Adventure Blog Scotland

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.

One of the those days in the Minch

July 18, 2008 on 12:22 pm | In Powerboating and Jet boating, Uncategorized | 3 Comments

I guess we all have those days when you leave the house thinking you are going to do one thing and come back thinking ‘did that really just happen?’

On Wednesday morning I left the house with a small packed lunch and headed over the top of the island towards Uig. The week had been a bit confused with the weather forcing me to cancel a day of sea kayaking with clients, it was too windy. So I was driving over to go out and learn the ropes on Murray’s new boat Lochlann. I am skippering her at the beginning of August for a few days.

Alongside this I had a job as safety adviser to a TV company (www.mojatv.co.uk) to cover the crew filming Naill Iain Macdonald on his attempt to row across the Minch. I was not responsible for the safety of the crossing just the film crew.

At Miavaig, I was drinking tea and catching up with Murray, who owns SeaTrek, before he was due to go off to drive his RIB with the film crew to capture the start of Niall Iain’s trip. It was one of those; the weather, which forced me to cancel, had forced them to cancel. So chaos rained. I had had several long conversations late in the previous evenings with Kenny from MojaTV about what was going to happen.

Then we heard from the TV crew the attempt was going ahead but there was no safety boat to shadow Niall Iain. This put Murray and I in a difficult position as Murray would be returning with the film crew and in the worse case, the crossing went wrong, the question would be asked of Murray and I why Niall Iain was left alone? So I called the TV company and let them know I would not let Murray follow the trip as I felt it was unsafe not to have safety cover.

This threw a spanner in the works and a flurry of phone calls followed. The eventual up shot was the boat with the TV crew would return to Stornoway, drop off the crew, then go back out to provide the safety cover for the rest of the crossing. The problem now was Murray needed a guarantee to be back for 5pm on Thursday. So I drew the job of driving the boat, a quick call home and then an urgent call for crew. Anna’s brother John Alec was home and he has boat driving experience so the press gang were sent round to collect him.

By 1300 we were sitting outside the harbour with a TV crew and the boat going up and down like the proverbial bucking bronco.

After running the crew back to dry land, John Alec and I settled down to crossing the Minch at 3 knots (3 nautical miles per hour) 42 miles (we did wonder if this was a record for the slowest powered crossing).

The first few hours were fine as we pootled round the boat getting settled in and everything sorted. There is only so much interest you can get from watching seabirds and someone rowing, eventually resulting in creeping boredom.

We tried to find a drum to create a beat for Niall Iain to row faster. We ran through all the songs to do with rowing and began to come up with scenarios to end it faster. They were funny at the time; ‘Micheal Row Your Boat Ashore’ and John Alec suggestion of the Gaelic song ‘S truagh nach do dh’fhuirich mi tioram air tir’ which translates to ‘Shame I didn’t stay on dry land’.

As the sun set we watched Niall Iain become weary and the pain start to set in. His rowing slowed and the rests grew in length. He was being pushed in the right direction by the wind but his speed decreased.

John Alec and I sat, drank tea and ate crisps. We had made a decision, as Niall Iain wanted to do a solo trip, to not speak to him unless it concerned safety. It is hard to watch someone sit with their head in their hands in obvious distress.

The night drew on and eventually we arrived at the Summer Isles. The wind had dropped and the drizzle had set in. It was unpleasant.

Niall Iain struggled with tiredness. I think he was unable to decide his route through the islands and so time for a ‘ powernap’. While he was sleeping John Alec and I were sitting, hoods up, nursing a cup of tea when within 15 feet of Niall Iain’s boat a Minke Whale (BalaenopteramAcutorostrata) blew and there was a small pod of harbour porpoises (phocoena phocoena) feeding near by.

The sun brightened the air but mist held it heavy about us.

As the rowing continued we entered the mouth of Loch Broom and slowly from behind us the weather started to clear with the scenery of the Loch gradually being revealed from under a blanket.

As we passed the islands guarding the mouth proper, we were treated to a pod of short beaked common dolphins (Delphinus delphis) feeding round us and as we put some speed on to move away they began to bow ride. With the boat moving, it creates a pressure wave at the front and the dolphins surf this, jumping out of the water and swooping in from the side of the boat. It is spectacular display and never fails to raise my pulse rate.

