Adventure Blog Scotland | Water

Loch Seaforth Wave

March 2, 2009 on 10:51 pm | In Whitewater Kayaking, Surfing, Sea Kayaking | No Comments

Sunday afternoons when the forecast is not great but when there is four metres of tidal difference provide only one source of amusement. The wave at Loch Seaforth on the border of Lewis and Harris. With the tide falling through a narrow gap and over a shelf it creates a wave which can be surfed in a river kayak. The perfectly positioned island provides the ‘tripod’ for the camera and the tea breaks. With the rest of the island getting rain and hail we seem to strick lucky and it missed. I will let the pictures tell the story:

Mike Surf

Jamie Surf

Mike Surf

Jamie Chasing the Rainbow

Mike Rainbow

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

Discounted Adventure in Scotland

September 8, 2008 on 1:52 pm | In Sea Kayaking, Surfing, Whitewater Rafting, Canoeing, River Bugging, Open Canoeing, Canyoning, Cliff Jumping, Coasteering, Kayak Surfing, Body Boarding | No Comments

The new VisitScotland Adventure Pass offers some fantastic savings on adventure sports and activities in Scotland.

Offers include buy one get one free so why not try surfing in East Lothian, canoeing near Inverness, white water rafting in Perthshire or sea kayaking in Shetland to name a few.

To claim your vouchers log on to www.visitscotland.com/adventurepass

Surfing in Scotland

Gillian Thompson
http://www.visitscotland.com/adventure
Works with adventure sports in Scotland and has a keen interest in keeping fit and walking and a new passion for surfing.

O’ch, ye’ll be awrite!

August 31, 2008 on 3:15 pm | In Sea Kayaking | No Comments

‘Gees, man…just don’t show your chattering teeth’…was all that was really going through my mind in an attempt to look like I’m fairly at ease with the thought of Kayaking for the first time in my own single kayak. That however, wasn’t so much of the issue. More like the looming surety that my fellow work colleagues (who are all either Kayak Instructors, enthusiasts and pedantic paddlers) would tire of my lame ability to keep up with the team. It’s an issue for me doing any water sports, probably because I cannot swim and have a real fear of deep water and drowning. Pretty lame for a 25 year old that works for an outdoor company. My worries drifted however, almost as sweetly as the Easky took to the water in Lamlash Bay. Before I knew it, I was picking up the manoeuvring techniques (with some tips from the guys) and realised that it was pretty easy to change directions, control the boat particularly on such a tranquil sea! The prior niggle of me having to play catch-up all the way wasn’t such an issue after all. With this thought in mind, I really noticed how everything at sea is illuminated, sounds and textures more prominent. Your eyes awaken to the wildlife, you ‘zone out’ to the distant sound of birds, waves and wind. Not as rigorous as you may think this Kayaking business. Not when you are out in a group. The social aspect kicks in, everyone goes out of crunch mode and into a more laid back, ‘all the time in the world’ persona, which is really what I dig from coastal tours. Cruising along whilst nattering away to your friends can produce some of the most interesting but equally pointless conversations. You can also have jellyfish counting competitions, if you run out of stuff to say. The only moment of regret I would say was when my ever-growing puddle on my spray skirt finally burst through the fabric. Silly me, for thinking my non-waterproofs would handle the outing. My strokes were a bit high so I guess I was asking for it, the water dripping from my paddle each time onto my lap. Not so bad though, when we reached our destination (Bar Eden in Whiting Bay), the fillet steak arrived on the table in no time. The sun was going down, the muscles were ready for a good sleep. The sogginess was somehow all worth it in the end.

Suzanne Sell
http://www.arranadventure.com
Working for the Arran Adventure Company. Sea kayaking sorts me out! There are some fantastic coastal locations to explore around the Isle of Arran and it has become so popular that there is a thriving new club that meets on a weekly basis.

Busy Busy Busy

July 13, 2008 on 8:25 pm | In Sea Kayaking, Uncategorized | No Comments

As I have written before, it is that time of year again when I am flat out, nose to the grind stone. Last week saw me out paddling with clients in Loch Roag for four days, then two days of powerboat training and still trying to keep up with the office work. Saturday was mostly a write off as I spent it doing the accounts !

Today I managed to get out for a run on the moors out to the back of the village with Alex, it was pure pleasure although the pain of running just made the colours more vivid.

As you become familar with a place you start to notice the smaller things. The heather is starting bloom and the purples are, even in todays flat light, so vivid and in such a contrast to the browns and greens of the moor. The butter cups are out, looking like a yellow paint brush has been dappled across the crofts and this year there seems to be huge amounts of ‘bog cotton’ giving the appearance of patches of snow across the landscape.

After the paddling there are a few pictures (there were over two hundred before the edit) here a couple of the nice ones: Footsteps on the baech

Little Bernera Beach

The Caribbean?

