Tuesday 23 September 2014

The Magic of the Small Isles - West Scotland.

I'd been watching the weather and Scotland had been looking really settled.  I had a few days off coming up and with a little organisation I managed to create 9 days off, 2 of which i used to prep Coastal Spirit and 7 were all mine!

The plan was to drive up and stay with my parents in the Lake District, for the Saturday night and then head up to the West coast of Scotland on the Sunday, to paddle out that evening.  Starting at Glenuig, paddle to Ardnamurchan Point, cross to Muck, Rum, Canna and then East coast Rum, Eigg and back to Glenuig.


I packed quickly and was soon on the water making the most of the spring high water, and into a light F4 Northerly wind.  The light was magic ... now to find my first camp ...



After a cool night I set off for Ardnamurchan Point, the most westerly point on the Scottish mainland.  I found a nice protected sandy beach and pulled in for some lunch and watched two golden eagles, soaring above me.   I then set off on the flood tide for Muck, into a light head wind.


The view from Muck and the warmer weather approaching and little red tent, looking back out to the mainland ...



A Skua, which I saw 12 + or more, particularly on Canna and Sanda ...


Next day I crossed in building sunshine to Rum and onwards to Sanda. Close in Rum looses something of its size and grandeur, looking far more spectacular from further away. My 3rd full day was the best as I hadn't decide on whether to go around Canna or cross back to Rum.  I was leaving that until the morning and based around the weather ....

It was a super looking morning, so still.  I guess the really cool temperatures, were keeping off any midges that may have been about ... so I set off anti clockwise around the island and I wasn't going to be disappointed.  A flock of what I think were 100's of Kittiwake's were circling the sky and doing various acrobatics ...


Then on the North West coast a super sandy and flat potential camp site ... for another time ...


 The basalt columns and the and the beauty of the island was stunning and then to top it all I was treated to 7 eagles, gliding and circling off the western tip of the island ...  fantastic ...






 I headed on, crossing to Rum and paddling down the East coast, with the aim of getting to Eigg ....
with The Cullins of Skye on the left and the mountains of Rum on the right.  I found a super little wild camp on the NE tip of Eigg which gave me a super view and AMAZING sunset illuminating Rum.  Just when I thought it couldn't get any better a pod of 10+ dolphins swam on by ....






It was a stunning morning .... and I packed my P&H Cetus mv, slowly ...



On the Western tip of Eigg I was treated to an amazing sighting of a young golden eagle.  I saw a very large bird 200 mt away flying along the line of the cliffs, so I quickly took my deck off and unzipped my SLR camera from its dry bag, which had been stored in my cockpit.  To top it all it landed just 80mt above me!  I floated about for about 1.5 hours watching and waiting for the shot ... and almost missed it taking off!!




I landed at the main slip way on Eigg, had a couple of mugs of tea and some food and then pondered whether to stay or cross back to the mainland.  After looking at the possible wild camp (which I stayed at before and is close to the main cafe/bar), I decided to avoid the portage, which looked pretty grim and cross back to the mainland.





The crossing was a further treat with just so many porpoises popping up all over the place ...


Not bad for my last night under canvas ....


14 eagles, both golden and white tailed sea eagles (young golden eagles have a fair amount of light feathers so this can add some confusion with identification), 10+ dolphins, many porpoises, super camp sites, 4 super calm days and 166km.   I was totally blown away by the wildlife, by far the best eagle count I've ever had and if its a mix of coastal paddling and open crossings, with stunning views, then the Small Isles fits the bill.  Plus to remove the risk of getting stranded, each of the islands has a ferry which takes sea kayaks and goes form Mallaig.

I decided on arriving back at Glenuig, to stay in the bunkhouse.  This meant I could wash all of my paddle kit and tent, hang it up in the drying room, which would then be ready to collect in the morning and with a hearty breakfast, it would set me up for the 10 hour drive home.  Another group of 4 paddlers, I'd met also briefly on the water were also doing the same and we joined each other for food.  It had been a magic few days and I felt totally refreshed and connected with the world around me ...

More information about The Small Isle's can be found here

Roger

roger chandler
www.coastalspirit.com

expedition paddling 
+
sea kayak coaching 



No comments:

Post a Comment