Sunset over Sionascaig

Finally as the sun was setting and after more than nine and a half hours of paddling, poling, portaging, grunting and groaning, and enduring everything from bright sunshine to wind and rain I was treated to my first glimpse of my planned destination. That location was Sionascaig, a beautifully wild and remote loch in the far north of the Scottish highlands surrounded by some spectacular mountains.

I had been wanting to explore this area for a while after having spent some time researching it and pouring over maps thinking how interesting the area looked. When planning I’m always looking at how I can link up watersheds or how I can extend previous trips. Being that I’m not a particularly sociable beast and that I enjoy my own company, plus I really like the challenges presented by solo expedition paddling, I felt that this trip would lend its self well to this style of expedition. Careful consideration should be given to any solo ventures remembering the associated hazards, especially should something go wrong. I always leave details of my intended route with a friend together with details of what to do if they don’t hear from me at certain times. As a safety system I carry a GPS tracking device which allows people to track me but also has a built in message service allowing me to check in and let the world know I’m ok, plus alert the emergency services should I really need them. As best I can I make sure Im self sufficient and that Im not going to be putting anyone else at risk.

Sionascaig is a part of a series of lochs in the Inverpolly National Nature Reserve which lies to the North of Ullapool in the Scottish highlands. It is part of a system which includes Cam Loch, Loch Veyatie, Fionn Loch and Loch Sionascaig. The skyline to the  north is dominated by  the peaks of Suilven and Canisp whilst to the south are Cul Mor, Cul Beag and the classic ridge of Stac Polly.

You can view the area and my route in Google Maps HERE

As I left Dingwall the sun was shining with blue skies, however as I headed north the cloud thickened and the inevitable wind and rain started! I passed the track leading down to the fish farm on Loch Veyatie and found a small pull in off the road with good access to a tributary flowing into Cam Loch, loaded my boat and launched. I had chosen my Mad River Explorer 15 as my boat. I love this as my expeditioning boat. With its shallow “V” hull it tracks well and is equally at home on moving and open water.

I spent a couple of hours exploring Cam Loch before heading to the South West corner in search of a waterfall leading to Loch Veyatie and the first of many portages on this trip.I was quite taken a back when I turned a corner in the narrowing loch, as the the water a short distance in front of me disappeared out of view! For some unknown reason I had been expecting the waterfall to be flowing towards me rather than away and into Veyatie.

The waterfall itself is quite spectacular and the short portage around it rather interesting as it drops 12m in a very short distance. Portage complete and with my boat loaded Loch Veyatie was now stretching away northwards for 7km to my front.

After some 5 km of paddling a large bay opens up on the western shore. This marks the point at which there is a portage between the Lochs Veyatie and Sionascaig and as this was the portage I intended to use on my return I thought I would check it out, and also take the opportunity for a break and some lunch.

By this time the rain and wind had subsided and was replaced with sunshine which was an invite for the legendary Scottish midges to make an appearance. They don’t normally bug me but on this occasion as there was no other option available, they feasted on me! I carry a head net in my PFD for just such an occasion which I normally put on just before landing and for short periods. I also carry a full midge jacket which I then put on for longer periods once settled.

A few km’s later the Loch becomes a river and I was now being overshadowed by the  classic peaks of Suilven. This gave me the opportunity to engage in a spot of downstream poling, which was a great way to stretch my legs. Not that this would be a problem soon with another portage looming. Some distance later after picking my way through the twists and turns,  the flow slows and you find yourself in the calmer waters of Fionn Loch.

I was now  looking for a bay on the west side where the water leaves the loch and heads downhill heading for the Falls of Kirkaig. At this point I needed to leave the Loch and try and find a portage route across to Sionascaig.

 

 This wasn’t to be an easy portage, with over 2 km of rough ground to cover and no chance of a trolley being used. I like to keep the legs short whilst portaging, sticking to 100m at a time, and always carrying my kit first and then returning for my boat. This then allows me to vary my route and select the best option for when Im carrying my boat. Several times I managed to loose either my boat or kit and on one occasion both whilst walking back and forth. Eventually I found myself looking down the final 500m of the remaining portage that would take me into Sionascaig, accompanied by some spectacular sunsets over the surrounding mountains.

