This morning the Goodin family – Hazel, Wayne, Séanus, Aoife, Tearghes and Sadhbh – joined me down at Tollie Bay on Loch Maree. We decided have a split session, half in canoes and half in kayaks.
We jumped in the canoes first and had a good paddle around, getting used to working in teams. After hot chocolate and biscuits we headed out in the kayaks. I tried to get everyone soaked by playing some rafted games!
Today Paul, Jacob and Nick joined me for a morning kayaking from Poolewe. We where lucky enough to see a good number of seals on the rocks and in the water.
David and Trisha where keen to get out on the water and practice some self rescue skills for when they are out paddling. We went through ways to get a capsized paddler back into their boat with the assistance of another boat and ways of helping yourself when faced with no help.
Ian, Allison and William where staying in Poolewe again, William was keen to get out kayaking. We headed out into the bay and practised some skills, looked for wildlife, played some games and had plenty of fun.
A busy day at Tollie Bay, today the Barraclough family and their American friends, the Bradshaw’s, came for a paddle.
It was a good session with lots of fun and games, young Willa did especially well – being the smallest and only 8.
Another session in Poolewe, this time with the Watts. Martin, Katie, Louise and Fred where keen to get out in the kayaks. We set off to improve our skills and hopefully see some wildlife.
We where lucky enough to see seals in the bay, and even a quick glimpse of an otter. Not forgetting some special Loch Ewe Piranhas!
All was going well, but I got the impression that the others ‘helped’ Fred into the water when playing some rafted games.
A morning paddling with the Waddell’s from Poolewe. The family are regulars to the area, staying at their family holiday home in Inverasdale.
Archie, Rebecca and Angus paddled my kayaks whilst Abigail chose to paddle one of their sit on top kayaks.
After a fun session Abigail practised some self rescue skills for when they’re out by themselves.
I’m having to take a little bit of time off from paddling (hopefully not too many days), so sadly I have to disappoint a few folk who wanted to go out. A few days ago I slipped on my local beach and it appears I’ve hurt my ribs a little – yesterdays morning and afternoon of paddling didn’t do it any good (in fact it got progressively worse throughout the day).
I see little point in making it worse at the moment, so with a little relaxing and hopefully healing I plan to be back out on the water after taking it easy for a couple of days. On the plus side… It’s given me plenty of time to get on with this backlog of blog posts and paper work!
Jon, Max and Sam came down to Tollie Bay for a kayak session. They had all kayaked before so it was an easy start to the session, it just took them a short while to get used to the boats. A vicious game of ‘Piranhas’ was had, I think a few where even aimed at my head – but I suspect I got my own back!
We had a good paddle along the upper part of the river Ewe, with all their paddling skills improving as the session went on. At the end of the session we tried out a few challenges, ending with both lads in the loch!
The sun was back when the Gelly family met me at Tollie Bay for a fun mornings paddling. We started the session canoeing, with Keith and young Jamie in one boat and Alison and even younger Ciaran in the other. Both boats managed to paddle around despite the wind blowing up the loch. After a good game of ‘Piranhas’ and testing our balance in the boats we headed to shore for a hot chocolate and swap of boats.
After another paddling briefing on shore we soon took to the water and tested the boats out. Just as we did in the canoes we practised some paddling strokes in preparation for a game or two. Keith was good enough to show his lads how easy it was to fall out of a kayak and how there is no need to worry if you do!
With everyone paddling well we got on with the important stuff – some games! We played the tails game, Ciaran managing to grab my tail in the very end but not without getting very wet! To end the session we tested Jamie and Ciaran’s balancing skills, making them do lots of rafted challenges.
The weather was looking dark but Caroline and Catherine were still keen to get out for a paddle. After a coffee at my house we set off to my local beach in Mellon Charles.
I took the opportunity to throw my self down onto the beach after slipping on a wet rock, I didn’t realise at the time that I had hurt my ribs – maybe if I had I’d have pestered Catherine to have a look at me since she’s a doctor!
We got on the water before the rain started and headed off to see where we got to. Catherine was able to provide lots of power from the back of the canoe due to her regular dragon boat racing, it was just the steering she had to get used to. Caroline was celebrating her birthday today, and what better way to do it than by getting drenched by the rain in a canoe!
