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→
Raasay Day 1
After a four-and-a-half-hour drive in my campervan, I finally made it to my destination: a John Muir Trust car park near Torrin on the Isle of Skye. I opted for this car park because: a) it was only a 20–25-minute drive to the ferry port at Sconser; b) the car park had toilets open 24...Continue reading→
HCC Evening Session
As I needed to have a chat with Gordon regarding a trip I'm planning, I decided to meet Gordon down at the Royal Northern and Clyde Yacht Club (RNCYC) at the Tuesday Evenings club session. Rather than faff about with putting the roof rack on the car, loading my boat etc I decided it was...Continue reading→
Gare Loch Helensburgh
A flat calm and very wet training paddle out in the Taran, from the Kirk Brae slipway on Gare Loch to Helensburgh and return. 7.8nm (9.3 miles) 1 hour 46 minutes (Average speed = 5.3 mph) GPS track
Maidens to Dunure and return – A DCKC Peer Trip
At Tuesday's DCKC Loch Lomond session I told Iain, I probably wouldn't make it on the Maidens trip planned for Thursday. I have been having a few car issues of late, with my car mysteriously going into limp mode every now and again. Wednesday morning, out of frustration with the garage "who will not be...Continue reading→
DCKC Lomond night
When I was paddling at Luss a few weeks ago, Drumchapel and Clydebank Kayak Club (DCKC) were out in force. I decided to join the club as they all seemed very keen and a nice group of people. I was also reading at the time, Robin Lloyd-Jones book called Argonauts of the Scottish Isles, and...Continue reading→
Loch Goil with HCC
This trip was led and organised by Stuart. We set off from the now redundant Finnart Oil Terminal, also known as Finnart Ocean Terminal. With Loch Long being a deep water loch, this oil terminal could take oil tankers up to 324,000 tonnes. The oil was discharged here and pipped all the way across Scotland,...Continue reading→
Kilcreggan – Cake & Coffee Denied
It was one of those days when you seem to be constantly battling into the wind and swell, regardless of the direction you are travelling. Setting off from the Kirk Brae slipway, I headed into the wind and swell. By the time I'd reached Rhu narrows, the wind was coming at me from the south...Continue reading→
Evening Kayak to Garelochhead (with a bit of fishing on return)
I missed out on the HCC Tuesday night paddle and as such I was itching to get out on the water. I also fancied trying to see if there were any Mackerel in the loch, so I took along my hand reel and some Mackerel lures. I paddled my Romany Surf as this boat is...Continue reading→
Loch Sunart Camping trip with HCC
Day 1 I picked up Gordon from his house in Helensburgh, before driving the 100 miles to Resipole Farm Holiday Park, on Loch Sunart. At Resipole Farm Holiday Park we met up with Al, who had set off earlier from Dumbarton and was already waiting for us at the slipway. After quickly loading our boats,...Continue reading→
A Fully Loaded “Irn Bru” Test
With an imminent camping trip coming up, I thought I had better find out a) what kit I can get in my Romany Surf "Irn-Bru" and b) what paddling my Romany Surf "Irn-Bru" would be like when it is fully loaded with all my camping gear. So with everything packed into dry bags, weighed and...Continue reading→