It felt good to have water under my boat again as I paddled a couple of km around to  Boat Bay. After searching around a bit for a good bivy site, I eventually set my tarp up for the night in a sheltered spot opposite Boat Bay, sorted some food and went to bed tired but happy. Luckily I had taken a hooped bivy bag with me, which saved me from a night of misery courtesy of the midges.

Next day after a late start I spent the day exploring Sionascaig further before finding a new bivy spot very close to the start of the portage trail back over to Loch Veyatie.  As I settled down for the night the weather was turning with the wind building and  light but steady rain.

I could hear the weather worsening as it whipped and lashed at my tarp making sleeping a challenge. This continued throughout the night until at around 0430 a huge squall flattened my tarp!  Luckily because of the way my tarp was set with my boat along the back edge it didn’t take off and disappear. I crawled out into the pouring rain and wind and surveyed the situation. As it was nearly light I decided to quickly pack and retreat to Loch Veyatie via the  previously mentioned portage route.

Kit packed I set off with my familiar routine of kit first and then boat, again with the legs kept to around 100 m. It was hard going as there was no real path just a wet, tussock strewn 2 km of slog, all slightly up hill and then there was few hundred metres descent down to the water in a sheltered bay. I was quite tired and hungry at this point so stopped for breakfast before continuing.

 

As luck would have it the rain had eased and the wind was blowing down the Loch in the direction I was heading. I quickly rigged my solo sail, sat back and enjoyed the swift journey down the Loch to the fish farm I had passed previously.

Unfortunately there was no vehicle access down from the road to the farm, so I set off on foot back to my car, moved it to the gate at the top of the track and returned to my boat with a portage trolley. With my boat strapped on I set off on the last part of my journey back to my car before heading back to Dinngwall.

I thoroughly enjoyed the trip, despite the bad weather that woke me and cut my trip short. There is lots of scope to extend this trip and include a few more lochs. I could easily have spent more time exploring Sionascaig, in fact I would very much like to head back there soon and maybe even take in one of the surrounding peaks or ridges. A beautiful place with stunning views and well worth a trip. Go and see for your self.

Meanwhile here is a little collection of memories from my trip. Hope you enjoy it

Music by Dan-O at DanoSongs.com

Happy paddling and see you on the water…..

Jules

Bespoke Canoe Coaching, Guiding, Safety & Rescue training and BCU awards

www.voyageur-coaching.co.uk

Coaching Dispatch – Trim

Wether your paddling on open, or moving water, having a good understanding of and being able to apply the principles of trim are fundamental to being an effective open boat paddler.

One way to think about trim is as a footprint that is created in the water by the boat, or the amount of boat in contact with the water and the shape that is created in the water by the boat. The size, shape and depth of this footprint can be changed by both your position and that of any kit in the boat, both of which can have a dramatic effect on performance.

Usually when things aren’t quite working as they should be, or paddling seems like hard work then I encourage people to revisit their trim and adjust it accordingly as a first priority.

Think trim, trim, trim and trim again!

You can develop your understanding of trim especially in relation to wind with a few simple exercises. Firstly find a safe area of open water with a steady wind blowing. Then use extremes of trim by moving your position to either all the way forward to the bow or back to the stern and take note of the effect this has in relation to which end of your boat points into wind. Once this is confirmed try paddling around into, down and across the wind.

TOP TIP: You can help your awareness of wind and its effect in relation to trim with the use of a few quick and simple visual aids. Drop a couple of balls into the bottom of your boat and watch where they settle in your boat. More towards the bow or stern? Use a simple tell-tale flag on the bow of your boat to determine a definite wind direction and now relate this to the direction your boat faces with your given trim.

Very soon you will become aware that although these extremes of trim work they can effect your overall stability, control and ability to paddle effectively. So lets look look at changing our trim with more subtlety. After all Im sure you will agree that you really don’t wont to be getting up and moving around in your boat too much in windy conditions i.e. the middle of a lake or Loch risking a capsize!

So rather than making big changes to our trim by moving, lets look at being more subtle by moving our kit/bags. A good way to experiment with this is with the use of some dry bags full of water.

25 Litres drybag is a good starting point (you may need more) and will result in up to 25 Kg of weight. When placed right at the bow or stern this can can have quite a dramatic effect. View someone else in a boat using the bags full of water to see the effect or have someone photograph you in your boat. Pay particular attention to the where the bow stem or stern curls and under the boat and how much much if any of a gap is produced.

