Another day, another glorious blue sky. Mark, Paula, Ben and Alex met me at Gairloch Harbour for a fun morning in canoes. We headed out to learn how to paddle them then after getting the hang of them we played some games and headed off to see the sights.
Dana, Rachael and Toni met me on their #NC500 journey in a motorhome. We set off from Gairloch Harbour and enjoyed paddling around the coast seeing the seals and scenery.
It may have been cloudy and damp but that didn’t deter Shaun, Liz, Tom, Andrew, Ian, Ellen Hilary or Kath. We met at the boom beach in Mellon Charles for a mornings paddling.
After discussing the different boats available we all chose what we wanted to paddle and then set off around the coastline.
Alex, James, Ned, Kit and Flora met me on a sunny afternoon at the boom beach in Mellon Charles. We excitedly got out paddling in canoes, exploring the coastline through the rocky passageways, playing games and leaning skills.
Martha, Justin, Toby and Jake met me in Gairloch for a paddling session. We started the morning in canoes before moving into kayaks, having a great time in each type of boat.
Alistair, Debra, Robert and Alex met me for a good session on the water, we started fighting the midges, but soon moved onto the beach to escape them. We had a good session paddling around the loch and playing games. Being in the shelter of the loch meant it was a little midgy on shore, but it meant we got shelter from the breeze meaning we had lovely calm waters to paddle on.
We met at a midge infested car park, so we all donned midge nets for our chatting at the start – a common look around these parts! Once we got onto the water we left the little pests behind and were able to breath freely. A fun session was had with plenty of games and excitement.
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.
Malcolm, Hannah, Emily and George met me near the Shieldaig Lodge Hotel, just south from Gairloch. The were across from Inverness on a quick holiday. We had a good session, paddling in a bit of wind at times but managing to control the canoes well around the loch. Emily and George completed my balancing tasks well, not even falling off when I got them sitting on the very front of the canoes!
Alan and Pamela joined me for two trips, initially from Gairloch Harbour and then from Poolewe. They have a family cottage in Poolewe, so know the area well but have’t canoed on the waters before. Alan is booked to go on a trip along the River Tay later on in the year, so wanted to get some experience paddling canoes.
We had a fantastically calm morning at Gairloch, the sea was still with not a breath of wind in the air. Sadly the same can’t be said for the rain in the air – but luckily a bit of rain doesn’t really matter too much. Poolewe’s paddle was far dryer but a bit windier, which was good as we wanted a breeze to practice more challenging paddling in. We spent a lot of time over the two sessions leaning the basics of lots of strokes, practising them as we paddled around the coastline seeing the wildlife and sights.
It was a great day of weather after a number of winter days that had slipped into summer somehow. The water was still, the sun shone and everyone was happy. Chris, Rosie, Edgar and Audrey joined me in Mellon Charles for a pleasant paddle, initially in canoes and then kayaks. It was even the sort of day that I didn’t mind getting wet!
David, Susan and young Erynn met me in Badachro for a fun session to try out canoeing and kayaking. We first set off in canoes on the hunt for seals, then we headed out in kayaks for more fun on the water.
I’ve been spending some time coaching some canoe skills recently. The wind chose not to help us at all – paddling a canoe solo in the wind can be quite tricky when you’re practising your strokes! Paddling tandem is of course far easier, assuming teamwork skills are ok!
The Activity Tourism class and Rural Skills class joined me, along with their teachers Mrs Johnston and Mr Milner, for a day out in the boats. The aim for them was to learn about Ewe Canoe, learn some paddling skills and of course have some fun. After setting off in midge hoods we were soon able to take them off and enjoy the sunshine, couldn’t have asked for a better day.
It was clear from the start that some boats were going to capsize, by the end most folk had a good soaking. Had a great time with them paddling around the coast for lunch on an island and playing plenty of wet games.
#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.
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.
