This morning Catriona, Susan, Brian and younger folk Callum, Alasdair and Duncan joined me for what was going to be a fun wet session. We set off in the kayaks and after getting used to the boats we played some games to make sure those who wanted to get wet did get wet. Catriona and Susan chose to stay a little dryer, but everyone else couldn’t have got much wetter by the end of the session!
More repeat customers, this time Jon, Erin and Millie joined me in Poolewe for some kayaking fun. It was good to see that they remembered how to paddle their boats well and what strokes to do to make their boats move around. We were able to distract the visitors in Inverewe Garden from the plants as we played games in the boats, then we got distracted when some seals swam around us.
Holly and Graeme were staying in Skyfall, in Poolewe, so it made sense to paddle from Poolewe. We set off on the sit on top kayaks, practiced some skills, had some fun, saw some wildlife and then on the way back Holly decided she’d had enough kayaking for a while and jumped off to swim. She said it was enjoyable, but I chose to stay in my kayak – looked cold to me.
David and Frances have been paddling with me in the past and this time they where keen to head down to Torridon. It’s not something that I normally do, but since they wanted to paddle for a full day and I fancied a trip down there too, we went. Frances paddled her little boat whilst David paddled one of mine. It was a very pleasant paddle and a Sea Eagle flew right in front of us at one point.
Peter and Mark joined me this afternoon for a paddle by Poolewe. They’re staying in Aultbea, so have been spending time it the great Aultbea Hotel’s Convoy Tavern and getting fish from Isle of Ewe Smokehouse. After improving our paddling skills we set off around Inverewe Garden, in search of wildlife and views.
Fiona and John were on route around the fantastic #NC500 , they made the right choice to stop in Poolewe for a break from driving and to jump on the water. We headed out on the sit on top boats to lean some skills and see what we could see. They were soon paddling well around the coastline and a seal decided to join us for part of the journey.
Today I was back across at Loch Shieldaig – nestled in the south east corner of Loch Gairloch. The Simpson family – Malcolm, Susan and lads Daniel and Lewis – were with me on the water. We had a great time paddling around, seeing the seals wildlife and playing games.
Eòin, Anndra, Iain and John had paddled with me back in 2013 on a beautiful sunny day. This time the weather wasn’t quite so good, but it was certainly better than some of the weather we’ve been having this summer. Having paddled with me before they were all, of course, experts – leaving me with a very easy session to run!
Isobel, Lydia, Laurence, Julie and Graham joined me for a fun filled session on the water. We paddled from Poolewe and managed to distract lots of folk who where peacefully wandering around Inverewe Garden. The seals then came out to distract us.
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.
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.
Ellis, Emily, Callum, Jonathan, Derek and Jennifer came for a paddle in the sunshine. I could tell from the start that it was going to be a very wet session – I think by the end everyone had been swimming.
The sun chose to join us today, giving us a great paddling day. Calum, Duncan, Kathleen and Neil joined me at Gairloch harbour for a fun session kayaking.
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.
Iain and Leigh joined me for a kayak from Mellon Charles. There wasn’t quite as much sunshine as I’d have liked, but we had very nice calm conditions on the water. Kayaking was something that Iain and Leigh had been planning on doing for years with their family, they finally got around to it now that their children aren’t on holiday with them.
This afternoon I paddled from Ormiscaig, setting off just next to the Griffiths’ house. Sarah and Bryan were on a quick visit to Scotland and chose to join me for a paddle along the coast. During the morning they’d been out collecting crabs with Ian on the Dry Island’s Shellfish Safari.
Jennifer and Peter joined me this morning to go for a paddle from Mellon Charles. They owned kayaks in the past and were keen to get out on the water again.
This morning’s session was over in Badachro with the Bettles Lake family. In the group there was a mix of experience, this didn’t matter as we were able to have a session to cater for all. We set off in a range of boats – sea kayaks, sit on tops and little kayaks. Today there were fewer seals than normal in the area, but we still got to see plenty, with them following us around as normal.