Now imagine your boat is sat in the center of a clock face with the wind coming from a12:00 direction. By using subtle movements of the bag/s, and then fine tuning with small movements of yourself (leaning forward/backward or simply moving slightly ) try and get your boat to point to the various numbers/hours on the clock face, and naturally stay there without much effort from yourself.

Next time your out try and achieve the same effects with your kit bag or simply carry a spare drybag that you can fill with water and use to adjust your trim.

Hopefully with this new found knowledge you can get your boat to naturally point in your desired direction of travel and life will be somewhat easier! It makes sense that if your boat is already pointing in your desired direction of travel, paddling will be a lot easier and there will be no need for wasted energy trying to fight with any wind.

Remember think trim, trim, trim and trim again

In my next coaching dispatch I will give some ideas on how to use trim when paddling in windy conditions on open water, along with a few other strategies for coping with wind.

This along with more of my coaching articles will soon be available for download as PDF’s and in ibook format

Big thankyou to Andy Morgan for giving his time and helping with the photos and filming

See you on the water……

Jules

Bespoke Canoe Coaching, Guiding, Safety & Rescue training and BCU awards

www.voyageur-coaching.co.uk

Entspannungspaddeln in Schweden

Was macht ein Kanulehrer im Urlaub? Richtig Er geht paddeln. Soweit so klar. Allerdings habe ich im Urlaub immer ganz stark das Bedürfnis möglichst alleine, in ungewohnter Umgebung und vor allem ziemlich ziellos ” herumzustromern”.
Das war auch in der vergangen Woche der Plan. Das Ziel war die Gegend um Lysekil in den west-schwedischen Schären auf halbem Weg zwischen Göteborg und Oslo. Mit an Bord waren neben der Familie zwei Seekayaks von Current Designs, ein aufblasbares SUP von Starboard und mein Palm Equipment.

Da die ausgedehnten Brunchaktivitäten wirkungsvoll etwaig aufkeimenden Aktionismus verhinderten blieben gemütliche Zeitfenster von 2 bis 3 Stunden pro Tag für den Wassersport. Genau richtig!

Als überzeugter Stechpaddler bin ich vor ein paar Jahren zusätzlich dem Seekayakbazillus verfallen und seit zwei Jahren definitiv auch dem Paddeln im Stehen. Was dazu führte, dass die Paddelausrüstung massiv anwuchs und, das war der entscheidende Aspekt, ich das Gefühl bekam, ein kompletter und auch in vielen Dingen offenerer Paddler geworden zu sein. Der Blick über die Disziplingrenzen hat mir gut getan. Verschiedene Pfeile im Köcher zu haben, führen zu einer unglaublichen Freiheit an Wahlmöglichkeiten. Je nach Stimmung, Umfeld oder Paddelpartner wählt man das passende Gerät.

Hier in den Schären hatte ich die Wahl zwischen Stehen und Sitzen. Das spannende dabei ist, das der Wechsel von kurz über der Wasseroberfläche zu knapp zwei Meter weiter oben einen unglaublichen Unterschied macht. Zumal die Geschwindigkeit auch eine komplett andere ist. Im Kayak ist man mehr auf Strecke ausgerichtet, orientiert sich an ferneren Zielen, peilt Landmarken an. Auf dem Board regiert die Langsamkeit, der Blick fällt viel eher auf die kleinen Dinge am Wegesrand, der Aktionsradius ist kleiner aber nicht weniger interessant. Es ist ein wirklicher Perspektivwechsel.
Ganz besonders spannend fand ich den Unterschied beim Blick ins Wasser. Vom Board aus ergeben sich viel tiefere Einblicke. In Lysekil wurden die wenigen Quallen im Sitzen zu ganzen Armeen im Stehen – da hat es manchmal auch Vorteile, wenn man nicht alles sieht

