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 near us. Then came 5 minutes of cold sleet followed by glorious sun shine for the rest of our trip. So we attempted to paddle to Castle Stalker being in a shallow bay and with the now low tide we rock hopped to within a quarter of a mile as near as we dared then on through the inner sound this time and past the island of Shuna and back to our starting point.
A brilliant paddle in great company with truly spectacular scenery. Thanks to Peter Thomas and Ian Bell for organising this paddle.