Saturday 15th April – Sea Kayaks at Shuna Island. With a strong North-Westerly forecast, our chosen destination was Shuna Island, around 10 miles South of Oban.  Shuna is a couple of miles offshore and is sheltered by the larger island of Luing.  From the previous day’s contingent of ten, two decided to do rivers and a further four decided not to proceed having inspected the site conditions on the day. The four remaining paddlers headed off towards a small low island en route to Shuna.  With the wind and swell coming from our 2-o’clock position, progress was far from easy.  Tony soon found it difficult to control his boat and decided to return to base.  Having seen him safely ashore, Roger, Nigel and I continued towards the mid-way island which had a small gap through which we were able to pass.  Then it was a similar haul to reach the northern corner of Shuna. As we approached, the wind died down and we had our lunch on a sandy beach in glorious sun with not a breath of wind.  We were amused to note that only the three plastic boats had made it.  All too soon, the next squall rolled in and we hurriedly resumed our attempt to circle the island anti-clockwise.  It soon became clear that further progress would be unwise in these conditions and we decided to head for home.   At that stage, our cars were due East of us but the wind was coming from the North-West.  Given the strengh of the wind, we decided to head directly downwind and found ourselves surfing along in fine style.  We soon reached our handy mid-way island and passed through the gap again.  By this stage, it was obvious that we would miss our preferred landing spot, but no […]

Video from Mark Young

Blackwater Hostel Sunday 16th April Day three saw nine of us make the 60 mile drive to Arisaig, with the sun beginning to make an appearance as we left the rain-soaked hills behind.  The harbour nestles at the head of the short Loch nan Ceall, sheltered to the south by the Rhu peninsula and a collection of small islands and skerries guarding the entrance just a few kilometres to the north and west.  The coastline provides lots of interest and intriguing navigation as the changing tide opens and closes waterways. The plan was to first explore the islands to the north-west, have lunch and then swing south around the peninsula.   Not long after leaving the harbour, the group split with half of us following an ever shallower route between the islands on a falling tide, while the remainder sensibly sought the certainty of open water (ie, deeper than 6 inches).  After some shuffling along the bottom and a little manual labour we eventually made it through to open water, albeit a kilometre or two away from the other half of the group.  However, radio communications and basic paddle waving saw us reunited for lunch overlooking a sandy beach warmed by the hazy sun. The afternoon saw us in more open water as we made our way around the peninsular.  The clouds cleared to leaving us in light winds and full sun.  With the cliffs of Eigg, mountainous Rhum and the pinnacles of Skye providing the backdrop, it was turning into a great paddle with a lazy Sunday afternoon feel to it – in contrast to the challenging conditions of the previous day!  Next stop was the stunning cove of Port nam Murrach.  This is a natural harbour with a small island at its mouth giving added protection.  With its […]

Sunday afternoon 16th April Sunday afternoon turned out sunny, perfect for a quick walk out the back of the hostel to Blackwater reservoir. A 13 mile round trip, with 3 deer in the valley, a big bird circling over head and a rainbow or two. The Navvies Graveyard, Blackwater Dam, Kinlochleven Excellent views of Kilnlochleven below us between the snowy peaks and the mountains around. This walk is a suitable choice for a day when the tops are in cloud, offering a lower level route along one side of the Glen Leven valley, and back along the other side, to complete a circular route. The only minus point is that since the dam of the reservoir is closed to the public, connecting the two sides of the valley involves negotiating a not so pleasant pathless section through undergrowth roughly in parallel to the dam. However it is worth the effort to enable a different return route. The eight mile long Blackwater Reservoir, which was created for hydroelectric power purposes, can be a bleak and desolate place though the walk generally features some waterfalls, a river and a couple of small lochans by way of variety from the woodland trail. Formerly two smaller villages, modern day Kinlochleven owes its existence to the aluminium works for which it is well-known. From the car park at Kinloch Road, follow the road parallel to the River Leven and cross the first footbridge on the right, signposted for the West Highland Way. Large pipes appear on the right, which connect with a building on top of a wooded hill far off to the left. This landmark seems a long way off at this stage, but it is passed later on in the walk at a key turning point where the route departs from the West […]