In Schweden ist übrigens das SUPen noch nicht wirklich so weit verbreitet. Man erregt doch ziemliche Aufmerksamkeit als Stehpaddler. Dabei bietet sich doch gerade das Land der vielen Seen als echtes Paddelparadies an. Vermutlich wird das noch. Bis dahin regieren vor allem an den Küsten und in den Fjorden die Seekayaker. By the way …. auf der Anreise hat mir ein Kollege in Copenhagen berichtet, dass das SUPen auf den Kanälen der Stadt verboten sei. Tsts…
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Von unserem Ferienhaus in Såmstad aus bin ich vor allem zu Touren im Fjord unterwegs gewesen. Als bekennender Schiffsfan und Küstenliebhaber am liebsten immer in Sichtweite zum Ufer und mit einem Schlenker in jeden noch so kleinen Hafen. Das ist übrigens auch eine ziemlich coole Aktion mit dem Board. Man sieht unglaublich viel mehr als wie von der Wasserlinie aus und Es erschrickt doch immer mal wieder ein Skipper, wenn plötzlich einer vor dem Fenster steht … haha.

Für uns Süddeutsche ist das Revier zwar nicht wirklich ums Eck, aber dennoch auch für einen kürzeren Aufenthalt sehr zu empfehlen. Ach ja. … Seafood gibt’s in rauhen Mengen und fangfrisch!

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Storm Chasing in Strathglass

I had half a day to kill after a long journey and needed a bit of a chill and a shake out paddle. I remembered an interesting little paddle, quite local to where I was that I had done a year or so previously. That trip is the much overlooked Rivers Glass and Beauly.

Both these rivers really are little gems and very often ignored due to their low grade, with the River Beauly having the stunning steep sided Aigas Gorge which is quite unusual at this grade of water, and is home to some regularly seen Otters. Only the River Conon has a larger catchment area than the 270 square miles of the Beauly system. The Rivers lie to the south west of Dingwall in Strathglass and to the North of the Great Glenn and is easily be accessed via the A831 through the Muir of Ord and Beauly.

This system finds its origins in Glen Affric with the River Affric which then becomes the River Glass above Cannich. Here there is a good access and egress, from where this stretch can then be paddled to the road bridge at Mauld which crosses the river just before the River Farrar and Struy Bridge. Again there is good access and egress and the river now becomes the Beauly and is a nice trip down through the Aigas Gorge to the get out at the Aigas Dam.

As I only had half a day I opted on this occasion to put on at Struy bridge and paddle the section to the Aigas Dam. I made a point of stopping at the the dam and inspecting the get out as I drove to the put in, and left my bike for a quick shuttle at the end of the day. After the usual faff associated with open boating I launched from the field beside the bridge and paddled down the Farrar to where it met the Beauly.

The weather was rather interesting as to my front were great black, bellowing storm clouds and very loud rumbles of thunder could be heard, whilst over my shoulder was blue sky and sunshine. This was to the be the case for the remainder of the day along with the the occasional heavy downpour. Although I could see and hear the thunder and lightning I never really caught up with it and ended up feeling like I was chasing it all day!

Part way down I decided to stop for some lunch and a brew with the aid of my Kelly Kettle. I always carry a fire steel steel with me for lighting fires, stoves etc so all I had to do now was find some tinder and some fuel. Luck would have it that very close to where I had stopped I found an old Birch tree. On closer inspection I found that its bark was in just the state for lighting my kettle. I chose some of the very flakey, loose paper thin bark as tinder for my spark, and some of the thicker more substantial bark to add to this to get it going, along with a collection of small dry twigs. I generally carry a small leather pouch with some dry bark and other dry tinders just in case I cant find what I need. I like to use Birch bark for tinder as it contains natural oils which help it to burn, even when wet plus it burns hot and for quite sometime ensuring the fire gets a good start.

Preparation is everything when lighting fire or in this case my kettle. I prepared a pile of tinder in the form of the very thin bark, a few strips of the thicker bark and broke the twigs up into piles of thin to thick. Kelly Kettle filled with water and ready I drop a few sparks onto the very thin bark and gain a flame quickly. Now I add some of the thicker strips of bark and once they have caught’ place the kettle over the fire base. This acts like a chimney and draws the fire. I can now carefully add the sticks trough the hole in the top starting with the thinnest first and gradually building up. Be careful not to overdo it and smother the the young flames.

