Brian and Duncan joined me again, this time with Alastair, for a sunny (and very wet) paddling session. The wetness certainly didn’t come from the sky, when they all turned up in wetsuits I knew it was going to be a wet session! Quite a bit of the session was taken up trying to balance the kayaks from strange positions.
Gill and Harry have recently moved to the area and after a few days paddling last year have decided that it’s something they should get into up here. Certainly a good decision to make if you’re going to live on this fantastic bit of coastline!
Allison and Will joined me again for more paddling fun, probably the 6th or 7th time. As always we had a great time, paddling around, seeing the wildlife (3 otters swimming together this time), enjoying the sights and a good brew on the beach. I look forwards to next time!
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.
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!
#NC500 Natasha and Chris met me in Poolewe during their journey around the North Coast 500. We paddled from just in front of Poolewe campsite and headed along the shoreline of Inverewe Garden. As we got around to Camas Glas we found some seals swimming around watching us as we watched them.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Just a few days and the Wittenbergs are back for more. This time Libbi and Kadya where joined by their friend Joanna. We headed out after a ‘show’ from the local otter – he was wandering across the beach and road before diving through a hedge to escape the limelight. On the water it was another session with thousands of whitebate, hundreds of mackerel and a handful of seals watching us as they filled their bellies with mackerel. We had a relaxed session with spasms of activity during some games. Another good session on the water with beautiful blue skies.
The Fooks arrived in Poolewe to blue skies and sunshine. This session we headed out into the bay in kayaks, getting the hang of the boats quickly. Again in this session we had the pleasure of otter, seal, heron, oyster catcher and thousands of whitebait sightings, not to mention the special Loch Ewe piranhas. It was a busy session with some hard paddling needed against the wind when it unhelpfully chose to pick up.
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.
