Tackling the
Scottish Sea Kayak Trail
A guidebook to
EuropeÕs first long distance ÔtrailÕ for sea kayakers is now published. Simon
Willis explains what itÕs like to paddle.
After three days in the
tent we were fed up. The clichŽ of
Scottish weather is that, if you donÕt like it, you just have to wait a moment
as itÕs sure to change. Sadly the
weather over Gairloch was unaware of this aphorism.
WeÕd allowed six weeks to
paddle the route of the Scottish Sea Kayak Trail and it I was starting to worry
that might not be long enough. We
had not been not kayaking flat-out, partly because IÕd been taking lots of
photographs and gathering information.
If there was a little shop anywhere near the trail, IÕd insist we made
the detour so I could ascertain whether it held enough supplies to fuel a
hungry kayaker and restock hatches.
However, the main reason we were taking so long was that we had an almost
constant companion. He was loud,
upfront and relentlessly in our faces.
He was the wind.
It had started gently
enough. We cruised around Gigha
and up the Sound of Jura to Oban with only a couple of days of strong winds,
and even they only pinned us down for one night. But then our capricious companion swung into the north and
came at us down the Sound of Mull with all the power of a stampeding herd of
wildebeest. We clung close to the
shore, creeping between one small headland and the next, swinging out to take
as brief a battering as possible, before darting into the first available
shelter. Ardnamurchan Point had
proved impossible in such conditions.
Now, sat in a damp tent
in Gairloch, bored crazy after three days of force 7-8 winds, our noisy,
boorish companion had returned to taunt us just as we faced another great
headland. Equally as impenetrable
as Ardnamurchan Point in these conditions, and topped by a similarly dramatic
lighthouse, we had to get around Rubha Reidh. But we were going nowhere. Frustrating as these experiences were at the time, they
proved crucial to the success of our trip and will add immeasurably to the book
we subsequently produced.
On a long distance
journey some things will not go according to plan. Having spent a month in tent on an Alaskan glacier, and another
five months under a tarp while hiking the length of the United States, I really
ought to understand this. ItÕs how
you cope with such minor setbacks as wind and weather which can turn an average
trip into a great one. If we had
floated around these headlands, urged on by the mildest zephyr of breath, then
the guidebook to this route would be incomplete. We would not be able to advise those who followed us how to
cope with less than perfect conditions.
Instead, we discovered in
the case of both Ardnamurchan and Rubha Reidh, there are convenient ways of
shuttling ahead. If you learn your
way around local transport, you can return to your vehicle at the start of the
section, collect it, and move on.
WhatÕs more on Ardnamurchan thereÕs even the option of paying someone to
shuttle you and your kayaks. Steve
MacFarlane is trying to turn the Glenuig Inn (Tel:0168 - 747 0219, www.glenuig.com)
into a base for sea kayakers, and for a fee will transport guests to and from
launch sites. Will someone do the
same for Rubha Reidh? I canÕt wait
to find out.
Because with the launch
of this book, I feel as if IÕve rolled a snowball into the world-wide
sea-kayaking community. It might
land in a puddle and melt, slipping into the remainder bins. On the other hand it might gather mass
and momentum. More services
offering to shuttle sea kayaks around the trail might spring up; guides might
offer to escort clients on trickier sections; bed and breakfast establishments
may offer accommodation with secure kayak ÔparkingÕ. And then thereÕs sea kayak rental for overseas visitors.
So IÕve set up ScottishSeaKayakTrail.com. Here I can add information to the book,
even after it has gone to press.
My friendly web advisor at WideBlueYonder created a Forum specifically for
the trail, so people with local knowledge can share it with others who plan to
follow the route. Businesses
offering services to sea kayakers can shout about themselves. As I write, two Oban-based business
that rent sea kayaks have ÔadvertisedÕ by placing an entry.
Being stormbound gives
you time to think about such things, and also to explore. We hiked to the top of Ardnamurchan
lighthouse where we were greeted by Ian, the last lighthouse keeper. The light is fully automatic, but
during the summer he is employed to answer visitorsÕ questions about lighthouse
life. It is a commanding position,
perched high above the most westerly point on the British mainland and, Ian
explained, had once been a superb wildlife viewing platform. ÒWeÕd regularly see dolphin, whales and
basking sharksÓ, he said, Òin far greater numbers than todayÕ.
Nevertheless,
Ardnamurchan remains a hot-spot for marine wildlife. Several organisations are dedicated to protecting and
monitoring many of the species which visit our coast, and most are keen to
elicit the help of sea kayakers.