Now is a good time to give the fire lots of oxygen via the holes in the base of the kettle, by blowing or fanning. Once your kettle is going drip feed the thicker sticks until the water is boiled. Remember not leave the cork in, and be careful lifting the kettle off the base as the flames may still be coming out of the top where the handle goes. With practice, lighting and using a Kelly Kettle can become second nature and can be as quick as using a stove but definitely more satisfying and fun.

I soon arrived at Aigas Island and the start of the Gorge, which as I mentioned earlier is a bit of a surprise. Its hard to get your head round, but you are now actually paddling through part of reservoir! Very steep rocky sides tower above the paddler as you paddle through. The Island itself can be paddle on either side although I feel the left is much more interesting.

On leaving the gorge and paddling around to the right a very big and grand property is clearly visible above, on the Island. This is Eilean Aigas House, previously a seat for Lord Fraser of Lovat. The original family home was demolished by a Canadian Millionaire and has been replaced by this stunning building, in this stunning location. Incidentally if you happen to have a spare £15,000,000 plus just lying around doing nothing you could put in an offer on the property as its up for sale!!

Back to reality and it’s only a distance of 2 km to the Aigas Dam and the get out. The egress is short distance before the dam itself and is a bit of scramble up the bank with your boat and kit, before finding the tarmac track up to the main road.

After a quick portage up to the road it was time to head off back to the car courtesy of the local shuttle service … aka my bike. The short cycle back gave me time to reflect on my day of storm chasing, Kelly kettles and gorges. I finished in a very chilled and relaxed state ready for some more challenging paddling later in the week.

This section I paddled is only 10-12 km long but as mentioned earlier a longer paddle of 25 km can be had by launching further upstream at Cannich. I have on one occasion portaged 2 km down the road from Aigas Dam and launched again by the Kilmorack bridge and paddled a further 4 km down to Lovat Bridge. It really is a lovely paddle with no nasty surprises. Wether a days relaxed paddling, a family trip or an introductory paddle for people its well worth the visit.

Happy paddling and see you on the water…..

Jules

www.voyageur-coaching.co.uk

Sea kayak Race Oban – Fastest trouring kayak

Great result on the Oban Sea Kayak Race – After much sweating, swearing and surfing the waves, I managed to come in seventh overall in the race with my trusty Wilderness Systems Tempest 180 pro kayak, and the first recreational \ touring kayak with a time of 2.14-09 for the trip round Kerrera.

Pretty pleased with the results and with beating all the other leading brand fast touring boats, a number or facing boats and a K2. I did manage to get past finisher no 6 in a wave ski at one point on the outside of the island with the rougher water, but fairs fair, he took me on the home run back into Oban bay. Note – must work harder next year.

Not a bad result this year for Mags Duncan in her plastic tempest 165 in the Ness Marathon either, fastest female, fastest sea kayak, beating all the composite boats and smashing the female course record by 12 minutes.  As well as the fastest female in the spey marathon proving the wee sister of the tempest range still has it.

A great race, The tempest fast and stable ? Well it beat a few full on racing boats so I guess it must be, certainly being able to put all the drive into forwards speed in the bouncy water helped. Thanks to WS for making a top boat, and to the organisers for handling a great event.

Good result to Nairn Kayak Clubs Michael Surman too in my loaner plastic tempest 170 with a time of 2-19, beating a large number of composite boats.

Looking forward to next year, hope to see you there.

Or maybe the Dee marathon in October ???????

Steve Mackinnon

Dutch Ovens & Bell Tents

Earlier this year a friend of mine asked me to take him on a little trip to the stunning Loch Sheil, which is a real wilderness experience, with no roads leading into or out of most of its banks. It is 18 miles long from its northern most end at the famous Glenfinnan monument on the ‘Road to he Isles’ to Acharcle at the southern end. Wildlife is always very plentiful and the Loch is well know for its Golden Eagles, as indeed we found out after we spotted a fine specimen which stayed with us for a while before disappearing off into the distance heading off to the surrounding forestry and mountains.

Loch Sheil is on the west coast of Scotland set in a dramatic rift, surrounded by peaks such as Moidart, Ardgour and Sunart  and is around 18 miles west of  Fort William by road on the A830. It is the 4th longest lake in Scotland, at 18 miles, yet averages just half a mile wide. It is very deep in parts and as it is so long it contains and is surrounded by many differing habitats. The Loch and in particular Glenfinnan is also well know for its presence in the Harry Potter films, in particular  ‘The Chamber of Secrets”. So dont be surprised if whilst your at the Glenfinnan end of the Loch you see The Hogworts Express steaming across the Glenfinnan Viaduct!!

