Did YOU paddle today ?

[seawolf856]

Great post Sean. We were on Mull two years ago with the plan to make it out to the Treshnish Isles but the weather gods had other ideas. We still managed loads of paddling including the circumnavigation of Iona, which was fantastic.

[Sean_soup]

Looks fabulous, Sean! I am heading up to Mull later this summer and hoping to paddle across to Staffa if we get the right conditions :) You were fortunate with that fine weather window.

Yep, very lucky. :) That weather window had been in the forecast for days and was actually the reason for heading over to Mull - plan A was originally to make for the Slate Isles and possibly get out to the Garvellachs, but not having done either the chance to visit the Treshnish Isles instead (especially at this time of year) was too good to resist. In the end the good weather didn't last quite as long as it originally looked like it might have, and the plan needed tweaking again at short notice naturally enough.

My piss-poor expedition skills cost me some time too - I'm a fairly strong paddler, but usually do day trips so there was a steepish learning curve there organising the camping gear, packing the boat etc. - you'll be miles ahead of me on that one!

Staffa didn't seem like a massively committing crossing, if you're there for a wee while and can pick your day I'm sure the chances of getting over there are good. When you do get there, I hope you'll be lucky enough that you can paddle right into Fingal's cave too. :)

I mentioned the Ulva hostel in the other thread, I know you're more of a tent on a small island kind of a person, but that would be a fine place to chill out waiting for things to change if the weather is iffy. I spent a couple of nights at the Fidden Farm campsite, and that's a nice place to be too - it's a very un-campsitey campsite if you see what I mean. Quite big and open with no caravans, hard standing, hook-ups or any of that. People had pitched up quite close together along the beach side while I was there, leaving tons of space a bit further back. I spent a lovely day while it was still too windy to be thinking about the Treshnish Isles exploring around Erraid and that part of the Ross of Mull instead. (There's a lot more to see there for another time and I didn't get to visit Iona either, so I'll definitely be back. Possibly later this year.)

Oh - something to add to what I wrote above! Arriving from Lunga, there was a little flock of eider ducks in the bay at Port an Fhasgaidh. I got a rubbish blurry photo, but even a really good one couldn't have caught the sound of their mating calls. They were doing the full 'suit you sir' routine, I've seen them on the telly but had never heard it for real before and it's just wonderful. I was giggling to myself the whole way round to Fingal's cave from there. They sounded like this: https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/279187661

Edit: posts crossed..

Great post Sean. We were on Mull two years ago with the plan to make it out to the Treshnish Isles but the weather gods had other ideas. We still managed loads of paddling including the circumnavigation of Iona, which was fantastic.

Still on my to-do list - I'd have very much liked to visit (& maybe paddle around) Iona, but not this time. I spent a morning getting kit organised and then a very pleasant afternoon doing a linear paddle a little way East from Uisken and then turning round and heading back to the campsite. Then in the evening the weather forecast made it really obvious that I needed be heading for the Treshnish Isles the following day, and heading back the day after! (And after that it was dreich, so I didn't have the heart to get back in the drysuit and go out in the drizzle under leaden skies after a couple of such extraordinary days.)

PS:
I realised later that I'd missed a trick when I paddled back to my van on the South side of Loch Na Keal from Ulva. It would have been really quite easy to make a little diversion and paddle over to visit the foot of Eas Fors first - difficult to reach on foot and worth seeing up close I reckon. (I did visit Eas Fors as I was driving past later, and had a bit of a dook in the pool below the fall below the bridge.)

[Owen]

If you're going from Gometra to Staffa it's best to do it during the ebb. Try and do it against the flood, especially at springs, and you won't go far. Guess how I found this out.

[mrcharly]

Yesterday - one of those gorgeous sunny days, just enough wind to make it interesting. Took it steady, tried to sneak through my favourite drying channel, timed tides wrong and had to portage, oh dear, it is only 6m, but over slippery rocks. Headed out onto the open Minch, felt like I could just keep going. Shiants teasing me in the distance (I'll get there someday).

Lovely downwind back, only light winds and a 0.5m swell, but enough to practice hopping from crest to crest.

Even taking it easy, the approx 22km took a bit over 2hours.

[ForeverYoung]

Last night we decided to see if the Aurora was going to come out to play again, so headed out at around 11pm. It was still a bit too light until about 11.30, and we hung around until after 12 but had no luck, sadly.