Graveyard Little Bernera

Sunset

Sunset over Old Hill

The weather is back to normal

June 30, 2008 on 10:00 pm | In Sea Kayaking | No Comments

The fantastic run of sun has come to an end, we are back to weather systems scurrying through with the attendant fronts. Although it has the downside of some wet stuff falling from the sky there is the stunning cloudscapes which come through the sunshine and showers. I am also reminded we live in the land of rainbows.

I have a couple of days inside as I am doing a wilderness first aid course and I am looking forwards to learning some new stuff, vacuum splints and oxygen, great for the hangover I hear.

I have a weekend of paddling in prospect with clients flying in on Thursday for a trip out into the wilds. I am just going to look at the forecast and see what is in prospect.

There are a variety of places we look for our weather; I usually start with the met office and the inshore forecast and the European pressure forecast. This I follow with a look at Magic Seaweed which gives me an idea of the swell (it is a forecast for surfers, then I wake up Ugrib which is a global forecasting system, after you have downloaded the piece fo software, you highlight the area you want the forecast for and it gives you the pressure, wind speed and precipitation and so far we have found it reasonably accurate when stirred in with the other forecasts.

I might also look at wind guru/wind map which gives a good idea of the wind in Stornoway.

So good luck forecasting

Sea Kayaking on Arran

June 25, 2008 on 12:06 pm | In Sea Kayaking | 1 Comment

I took to the water on Arran in my frst ever experience of sea kayaking. I took an introductory course with Arran Adventure Company along with another nine people. We headed to Brodick beach to unload the kayaks from the van and I was lucky enough to share a kayak.

We were given a brief introduction into how to balance and sit correctly and how to use the paddles. Then it was time to get into the water.

At first I was quite nervous but it really is quite difficult to tip up a two man kayak.

The experience was amazing and really made you feel close to nature. At one point the water was so clam that it was as though we were on a sheet of galss and the reflections off the mountains were stunning. We were also joined by three seals which was lovely.

I would recommend this as an adventure sprt for beginners as I felt really safe and will definitely do it again. We kayaked from Brodick to Corrie along the coast of Arran and it was the perfect length of two hours.

Gillian Thompson
http://www.visitscotland.com/adventure
Works with adventure sports in Scotland and has a keen interest in keeping fit and walking and a new passion for surfing.

Wet Sunday Afternoons in Lewis

June 22, 2008 on 3:40 pm | In Sea Kayaking | No Comments

Finally, I find myself in front of the desk top with all the pictures, I know I should be working but driving rain in the North Easterly gale has sent me to the photos to remember how it can be (and was yesterday). So just a few from the last couple of weeks some pleasure, some work (although when the weather is good the line is blurred)

Flowers Barra

Sea kayak

Stornoway Harbour

Flowers Barra

Stornoway Harbour

Tobson

Pabbay

Mangasta

Oban to Stornoway

June 13, 2008 on 8:37 pm | In Sea Kayaking, Uncategorized | No Comments

I have returned from what was a long weekend. From where I left off:

I am afraid it looks like I am off on a rant.

Oban is an odd place if you come from the Outer Hebrides, it is stuffed full of tourists. It seemed the world and his wife ride there on their motorbikes, which for me as a petrol-head makes for a great spectator sport.

I had dinner in the EE-Usk restaurant on the front, the place was great and the service was OK however no one asked me if the meal was good, they just took my card ran it through the machine and wanted me out to get the next set of customers in and I am sorry to say the fish wasn’t cooked, sad because the part which was, tasted fantastic.

The Sunday saw us roll up at Kilbowie for the 4* conversion course. A quick history as I understand it:

The BCU, British Canoe Union, have restructured their awards for personal paddling skills and the way the coaching scheme is done, I am not saying it wasn’t needed but the way it has been done has left a lot of paddlers wondering if they should bother.

There are two sides to the scheme the personal skills side are the star tests which are a measure of how competent you are in your personal paddling and the other is the coaching scheme to develop your abilities to teach paddling.

We spent the morning talking with Gordon Brown of Skayak Adventures who has been writing most of the elements. I saw his notes and they made perfect sense, I then read the BCU guidelines and they is seems had been written by a dyslexic monkey.

I sit in an odd position as I am a professional guide but most of my coaching is done through Stornoway Canoe Club. This means I need the coaching qualifications for the club rather than the business. The guiding qualifications for the business, now I have them, never go out of date but the coaching ones I have to get renewed - annually.

So here is the rub, I don’t have to pay anything to do my professional work but I have to pay to be validated for the ones I use as a volunteer…

We were under the impression we were going to attend the course and then we would be able to carry on assessing 4* in the same way we have for the last ten years, but no. We have to watch a training course being run, we have to watch an assessment being done and we have to do an orientation day to teach navigation and then we have to have someone watch us run an assessment - minimum seven days. Oh and we can’t double up, so each one has to be for each person seperately. I am likely to only to use this for the club so how is the club going to finance four of us through this?