I was joined on this trip by my good friend and fellow paddler Iain together with my trusted hound Rannoch. This was Rannoch’s first trip away since snapping his cruciate ligament whilst out running and having to have it rebuilt followed by lots of physio and hydrotherapy, a rather costly affair indeed!! Bye the way has anyone tried enforcing 6-8 weeks bed rest for a Springer Spaniel?

As there were no portages planned we decided go heavy,on a  trip of luxury and comfort with lots of good food, and wine of course together with some cast Iron Dutch Ovens, tripods  to cook with and to finish it all off a canvas Bell Tent to live in. Boats packed, us ready and Rannoch with his own PFD fitted we set off heading north surrounded by majestic mountains lightly dusted with snow.

 

 

The weather was kind to us as we set off although it was threatening to snow on and off and there was a steady wind blowing into our faces all day. Our plan was to head north but keeping to the southern shoreline for some shelter, and make our way up to the ancient burial island of Eilean Fhianain with St Finans Chapel on it.

 

After battling with the now quite strong wind we decided to take shelter, have some lunch and a well earned brew courtesy of our Kelly Kettle. Lit with a small amount of Birch Bark I was carrying together with a fire steel the Kettle was soon on the go. I always carry a small supply of dry tinder type material for firefighting etc as I cant always guarantee finding something suitable  near by, and I always carry a fire steel as even when wet these will give sparks unlike a wet lighter or matches. I also carry a short length of garden hose which has a piece of copper pipe with its end flattened pushed into it. I use this to blow down giving my fire or kettle lots of oxygen which is very important, especially in the early stages. I would like like to lay claim to this useful little addition, however a few years I found mention of something very similar in one of Calvin Rustrum books on wilderness living! Meanwhile whilst I kept an eye on things Iain headed off in search of some dry wood for the kettle eagerly assisted by Rannoch.

A short time later we were back on our travels, with the temperature dropping quite quickly now and the wind picking up it was time to add a layer or two, so on went my Palm Alaska, a great jacket for this type of environment. We soon arrived at the ancient burial Island and spent some time exploring it, noting that some of the dates on the tomb stones were in some cases from the last few years. I also took the opportunity to get out the fishing rod and try and catch some supper for us, but instead caught nothing!!

After leaving the island we pushed further north and started looking for  a good place to camp. Eventually and just as light was starting to fade we found a good spot and set up our camp. We chose to use a Bell Tent which meant we had alot of room including standing room and cooked some fine cuisine on open fires using our Dutch Oven suspended with a tripod. A truly cracking combination.

In keeping with the mood of the trip I chose to carry my kit in traditional Duluth canoe packs, made from canvas and leather and incorporate a Tump line worn on the head whilst carrying. These packs were made popular by the late Bill Mason in the Path of the Paddle series. Very robust, very versatile and designed specifically to fit in canoes.

Over the next day or so we pushed on further up the Loch. One area of particular interest to me is the small island of Eilean Drollman which is the exact spot on which I was camping on whilst on a similar canoe trip on September 11 2001, the day of the twin towers tragedy! I was unaware of exactly what had happened until a day or so later when I visited Fort William and was stunned by the events that had occurred. Hence I now know that island as 9/11 island. It is always a weird experience visiting this spot and remembering what has happened.

All too soon it was time to head back down the loch. Luckily the wind was in our favor so we took the chance to make the most of it and sail back. We spent some time rafting the boats together and building an A-frame sailing rig to accommodate my tandem sail I had made. We opted for a single spar across the center of our boats, made from and old log we found. I like to use a single spar in the middle as it allows the boats to move independently, however if conditions are more challenging then I may use two spars, one at the bow and one at the stern. Really important here is that any knots, lashings etc used are of a quick release style in case of the event of a capsize. It is also very important to have a system for the sail to be raised and lower quickly. Remember to have a plan should anything happen i.e. man overboard, swamping or a capsize.