Friday 14th April This is a favourite first day paddle of mine to get into the swing of things.  10 of us set off from our put in on the shore below the lay-by on the A828 at Polanach Conditions at this point light wind and calm sea so off to the north tip of and around the outside to the south tip of Shuna Island By now the wind and Sea had picked up and was directly at us for the second leg to the North West end of Lismore Island a more exposed crossing of one and a half hours via the skerries of Eilean Glas and Eilean Gainimh All of us happy now we could see our landing beach and lunch spot now in the lea of the island the sea was calm again and we where greeted by three seals Soon off the water we had our half hour lunch stop and much needed rest after paddling into wind for over an hour A short leg three about 15 minutes now the weather had eased a little we headed round the north tip of Lismore past the ferry pier and back to the ferry terminal at Port Appin onto the beach and into the hotel for tea and coffee We had a few looks from the diners as we dripped our way to the bar and a few moor looks when we seated ourselves on the patio outside in the light rain I can recommend the Pierhouse hotel even after dripping all over the place we where made welcome and looked after The final leg shortly after leaving Port Appin we had a squall come through as we where very near the shore we had to take care not to get blown on to the boulders […]

Saturday Afternoon 15th April After a morning session on the River Roy I felt warmed up and ready to see what the Spean Gorge had to offer for the afternoon’s paddle. It had been a few years since I last paddled the Spean Gorge and my memory of the main features was patchy.  Once on the river, we gathered just underneath the bridge and split in equal groups of five.  I split with the boys from the Cadets Will and Tom as they had been a good omen during the mornings paddle also Sarah and Miguel and I made the five. In our groups, we set off into the Spean Gorge.  The water levels where high so creating lots of wave trains getting into the Gorge.  Paddling onwards, we viewed the first main feature in the near distance and gathered in the top eddy whilst the leaders went to scout the line down.  When the leaders found the best route, we we’re given the signal and guided successfully down one by one.  The next couple of rapids came upon us within quick succession and proved challenging but with great guidance we all managed to get down whilst staying the right way up. Further into the Spean Gorge, we hit a tight corner and it was difficult to see the line down.  Miguel bravely offered to go down first, unfortunately for him he hit the rock face, causing him to lose his balance and his paddle and a speedy recovery of Miguel and his paddling gear quickly ensued.  Following this hiccup, it was decided that a Portage was the best option for the rest of the group.  This was followed by more scrambles up the next couple of rock face’s past the ‘head banger’ a tricky grade 4 section. Back in […]

All the photos of Scottish Easter Holiday at Blackwater Hostel in Kinlochleven  click here……. River Etive  

Was raining the water was low the setting not spectacular but still a fun day out. Its just what you make of it at times.

In February and March this year I was one of a group on a club run course for ‘sea kayak improvers’. This was led by Gareth Jones, with Alan Peachment and John Fay. I am a novice sea kayaker, having only started kayaking last spring. Having achieved my one star with the club (and can I thank my coaches for ‘wet week’), I’ve continued my learning by doing several beginner and intromediate courses on Anglesey, and some one to one coaching. I know from talking to other novice kayakers that it can feel frustrating that you don’t feel confident enough to join in club trips, for fear that you will be the least able or will hold the group back – so having a course that was aimed at improvers was a great opportunity, and everyone got a lot out of it. We spent three mornings in the dock looking at technique and then had a trip out to the River Dee on 26 February 2017. A report and photos of that trip by me are here http://liverpoolcanoeclub.co.uk/news/?p=355 and also by Hannah Bellamy here http://liverpoolcanoeclub.co.uk/news/?p=360 Gareth and the LCC leaders and coaches organised another trip aimed at us improvers, this time to Anglesey. This was offered first to the improvers who’d done the course, and then to the whole club. It was very well attended – there were 15 ‘improvers’ and 9 ‘helpers’ on the final list. We all arrived at our start point for the day – Bull Bay in north Anglesey – around 9.30am on the Sunday morning. Some of us had stayed or camped the night before, others had met up at Llanfairpwllgwyngyll train station car park having driven over that morning. It was a sunny morning, and there was a reluctance to don our cags and drysuits too […]