However, once it was properly dark, we did have very cool phosphorescence! First time seeing that and it was pretty magical 🙂

So not really paddling as much as hanging around in a sheltered bay in the kayaks and watching fading light and sparkly water 😂

[seawolf856]

Looks fabulous, Sean! I am heading up to Mull later this summer and hoping to paddle across to Staffa if we get the right conditions :) You were fortunate with that fine weather window.

I spent a couple of nights at the Fidden Farm campsite, and that's a nice place to be too - it's a very un-campsitey campsite if you see what I mean. Quite big and open with no caravans, hard standing, hook-ups or any of that. People had pitched up quite close together along the beach side while I was there, leaving tons of space a bit further back. I spent a lovely day while it was still too windy to be thinking about the Treshnish Isles exploring around Erraid and that part of the Ross of Mull instead. (There's a lot more to see there for another time and I didn't get to visit Iona either, so I'll definitely be back. Possibly later this year.)


Edit: posts crossed..

Great post Sean. We were on Mull two years ago with the plan to make it out to the Treshnish Isles but the weather gods had other ideas. We still managed loads of paddling including the circumnavigation of Iona, which was fantastic.

For our circumnavigation of Iona, we stayed at the legendary Fidden Farm campsite mentioned by Sean. For a sea kayaker, surely there can be no better place to stay. "Un-campsitey" is a very good description, it's right on the beach for launching without any walking or driving and there's a great chippy just up the road by the Iona Ferry landing stage.

[ian johnston]

An overnight solo trip on Loch Hourn.....




Bright and sunny on the first day, and just a light breeze which is quite the contrast to the last three trips involving Loch Hourn!





Camp with a view, but in the morning overcast the midges were up early.





The cloudscape was a real "dance of the veils" on the second day





A perfect stop on the way back to indulge in a bit of Groatie Buckie hunting!

[andycon]

The sun was shining on Tuesday so kayak was literally dusted off. Trip out from Rhoscolyn flat calm, low wind speed, caves to explore and a few seals to entertain. Great day out.

Sent from my moto g62 5G using Tapatalk

[leighv]

Not today, but yesterday and the day before, a group of us from Portsmouth CC attempted a circumnavigation of the Isle of Wight. This had been planned from a few months back and until Thursday the forecast had been looking absolutely ideal, until southwesterly winds crept into the forecast. A contingency plan was made, just in case, and we set off from Lee-on-the-Solent on Saturday to take the ebb tide westwards across the Solent, along the north coast of the island and around the Needles to Freshwater Bay. The wind really picked up, a solid F3-4, which made for some fun conditions, although six hours and 41km later I was certainly feeling it.

We camped overnight on the beach in Freshwater but unfortunately a very significant deterioration in the conditions (rolling, dumping Atlantic swell which would have made the onward journey past St Katherine's Point a treacherous affair) and a fairly serious arm injury to one party member incurred upon the steep shingle beach forced us to fall back to our contingency plan; portaging up to the Yar, towing the casualty to Yarmouth where we all caught the ferry to Lymington before hastily organising some lengthy car shuttles. Not the weekend we planned, but a great day and night out regardless :)

[mrcharly]

Some great pictures there. Particularly like the one with the little splashy pyramid of water.

[leighv]

Some great pictures there. Particularly like the one with the little splashy pyramid of water.

Thanks :) I always keep a GoPro mounted on the back of my kayak, and a remote control for it on my deck. I shoot short bits of video and grab still frames from it. The image quality from the newer GoPros is surprisingly decent.

The other photos are just from my iPhone, although I’ve ordered one of the new Olympus TG-7 cameras to play with. The iPhone probably takes better images in some ways, but I like the idea of a bombproof camera in my pocket.

[Ceegee]

I always keep a GoPro mounted on the back of my kayak,

Hi Leigh,
Off on a tangent, but where did you get the coloured hatch covers? Or is it just paint, and if so what kind to not damage the rubber or flake off?

[leighv]

Hi Leigh,
Off on a tangent, but where did you get the coloured hatch covers? Or is it just paint, and if so what kind to not damage the rubber or flake off?

They're actually made by Whetman! He does a range of different colours now. These ones were actually one of the first prototype sets he made, that I managed to get before they actually went on sale. Lucky me!

https://www.whetmanequipment.com/sea-ka ... cover.html

[seawolf856]

Great trip you did there Leigh. Your story is a reminder to us all that the sea and the weather is the boss and your skilled preparations in case of emergency are to be very much applauded. I wouldn't mind betting that trip will be spoken about at Portsmouth CC long after the disappointment of not completing the circumnavigation has worn off.