A good couple of days paddling and exploring can be had on Loch Sheil or a longer more interesting trip can be had by paddling the Loch Sheil circuit starts at Glenfinnan passes down Loch Sheil into Loch Moidart and then following an exposed coast line north to Glen Uig before heading further up the coast finishing at Lochailort. I have completed this circuit a umber of times and have extended it further by continuing  on the River Ailort (tracking, polling and grunting!) to Loch Eilt and then finding the road at its Eastern end to portage back to the start. These trips can be reversed according to the prevailing winds and conditions.

 

 

If however if like us you are just after a few days on Loch Sheil then there are two options for launching. The first is at the northern end from a small pier near the hotel (grid 901805) and the second which is where we began our trip is at another small pier this time in Acharacle (grid 684 678).

This is another one of those special places I never grow tired of. Every time I go back I discover something new. Go and see for your self.

The final words must come from my paddling partner from the trip Iain…..

 

Happy paddling and see you on the water…..

Jules

www.voyageur-coaching.co.uk

I’m taking part in the rather insane and incredibly physically challenging Yukon River Quest in aid of Help for Heroes.

If you can support me your donation really will make a difference to this amazing group of young people. Please visit our fundraising page
http://bitly.com/HoPyM3o

or you can Text YUKN99 £(the amount you wish to donate) to 70070. Thank you for your support.

 

Go Canoeing and Win!

What are you doing in a canoe or kayak this week?

Its UK National Go Canoeing week and chance to show how much you love the sport – so get out there and take part.

National Go Canoeing Week marks the launch of Go Canoeing, a national campaign supported by Canoe England and companies including Palm to encourage and inspire more people to go canoeing more regularly.

So everyone of us that loves paddling should use this week to tell others. To give you some encouragement simply post a picture of you paddling on our Facebook wall and you’re in with a chance to win a bag of Palm goodies for sharing your experaince. In fact why not share it with others and spread the message!

To win, simply take a snap of you or your paddling friends and post on our wall. Tell us who, where and when it was (between 6th and 15th of April) and let everyone know why the paddling was so great! We’ll choose the one we feel best represents the spirit of Go Canoeing and announce a winner on Monday the 16th.

 

National Go Canoeing Week Poster

 

 

Get your Skates on!

At the tail end of 2011 Welsh kayak anglers Andrew Williams and Gareth Bowen took themsleves north, to Scotland, in search of Skate…… looks like the Aleutain suits were needed in that cold weather.

We had awful weather for the week and only managed to get out onto the Skate grounds for two sessions , each lasting no longer than 3-4 hours.
I reckon I had a bait on the bottom for 2 hours tops but still managed two skate , one of 40lb the other 90lb. The pics of the 90lb fish are poor quality as they are stills taken from a video. Gareth was using my camera and was unfamiliar with it , he thought he was taking stills but was actually just focussing the camera, we sorted this by the second session which is when I had the smaller fish.
I was the only angler who caught any skate , Gareth did hook into a monster which he played for 50 minutes before his line snapped – gutted .

As the target weight of 100lb plus was not reached , I am going back at the end of March for another crack at them , along with Gareth and a few other kayak anglers.

We’ll be keeping track of progress on this as well as more reports on the kayak fishing scene and possibly some event news.

Olly Sanders Expedition DVD trailer

For those who don’t know Olly, he is a long time Palm paddler, but more than that he is a highly regarded sea coach, guide and expedition paddler…. as well as being a formidable mountaineer!

In other words when it comes to big trips and big adventures he knows what’s what.

From the trailer and the roll call of names he’s got involved it doesn’t look like you will have to look much further for something to inspire and also guide you in your schemes and plans.

He’s locked down editing at the moment, so hopefully it won’t be long before we can all get a copy in our hands.

In the meantime keep an eye here and on his site for more Rock & Sea Adventures

Kayak re-cycling

There is lot of plastic out there from 20 plus years of kayaks and canoes being made this way. Luckily the properties of the polyethylene material give it a massive lifespan, but at some point boats get written off or folk will want to retire their craft and so the question pops up – what then?

Our Dagger Europe kayaks have made some small inroads with the Fiesta model, the first 100% post production waste re-cycled kayak; but that’s just the tip of the ice berg.

We were recently approached by Engineering graduate and Waste management Consultant Beth Ripper who is study kayak lifespans and she’s just sent out her findings. Read all about it here.