DCKC Loch Goil
A message popped up on the WhatsApp DCKC Sea/Loch Peer Group: "Meeting 10.30 this Saturday at Divers' Layby, Finnart, for paddle to Ardgarten, Arrochar and back . Winds low and tide assist. Let me know if intend coming. Iain." I let Iain know I would be there, afterall the diver's lay-by is all of a...Continue reading→
Sea Kayak Demo’ing with Dave
A good friend of mine, Dave, is looking at buying a sea kayak. He asked me what he should buy, to which I replied, “You really need to try as many boats as you can for yourself.” Having established that he is looking for a general-purpose sea kayak, one that will do for one or...Continue reading→
Bute
I finally managed to get a lap of Bute in last Friday/Saturday, 21st/22nd August, paddling my fully laden Taran, “Disco Boy”. I also managed two laps of the Perch Beacon: one on the way to Bute and another on the return journey. For some crazy reason, I set off from the slipway near where I...Continue reading→
HCC Club Night
Tuesday night was club night with Helensburgh Canoe Club. According to the earlier email, we would be meeting at the Royal Northern and Clyde Yacht Club (RNCYC) at 19:00. I decided to paddle down the Gareloch from my house and meet the club at the RNCYC. The tide was on its way out, which accounted...Continue reading→
Lochgoilhead
It was raining when I left home to travel the 6 miles to the "A Frames Dive Site" at the now-disused Finnart Oil Terminal on Loch Long. By the time I reached the car park, the rain had eased off a bit, but it was all a bit misty. At least it was nice and...Continue reading→
The Sugarboat with a bit of fishing
Having spent the morning with my chainsaw and chipper, chopping trees and processing the branches, I decided to take the afternoon off and head out in the Taran. It was a beautiful day, after all. With no particular plan in mind, I headed across to Clynder to gain some shelter from the wind blowing up...Continue reading→
HCC Club Night Loch Long
What a wet day. It did nothing but pour down all day long. Consequently, when I arrived at the HCC boat containers at the RNCYC, I wondered if anyone was actually going to turn up. But then Steve arrived, closely followed by Kate. With a club boat loaded onto Steve's car, we set off for...Continue reading→
Mull: Loch Scridain Evening Paddle with Russ
Russ was keen for another paddle the following evening. I nearly said no, but I was so glad I didn't! This evening we decided to head around Loch Scridain in a different direction. It was a gorgeous evening. The ever present wind was still blowing though, creating a choppy swell with hard going into the...Continue reading→
Mull: Loch Scridain Evening Paddle with Russ
We were having a lovely relaxing afternoon on the Port Nan Gael campsite, when I saw another camper van with a Rockpool Taran on its roof come into the campsite. This is not something you see every day, so I went to say hello to the owner, explaining I also own a Taran, but I...Continue reading→
Mull: Loch Scridain Morning paddle with Mrs T
With the passing of our Greyhound Gemma, we decided to get away from it all and headed for a short break on Mull. We stopped for a couple of nights in our campervan at the rather excellent Port Nan Gael campsite on the Ross of Mull, next to Loch Scridain. The weather was brilliant, hot...Continue reading→
Raasay Day 3
Having been awoken in the night by the hum emanating from the ship in the bay, I surfaced from my tent. Looking at the MarineTraffic app, I looked up the ship's details. It was a wellboat called the Inter Alba. The Inter Alba is basically a salmon farm within a ship. It is Scotland's largest...Continue reading→
Raasay Day 2
Waking up at about 4am in the morning, I stuck my head out of the tent – it was already light. The view of the Sound, "Caol Rona", didn't look great from a paddling perspective. Looking at the wind and swell coming through the Sound, I could see that going around Rona would be a...Continue reading→