The rain this evening was so heavy it washed away part of the single track road south from Gairloch, causing delays and diversions.
Another person that has been holidaying here since he was a lad is Charles Waddell, he now brings his family up on holidays. Today we went paddling in a mixture of boats, we had Charles & Rowan in a canoe and Katie & Robbie both chose to paddle kayaks.
When they are here they stay in Inverasdale, near Firemore beach, so since the weather was with us we chose to paddle from the beach. Katie and Robbie showed off their paddling skill and we paddled around the shore line. We found a cave that I had not seen before, it kept going on and on into the darkness. All 3 kayaks and the canoe where able to fit inside with ease, there was just enough space at the end to turn the kayaks around to ease exiting.
We carried on till we reached one of the family’s favourite beach spots where we had hot chocolate and biscuits, along with a good stretch of the legs.
The journey back was just as interesting, looking up at the coastline from sea level. When we reached Firemore beach again the rain arrived and it seemed like a good time to test Katie and Robbie’s balancing skills and get them swimming!
The Taylor’s where staying in Loch Ewe Cottage in Mellon Charles and had seen one of my adverts and noticed my canoe trailer at home. Linda wandered across one evening to see if she could book some paddling. I was able to fit her in and we chose to paddle from the beach a few hundred metres from here and their cottage.
They all knew what they where doing, so Colin and Linda opted for a canoe whilst Alasdair and Keith chose to try something new and paddle sea kayaks. It turned out that Colin was a marine biologist, so instead of me showing them the sights he showed us what lay beneath us.
Their was one creature that I had never seen before (and promptly forgot what it is called…), anyway here’s a poor picture of it
Chris and Lynne where staying in Mellon Charles on their travels so they thought it would be good to get out paddling to see things from a different level. We paddled from my local beach, and only a few hundred metres from where they where staying at Tranquility B&B.
It turns out Chris is also a scout leader, and in fact knows Rose and Jim (scout leaders) that I took out paddling a couple of weeks ago! We paddled around the rocky shoreline, spotting lots of jelly fish.
The sun kept shining for a while, but dark clouds gathered as we got ready. Helen and Jessica wanted to come out in the kayaks for a paddle from Gairloch Harbour. Helen’s son had brought along a sit on top boat after deciding that he was too good to paddle with us.
They both picked up the skills to turn the boat left and right very quickly – but they did seem to keep practising those turns a lot during the session! Helen decided to overcome her fear of capsizing by, well… capsizing. She did it very well, and worked out how to get back into her boat without too much effort.
We went for a good long paddle, with heavy rain at times making the sea feel nice and warm. The rain made me envious of Helen and Jessica in their wetsuits – maybe I should have put one on too!
Jessica’s brother (sorry, can’t think of your name – it’s not on my piece of paper!) on the sit on top kayak joined us for a game, trying to win by jumping off his kayak – cheat! The session ended with everyone soaked – either from falling in or the rain.
Back over to Gairloch today do canoe and kayak. The Morris family had such a great report from the Wood family (all part of the same family group up here) they wanted to get out with me too. We set out initially in canoes, testing our communication and teamwork skills. After practising our skills we got straight into a good game of ‘Piranhas’, followed by some fun testing rafted games.
After that it was time to stretch the legs and swap to kayaks. We paddled about, leaning just how easy it is to turn the kayaks (often when not wanted!). We played some attack & defend games, then in my pursuit of getting them all soaked we played some rafted games where they had to swam boats along with a host of other challenges. Sadly they where all a bit too good and I had to resort to splashing them with my paddle!
David and Norma are regulars to the area, David has been coming up since he was a child to their family cottage by Aultbea. Since we’d been having a fantastic week of weather with practically no winds their little wayfarer dinghy wasn’t much use so they decided to come out in some kayaks.
We set out from their cottage and paddled along the coastline, getting used to the boats and practising some skills. Despite donning wetsuits from the start neither fell in and they both handled the boats well. They liked just how close in you can get in kayaks, fitting through the smallest gaps to see what’s hidden along the coastline.