Finally we arrived at the pier in Ullapool and an exhausted Niall Iain was whisked away in a media scrum.

We, meantime, nipped to the cafe, ate a hearty breakfast, at two in the afternoon, checked the boat over and set off. If only it was as simple as just to return to Stornoway.

The boat had to be in Leverburgh for a trip Friday morning.

Tough? No, the Minch was like a sheet of glass and we ran south at 28 to 29 knots across to the Shaints and then to Ranish Point, treated to another Minke we turned into the Sound of Harris before mooring the boat up in Leverburgh. John Alec who lives in London commented as we hurled through the picture postcard ‘it is going to be impossible to explain this when I get back to work’

Picking up Ruari’s car at the pier, retrieving my car from Stornoway, delivering Ruari’s car to Murray, dropping off John Alec, I arrived home 24 hours later than I had expected wondering if it had all been for real. I am still wondering as in the rush I forgot to take my camera …

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

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

Tiree

July 3, 2008 on 10:24 am | In Windsurfing | No Comments

Windsurfing on Tiree will be uncovered in a way never seen before in the upcoming months through this blog. We will be posting news, photos and gossip from the island starting this summer…. be prepared…. The Wild Diamond Crew……!!

William MacLean
http://www.tireewatersports.co.uk
Windsurfer/Kitesurfer running Wild Diamond Watersports in Tiree

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 …

Loch Ericht - Knowing when to turn back!

June 12, 2008 on 9:22 am | In Canoeing | 12 Comments

In my mind I had the image of a lake full of reflections, surrounded by snow covered mountains and clear blue skies above. My boat would glide forever with a single stroke, leaving me free to take the most wonderful and inspiring photographs I could ever dream of. “You must be mad”, “you’ve not been to Scotland in winter before then!” Were the comments I got when I excitedly announced my latest trip to colleagues. I’d checked the 10 day weather forecast and it all seemed fine. So excitedly I got in the car with Al, for the 400 mile drive up toScotland. We were heading for Loch Ericht, right in the heart of the Scottish wilderness. There was a little bit of snow on the hills to start off with but as we made our way through the highlands and darkness fell, the snow started to fall heavily.

By the time we reached the Drumochter Pass on the A9, visibility was poor. The car was starting to slide all over the road and things where getting quite scary, when a faint light shone through the blizzard and the letters B&B appeared. It was a bit like one of those corny movie moments when help appears from nowhere but just when you thought you where safe a huge monster comes out and eats you! Thankfully we saw no monsters but we still had 200 meters of deep un-snowploughed road to get through before we finally reached the warmth and safety of the Balsporron Cottages B&B.

We were greeted by Ann and Phil who made us feel right at home in front of their real log fire and even made us a very welcome hot meal. After a lovely night’s sleep we were up early, ate breakfast and headed outside to an incredible snow-covered landscape. Everyone helped to dig the car out and once back on the A9 the road was clear and we were only a few of miles from Loch Ericht itself. Ann kindly printed out an up to date forecast for us which took us slightly by surprise. 35mph winds with gusts up to 70 and snow was forecast for the next two days and I guess if we’d had any sense we would have turned back then, but we’d driven so far, taken time off work, spent all that money on petrol and there wasn’t a breeze in the air, so we decided to carry on. We left our car just behind the Petrol Station in Dalwhinney where the guide book suggested and loaded up my brand new Wenonah Prospector canoe. We then made the 600 meter portage down the lane under the railway bridge, through the barrier and down to the lochs edge.

I couldn’t believe how easy it was to drag a fully laden boat over snow by myself. At only 14.5miles long, I’d given us a couple of days to complete the round trip of Loch Ericht with the highlights being a nights stay at the famous Ben Alder bothy and a visit to Bonnie Prince Charlies caves at the furthest end. The sky was grey and it was bitterly cold but even at the lochs side the wind was barely noticeable. So off we went, all wrapped up in the latest winter gear, paddling past huge lumps of ice floating in the water, hoping to reach Ben Alder by teatime.