So, if we chose not to do it? No new 4* paddlers in the club, it is a pre-requisite for becoming a coach or guide in these waters so no new qualified coaches or guides unless they are prepared to travel to the mainland and pay for a minimum of four day coaching and a two day assessment just to get to the door.

I believe the BCU have got this seriously wrong and they risk alienating clubs. The clubs are the breeding ground for new paddlers who go on to become the coaches of the future. Sea kayaking is growing sport and shouldn’t we be making it accessable not more expensive and difficult?

It wasn’t all bad on a personal level, the afternoon was spent paddling in the tide race at the Falls of Lora under the Connell Bridge, I was trying to work out the last time I paddled there and it was over 15 year ago in a rotabat, (which older paddlers will remember). I got trashed then and so nothing changes except the trashings leave you aching more the next day.

The Falls of Lora are a tide race created under the bridge where the contents of Loch Etive and its tributary lochs empty through a narrow gap. There is a shelf and when the water rushes over it creates huge (and scarey) hydrolic feature. This includes on the right tides, a big standing wave followed by a massive wave train, some very exciting boils and whirlpools. It makes for a great spectator sport from the dry warmth of the bank. There is web site Falls of Lora where all the details of when it is working at its best can be found and some pictures, I was too busy trying to stay in the boat to get the camera out!

Gordon gave us some excellent pointers on using the water there for coaching.

So was it worth the club spending over £600 for the three of us to go there? The jury is still out, it was great to paddle and good to get up to speed with Gordon was very useful (as always) but in terms of coach development …

West Coast Paddling

April 21, 2008 on 9:31 pm | In Sea Kayaking | No Comments

Before the weekend’s paddling there is great news today, the Scottish Government have seen sense and not granted permission for the wholesale industrialisation of the Lewis landscape.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/highlands_and_islands/7358315.stm

We had probably one of the best paddles I have ever been on this Sunday. With the easterly winds blowing for the last week we have almost no swell running into the west coast. This allows the exploration of the wilder sections of coast and they don’t get much wilder than the coast around Mangasta.

mangasta

So we launched from Mangasta beach and headed north through the sea stacks, rocky skerries and caves, below Screaming Geo where there were some climbers having an equally awesome day up andround Mangasta Island.

Murty paddling

The island has a cave which passes right through the middle, it is just a boats width and there was just too much swell to go through, at least if you wanted to still be in the boat at the other end and not swimming in smashed fibreglass.

With wall to wall bule sky and blazing sun we pulled up on a tiny beach at the bottom of a boulder beach and had some lunch, it was difficult to leave but Aird Breanish was calling.

Rob and sea stack

The character of the coast here changes and doesn’t have the huge soaring cliffs, it is equally unfriendly but it is the slooping rocks and the sucking holes which appear at the bottom when the waves slide back which bring the terror. There a miriad of passages and sea stakes to paddle round and explore.

Alex with wave over rocks

This is a very exposed headland with no escapes but as you round it you arrive at a white sand beach tucked at the back of a corner, time for more coffee and if you are wearing a dry suit a swim!?!

Hauling out at the end the sun was so warm while the run back was fetching the cars there was some sleeping in the sun to be caught.

get out

Kelp Warriors in Harris

April 10, 2008 on 9:15 pm | In Sea Kayaking | No Comments

After a week in Uist grounded by bad weather it didn’t bode well for Saturday’s paddle with more wind and snow showers forecast. So when I drove off the ferry and up to Am Bothan (the bunk house in Leverburgh) to met Ruari it was blowing well and bitterly cold.

Paddling out of Fodabay

After Benny had fed us with strong coffee to steel us for the weather, we put in at the back of his house in the bays of Harris. It was straight into the gates of hell except it was cold not hot and the wind was howling. Once we were out of the bay we found some shelter from the cliffs and the sun came out. It could have been spring but for the stinging pain every time the water touched your skin.

Paddling back drop of Harris

We headed south and pulled out for a bite to eat at Lingabay, I had never been there in a boat before and wow is the only way I can describe it. The back of the island has a lagoon with a sandy bottom and the contrast of the azure water next to the brown of the rocks with the snow capped mountains behind was just what I needed after a hard week inside. Ruari was telling us how they mined the felspar for explosives during the war there and then we were overflown by a juvenile sea eagle.

Paddling Lingabay

Paddling out was interesting battling through the kelp.

Battleing through the kelp

We poked into Rodel and with the big spring tides, it was time to jump out of the boat for a short portage into Loch Rodel and then on to Renish Point.

Round the point we were faced with the wind in our faces and by now it was freshening and to say it was a hard slog would not be putting too strong a case. I was exhausted and hurting by the time we reached the Anchorage. Thank goodness they were open for the first time this season and so tea and buns was the order of the day. Benny was hungry so it was a large slice of chocolate cake, scampi and chips and then more chocolate cake.

Paddling Harris

A great day paddling an unexpected gem.