Adventure Blog Scotland | Water » 2008

Wind Farms in the Outer Hebrides

January 25, 2008 on 3:15 pm | In Uncategorized | No Comments

Interesting news today on the BBC web site: (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/highlands_and_islands/7208991.stm)

It is says it looks like Scottish ministers will not approve the massive wind factory development which was in planning for northern Hebridean island of Lewis. Assuming this is correct this is great news for the island’s tourist industry as they were a black cloud hanging over us.

The concern is there is no research or information to say if development of wind farms has any effect on tourism but the anecdotal evidence is there will be a detrimental effect. Assuming the value of tourism to our economy of over £35 million even a 10% downturn would be very bad for us.

All we need to do now is to get those in charge to realise we are not against wind farms per say but massive ones, ones defacing areas of outstanding natural beauty or in environmentally sensitive areas.

Tim Pickering
http://www.canoehebrides.com
Living in the world's biggest adventure playground - The Outer Hebrides CanoeHebrides.com - Sea kayaking Expeditions BikeHebrides.com -Quality Mountain Bike Hire

EVEREST FOR EVERYONE

January 8, 2008 on 6:49 pm | In Surfing, Uncategorized | 1 Comment

OK, this has absolutely nothing to do with surfing or watersports, but I couldn’t help but comment on the following…

French outdoor gear manufacturers Millet are running a competition with the first prize being the chance to summit Everest.There will be requirements of the winner that they do possess the potential to get to the top of the world (one wonders what these may be - getting to the top of your stairs without a tea break, perhaps?) but egad, how the mighty have fallen (by which I mean Everest).

Who could have imagined that one day the summit of the world’s highest mountain would become the prize in a competition? Whatever shine was left on this once great prize in mountaineering has now, surely, faded and died.

What next? Big Brother on Denali? Xtreme-Factor on K2?

God almighty, I wish I’d been born in the days of Whymper and co. - at least the mountains had some mystery and dignity about them then…

Alf Alderson
http://www.alfalderson.co.uk
Multi-award-winning freelance journalist and author of Surf UK - the definitive guide to surfing in Britain.

HERE COMES THE SUN

January 8, 2008 on 3:06 pm | In Surfing | No Comments

It may not feel like it, but right now we’re heading away from dark and dismal mid-winter to the more cheering days of summer – and for those of us who spend our leisure time up to our necks (and frequently more) in the water, that can only be good news.

Scotland in particular gets a raw deal in the cold season, for not only are the air and water temperatures the lowest in Britain, the good citizens of Cornwall also enjoy almost two hours more daylight in mid-winter than those equally fine individuals residing in the north of Scotland.

The sun in Penzance shows its head above the horizon at 8.21am on midwinter day, whilst you’ll be gazing east for another 43 minutes before you see those warming rays lighten up the sky if you’re in Wick. Likewise, sunset down south was at 4.20pm on December 21, but up in Wick it had already been dark for an hour by then.

This is probably even worse news for surfers than the cold temperatures. After all, a good wettie will see you through pretty much anything, but if its pitch black you’re scuppered – and worst of all is when you surf a break that only really works at a particular stage of the tide…

Let’s say your favourite break goes off at high tide, and high tide on an especially good mid-winter swell in northern Scotland happens to occur at 3.15pm that day. Well, you’d better have your waterproof headtorch ready if you want to make the most of it since you have two minutes of daylight left and you won’t be catching it the following morning either unless you’re a total lunatic (perhaps literally…).

But were you in, say, Sennen, you’d still have over an hour of daylight left for that afternnon session. Not fair is it…?

However, let’s zoom forward six months. On those same tide times you could catch that 3.15pm session no problem in Caithness, and unlike Cornwall, you could even surf the morning high tide in twilight too.

And that’s where Scotland truly comes into it’s own for surfers (and anyone else who likes to play outdoors for that matter). There are very few places in the world, after all, where you can (if you have the stamina) surf for over eighteen hours a day.

Indeed, in some ways you don’t have any choice. I remember once staying in a caravan outside Thurso in June when the threadbare curtains were allowing daylight to stream through the windows almost before I’d even gone to bed. By 4.30am it was pointless trying to get any sleep so what better to do than go surfing?

And if money is tight – as it was on that occasion – we saved our beer tokens by being out in the waves when last orders were called. And I know which I’d rather be doing…

So, surfers of Scotland, be not of faint heart, for summer is acoming. By my calculations you’re getting an extra 122.5 minutes of daylight per month between now and mid-June, which is 30.6 minutes a week or 4.37 minutes a day.

And those extra 4.37 daily minutes should be enough for at least one more wave per session…

Alf Alderson
http://www.alfalderson.co.uk
Multi-award-winning freelance journalist and author of Surf UK - the definitive guide to surfing in Britain.

Insurance Rant

January 6, 2008 on 1:08 pm | In Uncategorized | 1 Comment

It seems to me that the insurance companies are making being in business difficult. The cynical part of me thinks because the car and house insurance market is so cut throat they are hiking up the prices to businesses who have no choice to have insurance to be in business.

I have been looking at the figures for being in business this coming year and the biggest running expense is insurance. So I called in the insurance company to see what I could do about reducing the cost. The conversation went something like this:

‘My current premium is £… and I would like to reduce it?’

‘You are a limited company?’

‘Yes’

‘If you go back to being a sole trader then you will have exactly the same cover and it will be half the price.’

‘What, so I become a sole trader again and I will have exactly the same level of cover and pay half the premium?’

‘Yes’

Well as you can imagine I was a little taken aback by this.

I have the feeling I am being ripped off … The big problem there are to my knowledge only two companies who will provide cover.

What would be good is if I could buy insurance for a client when the trip starts and I would know the exact cost per person per day. I remember buying a Carte Niege when skiing to cover the cost of getting off the mountain if you had an accident, wouldn’t it be nice if you could do the same to get the relevant level of insurance for adventurous activities.

Bliadhna Mhath Ur

January 3, 2008 on 9:59 pm | In Uncategorized | No Comments

Bliadhna Mhath Ur - Happy New Year

We had a party in the barn, laid out tables, served lamb hot pot and organic salmon, a couple of barrels of Hebridean Ale (Seaforth Ale and Moo Coo), there was music and singing, the children played until the wee hours, some rockets were launched and apparently the festivities ended at about six in the morning. I was tucked up in bed way before that though.

Anna and Alex playing at the 2008 New Years bash

New Years Day saw a few bleary eyes and I am not sure how, although I blame Mike, it was suggested a swim in the sea would clear the head.

Gress beach was decided and towels found. The evidence is below and it did clear the head. Note: Mike is the one wearing the black wet suit !

New Year Swim