Fiona, Robert, Eilidh and Stuart joined me on a nice day to have some fun on the water. Emma is the local high school’s geography and geology teacher, so we looked at some of the rock on our way around!
It was a rather damp and murky day in Wester Ross. I met Fiona and Stephen near the Shieldaig Lodge Hotel, the rain didn’t dampen our spirits much and we jumped straight onto the water to see the sights and have some fun.
Anne and Peter joined me again for some more paddling. This year we went from Badachro, just along the road from where they are staying. We had some lovely still weather to paddle in, with seals nipping up to watch us and birds flying around. Anne and Peter last paddled with me over in Mellon Charles on an equally still day.
I met Ben and Graeme at Badachro for a kayak session, just as we prepared to get on the water we were alerted to an out of control fire threatening the houses on Eilean Horrisdale. We set off for the island to give the few local folk already there a hand tackling the fire. The fire was spreading quickly due to the fact that we’ve had little rain in the past few weeks, so last years bracken is so dry and easily lit. The fire was beaten down with oars and bucket of water, keeping it away from the buildings. By the time that the local fire brigade had arrive on the island we had managed to put the fire out.
We then headed off to continue our session, seeing plenty of seals and scenery.
#NC500 Sarah and Sam are yet more folk doing the fantastic North Coast 500. It’s becoming very popular, it’s easy to see why. On our paddle around we had some very inquisitive seals, coming up right next to our boats for a look. Towards the end of the afternoon we had a light spot of drizzle, this gave a great rainbow!
#NC500 Melissa and Richard are on their own version of the North Coast 500, they met me near the Shieldaig Lodge Hotel. We paddled around the sheltered loch, spotting seals and bird whilst enjoying the relaxing atmosphere.
Gairloch High School’s Gairloch Malawi Partnership Project had 4 Malawian youngsters and two teachers in Gairloch for a while. They were keen to do an activity with the local Explorer Scouts (which I’m one of their leaders), so we thought we’d take them canoeing. We had a great night for it, sunshine and windless. Everyone had a fantastic time splashing about and getting wet.
More pictures can be seen here.
Neil and Fiona have done most of their boating in yachts, they where keen to try a smaller boat. We headed out into Loch Shieldaig from my normal spot just along from the Shieldaig Lodge Hotel. We paddled around the loch and coastline spotting lots of seals and enjoying being able to paddle close to the shoreline – something not possible from bigger boats.
Nicola, Libbi and Kadya joined me again, this time to paddle from Badachro. We set off quickly as they are all proficient paddlers and all had my safety briefing a matter of days before. We had a much dryer session this time, far less swimming. The coastline around here has some great patterns in the Torridonian Sandstone, so we explored along lots of the coast. As normal, seals popped up along our route to say hello.
We had a relaxed paddle from Badachro, spotting the wildlife and scenery around us. As well as the normal seals that we had following us around we where lucky enough to see a pod of dolphins jumping through the water as we sat having a brew.
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!
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.