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“Team Alaska go on a Skye #staycation!” Day 1

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Club Expedition to Skye 2020
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Major Trip Reports.…

Covid-19 might have led to a change of plan as this year’s Alaska trip was cancelled but we couldn’t have asked for a better alternative. Keith, Ian, Victor, Chris and Jenny headed off for 12 days paddling and wild camping around the Skye coastline and surrounding islands. A total of 192 miles covered allowing us to see: whales, otters, dear, dolphin, eagles (+ other birds I can’t name), seals, over friendly midges, porpoise, jellyfish, crabs, sea urchins, extinct volcanoes, mountains covered in purple heather, spectacular rock formations and colourful rocks galore! The trip got Keith’s “seal of approval” and Jenny had a “whale of a time”!

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Jenny BrownChris ThompsonIan Bell/Newsletter/Articles/Recent%20Letters/2018%20Alaska%20-%20Prince%20William%20Sound%20Expedition_files/image022.gifVictor Leather

Day 1 – 8th August (Saturday) – Balmacara to Camas Barabhaig


 Off we went at 11:15am from Balmacara, after a few of us finished the long drive north. It was a lovely sunny day as we set off. The tide was with us through the narrows and overfalls so we whizzed along covering 17 miles before finding a campsite later that evening. The water was clear and there were plenty of porpoise and massive red jellyfish with tentacles like cobwebs. There were loads of seals along the rocky shore and a variety of sea birds as we paddled along.

We enjoyed lunch in the sun and some of us checked our boats for leaks as it was the first time we had packed a sea kayak for an overnight paddle. However, it turned out to be Ian’s front hatch that had been slightly caught on a deck line so had a slightly soggy inside. The dry bags did their job and the seal was double checked during the afternoon paddle – all dry, phew!

Then started the “seal of approval” jokes for the rest of the trip. It was finally time to find camp. We slightly doubled back on ourselves to find a beach after deciding the promising bay around the headland looked a bit of a boggy midge risk and had too many rocks to land safely.

Jenny Brown     More Photos……….