Deserted Beaches

August 12, 2007 on 10:12 pm | In Surfing, Kayak Surfing, Body Boarding | No Comments

The end of another week and the pace hasn’t slacked. Anna was playing at Piping Live in Glasgow this week so I have been playing with the kids and having adventures. It does mean I didn’t do much work.

We spent Friday at the Cliff Beach on the Valtos penisula. Tooled up with wet suits, boogie boards and a sit on kayak we hit the surf. If you were in the south of England there would have been hundreds if not thousands of people fighting for a piece of the sand. We were on the beach on our own. Surf, sun and solitude

Using a sit on was great for the kids in the small surf and gave a very forgiving platform for them to experiment with paddling on waves. These make getting on the water very accessable but this comes with inherent dangers - ‘the sea in a fickle mistress’, the surf is very powerful.

If you are using a sit on top in surf then you need to be aware if you fall off the surf will take the craft and hurtle it at the beach squashing everything in the way. If you are going to be in anything deeper than your waist a bouyancy aid is a must and you should be asking if you need one even if you are just going for a little paddle.

It was Koren’s first trip out in her new wet suit and armed with her new boogie board. I stood on the beach and remembered the first time I used a board, it was plywood and I used it on a beach in Devon (rather longer ago than I care to admit). I still remember the cold but the rush … Koren’s face was picture the first wave she caught and I suspect we have another adict in the family.

We are very spoilt here in Lewis and Harris with breaks facing in all directions of compass and the gulf stream servicing us with warm waters. The surf here is world class, Mark Lumsden who runs Lewis Surf Trek has some great pictures and as a professional film maker he made a dvd called Cold Rush featuring footage shot round the north coast of Scotland.

Catching your first wave.

Tim Pickering
http://www.canoehebrides.com
My regular mantra - Everyone should visit the Outer Hebrides, it is the extreme outdoor capital of Scotland. CanoeHebrides.com - Sea kayaking Expeditions BikeHebrides.com -Quality Mountain Bike Hire