We’d only been paddling fifteen minutes when we passed the first headland and the full force of the weather hit us. It was blowing a hoolie out there on the main part of the loch and it took all our strength just to stay head on to the waves. Being sensible we should have turned back there and then but we didn’t. As the weather got even worse and we started to tire we realised that we had no choice but to continue as both sides of the loch where by now, too steep for a safe get out, with such big waves breaking on them. The sun was disappearing fast behind the mountains and the temperature plummeted further. I have to say, my new Wenonah prospector (quick plug) handled amazingly in what has to be the worst conditions I have ever paddled in.

My old boat would have been swamped in no time but this new baby just glided up and down the waves with astonishing stability (plug over). It was after 4 hours of battling through hellish conditions we finally found a beach we could land on. It was starting to get dark and I had an uneasy feeling inside, things where not looking good. Al got out of the boat first and soon realised there was no way we could get a tent up on the rocks where we’d landed. Further up there was some grass which looked perfect until we stepped on it. The thin layer of ice it was growing through cracked and we were stood in 5 inches of water. The sheer hard work of paddling had been keeping me warm in what was now below freezing temperatures. But now I’d stopped I desperately needed some shelter. We found a spot on a slight incline where our feet only sank about an inch and decided there just wasn’t time to look for anywhere else. My face was raw, my feet were numb and my whole body was hurting and aching from being too cold.

All I wanted to do was roll up into a ball, shelter my body from the bitter wind and close my eyes. For a split second I thought ‘gosh we might not get ourselves out of this’. Then something inside kicked in, and with a sudden rush of adrenalin, my frozen paddling mittens came off and we fought like hell against the gales and the failing light to put that tent up. All I could hear in my head was my heart pounding, for that single moment nothing in the world mattered more than getting that tent up and somehow, we did it. I have never felt so focussed on anything in my life. As the final peg went in, almost like a cruel joke, the wind dropped. Then as I looked up around me into the fading light, I realised we were surrounded by deer. There must have been 200 of them, mainly stags, all watching as we finally took refuge inside our tent.

It was a reflective evening in the tent that night, with neither of us knowing quite how we’d let ourselves get into such a dangerous situation. Thank goodness we’d bought the tent as a back up in case the bothy was full. We’d at least done something right. As my body warmed up I realised I’d quite badly pulled the muscle in my left forearm and even Al was feeling pretty sore in his shoulders and neck from 4 hours of hacking.

The following day we woke up to find everything frozen. My gloves, the toothpaste even the rice pudding I’d decided to cook for breakfast was frozen solid in its tin. The cold was affecting our gas cooker too which was barely alight and certainly couldn’t cook anything. Luckily we had a spare trianga, meths stove with us which although classed as a bit old fashioned these days, worked a treat. Outside the windchill temperature had been -14 degrees Celsius.

The wind was strong but not gale like, like the day before so we had another decision to make. If I didn’t make Ben Alder Bothy, with all its history of ghosts and ghouls and didn’t climb the mountain to see Bonnie Prince Charlies cave, what would I write about? We got out my GPS and we’d only managed to paddle 6.9miles the day before. We usually paddle three times that distance in that time and the weather was slightly better so we decided to give it a go.

So with another great decision under our belts we decided to leave the tent where it was, paddle the 8 miles to Ben Alder Bothy, get the photo’s I needed for an article then sail back, have a late lunch at the tent, pack away and sail the 6.9miles back to the beginning. It was so cold though, even with all the high tech kit we had on, I still wasn’t warm. I even ended up putting on the £2.99 last minute back-up balaclava I got from the garage in Capel Curig on, over my scull cap. I have been umming and arring about whether to submit the photo of me wearing this ensemble and I’ve been persuaded too against my better judgement, just remember it was really really cold!

Anyway, off we set towards the Bothy. The snow covered mountain Ben Alder towered above us but offered no shelter from the strengthening wind. My forearm was agony and I found it difficult to paddle on my left side but we still carried on. The waves got bigger, the wind got stronger and I was exhausted after just an hour. Then a snow blizzard started and I just couldn’t do anymore. Al was gutted that we’d come so close and I just couldn’t find the strength to paddle another stroke. He tried to carry on alone but the wind was too strong so reluctantly with only a mile to go he turned the boat around and sailed back to the tent.

