canoe – Page 2

Tomkinson Kayak, Mellon Charles

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.

Billington Canoe, Mellon Charles

Billington 18-8-15 (6)

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.

Vine Paddle, Gairloch

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.

Vine 17-8-15 (28)

Vine 17-8-15 (78)

Vine 17-8-15 (83)

Vine 17-8-15 (84)

Good luck with Strictly Come Dancing Jeremy!

Stagg Kayak, Loch Shieldaig

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. Stagg 11-8-15 (43)

Clay Kayak, Gairloch

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! Clay 10-8-15 (47)

Statter Kayak, Loch Shieldaig

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!

Statter 6-8-15 (13 )

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.

Linklater Paddle, Gairloch

Linklater 29-7-15 (1)

It was a slightly damp morning that Mark arrived along with Tom, Louise, James, and Muireann. That didn’t dampen their spirts though, we set off in a selection of boats out into the harbour to paddle around, improve some skills, play some games and see some seals.

Linklater 29-7-15 (15)

Helena & Friends Paddle, Poolewe

Helena, Adrian, Scarlett, Kate, Danny and Rebecca all came to Poolewe for a paddling session. We hopped in a variety of boats including canoes, sit on tops kayaks and a closed cockpit kayak. After getting used to the boats and how they respond to different strokes we set off on a little journey to find some seals. Success, we found some seals along with flocks of herrons and oyster catchers.

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Helena & Friends 27-7-15 (30)

Helena & Friends 27-7-15 (13)

Broun Canoe & Kayak

Broun 3-7-15 (39)

Victor and Jean Michel were up in the area, spending most of their time with Paul Tattersall of Go Further Scotland. I had a couple of afternoons with them, the first canoeing on Loch Shieldaig and the second kayaking from Gairloch Harbour. Paul joined us in the canoes, along with great sunshine and plenty of seals.

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Broun 7-7-15 (19)

The weather wasn’t quite so kind to us when we went out in kayaks, but we had plenty of seal interaction and even had an otter swimming in front of us whilst we sipped our hot chocolate.

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Broun 7-7-15 (31)

Edwards Methering Canoe, Gairloch

I’ve been in kayaks a lot recently, so it was great to get out in the canoes. Katie and Andrew were in one boat and Colin and Gloria were in the other. It didn’t take long for the teams to get the boats moving well around the harbour.

Grigor Wright MacKenzie Paddle, Mellon Charles

Grigor Wright Mackenzie 2-7-15 (1)

A busy afternoon at Mellon Charles beach – Gillian, Louise, Max, Ben, Rosalind, Fiona, Coll and Callum all joined me for some fun on the water.

We started out in canoes, practising our paddling and team work skills. We then switched to kayaks and had some fun getting wet.

Austen Paddle

The Austens were on a trip around the North Coast 500, a fantastic 500 mile route around the north of Scotland. They were keen to get out on the water, so made sure they stopped off for a paddle on Loch Ewe. We set off from Poolewe by Inverewe Garden. On our trip around we saw an otter having his lunch and a group of seals watched us as we watched them.

Apologies again that we finished the session a few minutes early, a mountain rescue call out on An Teallach meant that I had to make a swift exit.

Recent paddling

I’ve been a bit slack at putting up blog posts this year. I’ll start doing it again soon, but here’s some pictures of a few recent trips out on the water.

Johnston Paddle, Gairloch

Archie, Ollie, Angus brought their mum, Alice, and uncle Cam along for a fun session paddling around in boats. We started off in canoes, with Cam and Archie in one and Alice, Ollie and Angus in the other. After practising our paddling and playing some games we set off looking for seals.

Johnston 29,8,14pm (6)

It didn’t take too long to find some seals, so we took a quick break on the beach to enjoy a cup of hot chocolate whilst watching the seals. We then headed back so that we could get the kayaks out. We all jumped on the kayaks, with Angus on the front of Alice’s. At the end of the session I couldn’t resist turning a few into submarine kayaks!

Knowles Paddle, Poolewe

Knowles 27,8,14am (37)

Today Poolewe was the place to be. I met Karen, Claire, Maddy and Robert in the morning for a session of canoeing and kayaking in the bay. We set off initially in canoes, seeing an otter before we even left the shore. When we where on the water we saw thousands of fish in the water, they seemed to be everywhere, jumping out of the water for insects, but often into seagulls mouths. As we where heading back to shore we had a visit from a seal, interested in what we where doing. We then jumped into some kayaks for a little paddle and some fun, balancey wet games.

Knowles 27,8,14am (21)

Knowles 27,8,14am (6)

Kirsty & friends Paddle, Gairloch

Today I had a large group booked in for the day, the group of ten had split themselves into two groups of five, kayakers in the morning and canoeists in the afternoon. We paddled from Gairloch Harbour, with the plan of seeing a few seals, improving our paddling and having a bit of fun.

The morning started with all the kayakers – Kirsty, Paula, Jeff, Phil and Fabian. The session went well with lots of competitiveness, Fabian getting a little too competitive and capsizing! The afternoon canoeists – Joseph, Nicola Kath, Alistair and Andrea – arrived for another good session.