Orkney, A Slightly Longer Paddle

I decided to make the most of the calm weather and lack of swell and planned a big trip for myself. Setting out from Stromness I paddled all the way round Hoy and back to Stromness again, a total of 62km.

Setting out I managed to get a little tidal assistance through Clestrain Sound and Bring Deeps, passing the islands of Cava, Rysa Little, Fara, Flotta and Switha to reach the eastern most point at Cantick Head. There were numerous reminders of the importance of this area during wartime with gun emplacements positioned to keep the unwanted out of Scapa Flow.

I stopped for lunch at a small inlet where overhanging cliffs meant I could shelter from the rain. It had been raining on and off ever since I set out and by now I was getting a bit fed up of hood up, hood down, hood up, hood down etc. etc.
From South Walls I sat on a roller coaster of big round green waves, shoving me faster and faster towards Torr Ness. The next section of coastline was a committing stretch of high cliffs, hollow with caves and deep geos. A rock stack, called the needle towered above me as I paddle round its base, my neck aching from staring skywards for so long. The geo nearby was so deep that it was dark at the back, the walls green and slimy. As I paddled past, the rocks were alternately bright red and yellow, with the occasional streak of green, where freshwater trickled down from above.

As I approached Rackwick the wind funnelled through the valley caught me by surprise and it was as much as I could do to paddle across the bay. In my mind I was going through the possible contingencies including stopping for the night, but after a short while on the beach, the wind died down and I felt able to continue.
At Rora Head I was again hit by the wind, but this time it was head on, and was to continue for the rest of the trip, sometimes strong enough to prevent forward progress at all. Having been spoiled by the beauty of the cliffs further south, I was a little underwhelmed by the cliffs around the Old Man of Hoy. All that remained was a long slog against the wind until Hoy Sound, which I reached just after it had turned in my favour. The final stint into Stromness was straightforward, and I reached my start point some 9 ½ hours after setting out.

Orkney, A little Warm-Up paddle

With the plan to be on Orkney for the 'Paddle orkney' symposium I though it would be a good idea to travel a week early and explore the area. I Caught the early morning ferry from Scrabster which passed close under the Old Man of Hoy. The flat sea and imposing cliffs were inspiring me to get out on the water. The ferry reached Hoy sound just at the peak of its flow and did a neat break out into the bay at Stromness.
I set out for a short warm up paddle, round Graemsay from Stromness just after HW slack. Hoy sound was already running fast with breaking waves at its seaward end. There was a roaring noise just to remind me not to get complacent. Round the back of the island, Burra sound was running at full pelt and the seals were just waiting for dinner to be brought to them on the tide. I managed to pick my way from eddy to eddy against the flow, reaching the eastern end of the island from where a giant ferry glide got me back to Stromness. Conditions were flat calm, and Hoy sound was running at about 8 knots. A perfect introduction to Orkney kayaking.
13km paddled.

The Menai Challenge

The Menai Challenge is a time trial set up by John Willacy, with details on his performance sea kayak website. It's a 20km course in the Menai Straights, with an extra lap of the Swellies for added fun. It is as much a tidal planning exercise as a sprint.

Being the competitive person that I am, I just had to give it a go. Friday was a fairly small tide, but I haven't yet worked out how much advantage a big tide is (if any) due to the upstream section in the Swellies. As I was alone, I decided to do it twice in one day to avoid having to find a way back to my car.

At a precicely calculated time (that I'm not going to reveal in order to aid my competitors) I set off from a small slipway opposite Caernarfon, heading for Gallows point at the northern end of the straights. As I reached Menai bridge, I realised my calculations were a bit out as I ran out of water at the turn under the bridge. With a bit of a scrape and hands on rocks I managed to pull my boat through a narrow gap and continue, now against the flow back to Britannia Bridge. Having not really studied the tidal flow in the swellies I made a number of errors in route finding and ended up paddling further against the current that really necessary. It was relief to get to the bridge, turn and paddle downstream again. By Gallows point I was absolutely shattered and had to wait several minutes before I could get out of my boat. The time was 1hr 55 minutes. Not fast enough, but plenty of room for improvement.

I then had to wait several hours in the sun for the tide to turn so that I could make the return journey. I sat and watched as the yachts on moorings swang round indicating arrival of the water from Puffin Island. I felt well rested and was watching the GPS closely for an early indication of speed. As I realised that a fast time was possible, it gave me a real boost to try harder and I finally clocked a time of 1hr 48mins, just inside the fastest time so far.

I'm sure others will soon post faster times but for now I'm quite pleased with my efforts.

South to North

North to South

Another weekend in the sun

Fantastic conditions for supervising another Duke of Edinburgh's award group, paddling near Oban.

6th Storm Gathering, I'm going, are you?

Duke of Edinburgh's Award Silver Expedition

Last weekend I supervised a group of girls undertaking a sea kayak journey for their Silver Duke of Edinburgh's award. The weather was perfect; sunny and calm and the scenary was stunning as only Scotland can be. here is where we went.

The group paddled well and completed one of the best expeditions I have accompanied. I wish them well with their plans for Gold.

A great week away

It's not often that a week of planned paddling coaching coincides with a week of fantastic weather, but that is exactly what happened last week.
I had a group of six people, all intent on learning to sea kayak and explore the best of the west coast of Scotland. Conditions were just perfect; enough wind to keep the midges away but not enough to affect our choice of paddling venues.

We were able to visit Shuna, Lismore and Castle Stalker, Arisaig, Loch Ailort, and play on the tide race beneath Ballachulish Bridge. All in all, a most enjoyable week.