[seawolf856]

To practice my dynamic water and boat handling skills, I have been using our Thursday night club sessions to take my sea kayak down the weir at Chester city centre, much to the amusement of the white water paddlers at our club DevaCC, which is based just a few hundred metres upstream of the weir.

[mrcharly]

Low head weir!

According to some people, they are instant death.

(there is some truth in the extra danger; the low fall height nearly always generates a backward circulation that can hold people down, even when wearing a PFD)

[Chris Bolton]

Low head weir!

In general, yes, low head weirs can be dangerous, but that's pretty safe. The photo is not the main weir but the fish steps that run across one end, and there's a strong tongue in the centre of each. Plus, the water is mostly shallow enough to stand up.

[ChrisJK]

Thanks Seawolf
I was thinking of taking my plastic (pre 2004 ) Capella down Chester weir for the same reasons. Plus I guess it would put that era plastic to the test.
I’m a member of another local club who regularly use CC weir in the summer for WW practice with river boats and canoes. I recently took a swim and needed an impromptu float down through the small stoppers which was useful experience. There are a couple of steps for eddy practice and lower down for cutting in & out and ferry gliding.
If it’s looking too challenging as happened recently we just head back. The section we use are the fish steps and can climb back up a part of the main weir.
At high tides this weir gets over topped and pushes well upstream. So the bore can be picked up lower down and continue through to a get out upstream. A great river for all sorts of paddling .

[Max_W]

A few pics from paddling round Mull this past week. Awesome place! Sadly the weather ruled out the Treshnish Isles and Staffa, but wild camping on Gometra, a lap of Iona and other paddling on the Ross, plus eagles, otters etc still made for a stunning week.

[seawolf856]

Low head weir!

In general, yes, low head weirs can be dangerous, but that's pretty safe. The photo is not the main weir but the fish steps that run across one end, and there's a strong tongue in the centre of each. Plus, the water is mostly shallow enough to stand up.

Yes, thanks Chris, maybe I should have pointed out that this is NOT the main weir but anyhow, the main weir is just a shallow wet slope for most of its life and there's no point is shooting that anyway.
Also thanks for pointing out that you can walk down it if you needed to!! but because this particular weir is at the tidal limit of the Dee estuary, whether you can stand up in the fish steps will depend on the state of the tide and the amount of water in the non-tidal river above the weir. The steps can become ferocious at times so please take care and consult a local club if you want to shoot the Chester weir, we are fully aware of the dangers which do exist.

[ChrisJK]

I think some form of overfall must occur when the tide is over the weir and I approached it with some caution when I went over it a year or so ago just to have a gander. I was fully kitted up and careful when some other paddler in a short boat with no spray deck or BA jauntily did the same.
Apologies to P4ddy for our digression.
I did have an excellent paddle on the North coast of the Llyn on Saturday,

[Tricky Ricky]

Cruit Island.

[leighv]

I spent the afternoon paddling around Fishguard in Pembrokeshire with my new Inuksuk paddle! Two and a half hours of paddling and absolutely no pain from my recent wrist injury!

[Sean_soup]

Result! :)

[ForeverYoung]

We managed a wee evening sortie since the weather finally looked nice for a change. Just paddled from in front of our house. There were more seals out than I have ever seen, and the super flat calm water.

It almost feels like spring is on the way! 😜

[leighv]

I just spent a brilliant couple of days with coach Ian Jennings doing some advanced conditions paddling around Pembrokeshire. I always love coming here! And Ian always takes fab photos of his students :)

[Sean_soup]

Slightly more dramatic photos than your previous set, that last one is a cracker. :-)
How did you get on going back to your regular paddle?

[leighv]

So cranked paddles feel fine, and this Werner Cyprus didn’t cause any pain. I’d have used my Inuksuk but because we were going into super rough stuff I decided to just stick with what’s familiar. Thankfully it turned out okay :)
Yesterday I used two other Greenland paddles - a Seglagear Ikigai and Viper. The Viper was a bit too beefy for me but the Ikigai was absolutely fantastic! Gorgeous paddle. I’m definitely becoming a big Greenland fan :)

[P4ddy]

Yes, after just over a year I finally went for a paddle. However that year of feeling down has effected my balance and confidence. Force 2 felt like force 5 to me 😯, 4 jet skiers causing 2.5-3ft swell made my very uneasy when she's usually unfazed. On the plus side our new Kaikoura pfd's were great and the coast guards weather report was spot on (yea took my radio out with me). Paddled back after a stop off for food with our wetsuits tied around our waist's coz dam is it hot today.

[Grian]

Not out for long but it was delightful!