Kat, Jon, Callum and Euan came out with me last year, this year they dragged along Cathy, Declan, Iarlaith and Ruadhan to help celebrate Callum’s 9th birthday with me. A fun session in the sunshine was had by all. Since it was Callum’s birthday I thought a good way to celebrate it was to leave him on a tiny island – apparently it’s against kids rights to leave them on slightly submerged islands for any real length of time, so we collected him again.

Kyle, Gillion and Colin joined me to explore the coastline in kayaks. They chose the sea kayaks and we set off to learn some skills and see what wildlife we could spot on our journey. Initially the water was mirror like and we could easily gaze down though the water at starfish, urchins and jellyfish below us.

Sarah, Toby, Archie, Euan, Colin and Elsie came kayaking with me. It’s pretty common for teenage lads to want to splash about, Archie and Euan were no exception. Always amusing when they think it’s sensible to splash me!

Henry, Jenny, Reuben and Libby met me for a fun morning paddling. Jenny and Libby teamed up on a double kayak whilst Reuben went for one of my great small person boats and Henry opted for a sea kayak.

Paul, Stephen, Lorcan, Bronagh and Fiachra joined me for an afternoon of kayaking. We started off trying to stay dry but Lorcan got a little enthusiastic early on and went for a swim. Later on, near the end, Lorcan and Fiachra spent a lot of time falling in! Bronagh was far more sensible and kept upright in her kayak.

Rachael, Ben, Heidi and Evie met me for a fun morning kayaking. Plenty of games and splashing about meant there were some quite wet people by the end of the morning despite not falling in!

David and Ellie met me for an afternoon kayaking. We started by improving our paddling strokes before we headed off in search of wildlife and scenery.

Paul and Emma joined me on a slightly damp morning to explore the craggy coastline of Inverewe Garden with me by kayak. The drizzle soon died off and gave us a pleasant and relaxing morning on the water.

Tilly and Amelia joined me for an afternoon kayaking. The forecast had been for a lot of rain but we got off very lightly with only a small light shower at one point. Exploring the coastline added a different dimension to their NC500 adventure.

Anne, Neil and Flora met me for a morning to practice rescue skills. They’ve got their own kayaks and wanted to gain confidence and increase their skills. It was due to be a very wet day, but that didn’t matter at all since we were due to be going in the water anyway!

Mike and Janette joined me to explore the craggy coastline at Mellon Charles. We had a nice low tide during our session so we got to spot starfish and urchins as we pottered about.

Terina, Tom, Andrew and Iain met me again for another fun session on the water. They’ve joined me every year since 2016 and it was great to see them again. Andrew and Iain always like doing lots of splashing about so I made sure we did plenty of falling in.

Mike and Theo joined me again. A couple of days ago we paddled from Gairloch for a morning but today we had a whole day out from Mellon Charles. Lots of wildlife – porpoise, otters, starfish, urchins, anemones, oyster catchers, arctic terns, cormorants, shags, divers and many more.

Claire, Gordon, Anna and Alasdair joined me in Mellon Charles to explore the great craggy coastline. We had a nice low tide to give us super views of starfish, urchins and anemones.

Jenny, Paul, Emma and Alex had an adventure with me on the water with me. We paddled from the boom beach in Mellon Charles which is where they’d been building a huge sand castle the day before. Initial nerves were soon forgotten as we got out and explored the area.

Colin, Fiona, Innes, John and Charlotte met me on a very hot and sunny afternoon. We headed off to explore the stunning coastline, learn some paddling skills and have some fun. Some of them chose to have a bit of a dip near the end.

Mike and Theo spent the morning kayaking with me from Gairloch harbour. As soon as we head out of the harbour and turn south we get to some fantastic coastline that is very rugged and feels quite remote. We paddled down, practicing a few different strokes as we went. This barrel jellyfish was swimming past as we explored the coastline.

Matt, Laurissa, Anya and Will spent the afternoon with me. We explored the coastline around Inverewe garden, getting to see the place from completely different perspective. The sun shone throughout and it was even warm enough for Will to want to end up in the water splashing about!