Some have allowed me to use a few of their sunning images in my book, in
return for inviting you to give them a call or drop them an e-mail if you see
one of the animals in which theyÕre particularly interested.
IÕve also added a section
to the guidebook to help identify the main types of marine wildlife and explain
how to ensure you donÕt disturb them.
ThereÕs a Scottish Marine Wildlife Watching Code, and thereÕs a separate
Guide, both of which go into great detail on this subject and can be downloaded
free via the ScottishSeaKayakTrail.com website. IÕve taken all the information in both and condensed it into
a practical rule-of-thumb guide.
IÕve done much the same
for Scottish access law, as it relates to wild camping, and also sought the
latest advice on minimum impact camping and toilet hygiene. Again, detailed expert advice is
available through the ScottishSeaKayakTrail.com website, where you can download
the latest advice on these matters from the Scottish Canoe Association. IÕve taken this information and, again,
condensed it into a practical rule-of-thumb guide and IÕm indebted to Mike
Dales of the SCA for checking that chapter.
Good things really do
come to those who wait. Our windy
friend decided to blow off and bother someone else, Gairloch basked in summer
some sun, and we embarked on what proved possibly the most exciting section of
our journey along ScotlandÕs west coast.
The soft sandstone cliffs north of Melvaig continue to crumble into the
sea, returning to the ocean floor from which they came millennia ago. The shapes they leave behind seem as if
theyÕve been scoured by a giant metal hand and tortured into agonizing, blocky
forms, all of which can be explored from a kayak when the tide is low enough.
We cut through a rent
between two such cliffs and found ourselves in a bay encircled by dark red
walls. Over the rim, a jet of
water hurled into space, twisting, dividing and braiding as it bounced off
bulges in the rock below. Liz
paddled underneath and I took some photographs. We had the cover of our guide book.
We also had a superb few
days kayaking. Around Rubha Reidh;
around Greenstone Point; and across to the Summer Isles, using these glorious
islands as stepping stones to cross the vast entrance to Loch Broom.
Since December 1970, the
Summer Isles has been a fully fledged postal authority and as such is
officially allowed to issue its own stamps which prove highly popular with
collectors. One particularly
attractive set of nine stamps, that are still for sale, were issued in June
1996, based on the Ordnance Survey map of the islands from 1861. As well as looking good, theyÕre priced
in curious denominations abbreviated to ÔSGÕ and ÔPSÕ. These turn out to be ÔSgillinnÕ, Gaelic
for a ScotÕs shilling worth one-twelfth of its English pre-decimal counterpart,
and ÔPunnd Sassanach, or ÔEnglish PoundÕ.
Looking back I struggle
to single out a single highlight or favourite passage. We most enjoyed the sections we hadnÕt
kayaked before, but thatÕs to be expected. The first section, from Gigha off the Kintyre Peninsular to
Oban, surprised us by feeling more remote than we anticipated. The central sections, from Oban to
Mallaig then on to Kyle of Lochalsh, are our regular kayaking area, less
exposed than the other two sections, but no less interesting and challenging. The final section from Kyle to the
Summer Isles and Ullapool beyond is probably the hardest by virtue of the
exposure and lack of escape options.
Since putting down my
paddle IÕve spent a lot of time bashing a keyboard, writing and revising the
Scottish Sea Kayak Trail book.
IÕve questioned myself, asking whether such a book is necessary. After all, people have kayaked this
coast since the late 1800Õs and
they needed no guidebook, and certainly no ÔtrailÕ. So why do we need one now? The answer is two-fold.
Sea kayaking has come of
age and is beginning to reach the mass market. Those who once went hill-walking and backpacking are
discovering the delights of journeying on the sea, without being weighed down
by a rucksack. I sincerely hope
they will find a little inspiration within my pages. WhatÕs more, the increasing pace of modern life places a
premium on time. many of todays
paddlers demand instant information, if not at the touch of a button then at
the flick of a page, so the guide book contains almost all the practical
knowledge they should require.
But there are some
omissions and these are entirely intentional. IÕll leave the explanation to that fount of kayak knowledge,
Duncan Winning OBE, the honorary president of the Scottish Canoe Association
and who, to my great delight, agreed to write the foreword to the book.
ÔWhat is
missing, quite deliberately, are the pearls along the trail. The identification
of each perfect beach or campsite would create a honey pot effect and be bad
for the environment. It is better
by far to enjoy the spirit of adventure and find your own pearls. There is no better place in the world
to look than along the Scottish Sea Kayak Trail.Õ