The Mackenzie-Clarke clan couldn’t stay off the water, they booked another morning with me. This time we paddled from Poolewe, going around the coastline of Inverewe Garden.

John and Carol met me on a very calm afternoon at Gairloch. The water was almost mirror like as we paddled around the bay, it made the seals very clear to spot!

David, Tanya, Caz and Robbie joined me again for a fun morning exploring the exciting coastline around Mellon Charles. They always have bag fulls of energy and today was no exception. It was a good tide height for exploring the passageways between the rocks and the caves.

Allison and Will are up here again, so I had to try and find somewhere we’d not paddled before. Gruinard Island (known as Anthrax Island due to military testing back in 1942) was the place for the day. There’s some great varied coastline around it to explore.

The next day was a bit breezy for paddling so I had the day off and since Will is a keen climber we went down to climb a couple of classic climbs at Tollie Crag. I don’t really get enough time clambering around on rocks that aren’t surrounded by water.

We then managed to fit in another quick paddle together from Gairloch where we had a pod of porpoise swimming around us for quite a while.

Alan, Pam, Imogen and Edmund joined me again, this time for a breezy session on the water. The morning had been totally calm, but the wind had picked up a little to give us slightly more exciting paddling at times! We still had plenty of areas that were completely out of the wind to allow us to gaze through the water at the starfish and urchins.

Stephen, Natalie, Amy and Paul spent the morning with me exploring the area from the water. The water was very calm and peaceful, practically no ripples on the water at all and with low tides loads of wildlife to spot!

Martin, Elizabeth, Jens, Oscar and Bella had a great afternoon on the water. They caught me at very short notice but luckily I was able to squeeze them in for a fun sunny session.

Belinda, Mark, Beth and Luke came paddling with me. We had some really low tides and so were able to see lots of great wildlife under the water and all around us. Below is a picture of a starfish that I don’t see too often as they stay lower in the water than others, it’s called a seven-armed starfish – or if you want to sound like you’re clever it’s a Luidia ciliaris, I go for the simple common name as it’s far easier to remember!

Steph and Alex joined me on the water for an afternoon exploring the rugged coastline. We had a good time improving our paddling and exploring the rocky crags around the coast.

Carol and Rob met me for a sunny afternoon kayaking trip from Gairloch harbour. It’s a wonderful place to paddle from because as soon as we leave the harbour area we’re away from everything – no paths, roads or houses along the coastline, so we get it all to ourselves!

Karen, Alasdair, Findlay and Ruth came out kayaking with me on a sunny morning. The session ended with quite a bit of splashing with Findlay and Ruth getting a good soaking!

Anne, Lizzie and Kris joined me on a sunny afternoon paddling on some lovely calm water. We spent quite a bit of time watching seals as we paddled. One little seal liked watching us as well, he kept swimming along and peeking at us.

Michael, Wendy, Emily and Ally met me for an adventure from Badachro. They’d been on two person kayaks recently but found my boats to be far easier to paddle and more comfortable – possibly due to not being stuck together!

This afternoon John, Karen, Aidan and Jake joined me for a sunny fun session exploring the craggy and rugged coastline.

Richard, Vivienne, Susannah, Caroline and Andrew met me in Poolewe for a session paddling around the side of Inverewe garden that doesn’t often get seen. This is the second trip that they’ve been on with me, last time Andrew had been stuck in a canoe with me due to an injury last time so he was keen to get out by himself in one of my small person boats. Another fun session on some very calm still water. Spotted the first little baby moon jellyfish of the season today!

The afternoon session had the second half of the four families that are holidaying together – it must be a very hectic house their staying in! The Levacks – Philip, Ruth, Fraser and Erik – and Jennings – Pete, Juliette, Alex and Finn – kept my busy. Just like the morning crowd they were a great group that were keen to have some fun whilst exploring the area.

A very busy day with four families that are holidaying together. During the morning session the Irvings – John, Katherine, Tom and Anna – and the Matthews – Steve, Catherine, Grace and Kieran joined me for a fun paddle. Different sized boats to suit the different sized paddlers really helps the smaller folk paddle well.

I had a whole day with this family, in two groups of three. In the morning Alastair, Cole and Ben took to the water followed by Margaret, Ava and Isla in the afternoon. Seals, starfish, urchins, razorbills, gannets, oystercatchers, anemones, guls and porpoise but no badgers today! The lads all jumped in at the end – it’s still only April!…..