As I sat exhausted and motionless in the boat letting the sail take us back, I was totally unaware the effect the cold was starting to have on my body. My toes were numb but that had happened the day before but, about an hour later, when we’d finally reached our tent, I tried to get out of the boat I couldn’t straighten up. My body felt rigid. I tried to ask Al for help but my speech had gone all slurry, this really scared me. When I did get back to the tent and laid down my body started to shake uncontrollably. It only lasted a few minutes and I was then ok but, its frightening to imagine what would have happened if we’d stayed out on the water even a few minutes longer.

By 2.30pm we were both in the tent wrapped up in our sleeping bags sipping hot sweet drinks as a freezing blizzard howled outside. We should have been back at the car by now and I was worried the guest house I’d booked for that evening might call emergency services if we didn’t turn up so I routed through my dry bag and found her details, only to see that I had her address but no telephone number. My mobile reception was intermittent so I texted my friend the address and prayed he would find the number, before a big helicopter came in search of us. Luckily he found it and a quick call later everything was fine. I soon fell asleep and incredibly 17 hours later I woke up. I do like the odd lay in but that was pretty impressive even for me but I guess my body must have needed it.

It was 9am on day 3 and as I looked out of the tent I couldn’t believe my eyes. The sun was shining. The loch was flat and I was surrounded by beautiful snow covered mountains. We’d not seen a top of a mountain since we got there; the landscape was breathtaking. I could finally get my camera out and take some photo’s.With such lovely weather we could have easily paddled to the Bothy, seen the caves and paddled all the way back to the car and still have hours to spare but my body had had enough and we finally made the first sensible decision of the trip and paddled straight back to Dalwhinney.As we gently paddled back through this astounding scenery in beautiful sunshine I got to thinking ‘was it all worth it?’

Things could have turned out so badly but through sheer luck rather than judgement they didn’t. My sense of adventure has gone up another few notches and I’ve certainly leant not to under-estimate the British weather. But my head is filled with incredible achievement knowing I paddled and survived such harsh conditions. And now I’m paddling through some of the most magnificent scenery I’ve ever seen in my life. This is the bit I’d dreamed of and I guess it’s made even more spectacular by what we’d endured to get here.

2 days later at home: Without realising, twice during this trip I was showing some classic signs of the first stages of Hypothermia. My naivety of canoeing in cold weather screams at me as I proof read this article. Even with all the right clothing, and without capsizing, my exhaustion and inexperience of freezing temperatures left me in what could have been a life threatening situation. And what for? A few photographs! It’s just not worth it. Saying that, paddling the entire of Loch Ericht is still high on my list of trips to do, I’ll just be waiting for the weather to warm up a little bit first, I think. X

Lucinda Manouch
http://www.manouchphotography.co.uk
Photo Journalist also working for Plas Y Brenin National Mountain Centre on a global search for family friendly paddling adventures.

Barra to Oban

June 7, 2008 on 10:43 am | In Uncategorized | 1 Comment

It was early evening when the Clansman sailed out of Castlebay and I was concerned it was going to be one of those long ferry crossings which seem to go on for ever, I admit I did get bored a couple of times, it is five hours, but once we passed Coll and entered the Sound of Mull it was stunning. The sun set leaving the sky glowing a hue of pink with turquoise clouds. Mull had a few clouds shrouding its summit and there wasn’t a ripple on the water.

I was trying to remember the last time I sailed through and I think it was over ten years ago. I came through on the Lorne Leader, a 100 foot Brixham Trawler she was over a hundred years old. We tied to against the peir in Tobermory and had a wild evening in the Mishnish. As we came to the end of the Sound I remembered sailing with groups and camping at Inninmore Bay on the 28 foot cutters from Outward Bound. There used to be a wee bothy there and you could camp near and sit on the porch just taking in the scene.

On the ferry I managed to get started on two more trips for the guide book and a couple of pints from the bar.

In Oban, I am staying in the Oban Backpackers which is I think part of the MacPackers group and is good as hostels go, in the middle of town, clean, it does have great showers and a wireless connection.

We are off to Kilbowie Outdoor Centre for an upgrade course tommorrow to allow us to run 4* sea kayaking courses under the new scheme. It is all very confusing so I am hoping Gordon is going to make it clear tommorrow. I hope so or I will be ranting on in the next few days.

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