Winter Sea Kayaking courses and more ...

Here is a brief summary of courses that still have availability, over the Winter and into early Spring.  Plus this Summer's sea kayak expeditions:

6-9th November - Advanced sea kayak leader training (5*) with Open water navigation and tidal planning.  With ratio of 1:4 - 2 places left.

13-17th November - Moderate sea kayak leader training (4*) with Coastal navigation and tidal planning.  With ratio of 1:4 - 4 places left

9/10th December - Advanced sea kayaking.  For those who are close to being assessed at Moderate sea kayak leader (4*) or Advanced sea kayak leader trained (5*).  Based around the Advanced sea kayak leader and performance syllabus.  ratio of 1:4 - 3 places left

16/17th Dec - Surf & tide races.  From Intermediate to advanced and with the aim of really getting you surfing those waves.  ratio of 1:4 - 3 places left.

13/14th January 2018 - Advanced sea kayaking, with ratio of 1:4 - 4 places left

3/4th Feb - Surf & tide races.  Details as above and ratio of 1:4 - 3 places left

17/18th Feb - Intermediate Plus, working on Moderate water skills and ideal for those who have completed the Moderate sea kayak leader training and want support with their action plan.  ratio of 1:6 - 4 places left

24/25th Feb - Surf & tide races.  Details as above and ratio of 1:4 - 4 places left

28/2 - 4th March - Advanced sea kayak leader training and Open water navigation, with ratio of 1:4 - 4 places left

10 -14th March - Moderate sea kayak leader training and Coastal navigation, with ratio of 1:6 - 3 places left.

17/18th March - Surf & tide races.  Details as above and ratio of 1:4 - 4 places left

Shetland sea kayak expedition - 23-29th July at £695 - 2 places left

Orkney sea kayak expedition - 4-10th August at £695 - 4 places left.

Interested in any of the above then email roger@coastalspirit.com with your questions and I will get back to you with further information.  

Make a change in 2018 and have an adventure! 

#findyourfun

#exploredreamdiscover

Two BIG Adventures for 2016 and 2017, with Coastal Spirit

The Isle of Skye Circumnavigation and Islands 2016

This is your chance to experience a 23 day guided sea kayaking expedition, with the fabulous scenery of Scotland's West Coast, a real classic of the Inner Hebrides and Scotland's 3rd tourist destination. And its not surprising as Skye's sea scape and coastline is truly stunning with arches caves, majestic cliffs, head lands, islands and tide races. Paddle to Loch Coruisk and stand below the Cullins, or Neist Point and see Maclouds Maidens and many arches and caves, or paddle round Rubha Hunish, the most northerly point on Skye. To name just a few locations, while keeping your eyes open for Golden Eagles, Otters, Porpoises and Dolphins ... and may be even whales.   

In 2013 with two weeks a circumnavigation of the Isle of Skye was attempted.  Yet the team despite their efforts, were unsuccessful due to strong gale force winds.  In 2016 with 3 weeks available, we have more time to increase our chance of success and if the weather is settled and we complete the Isle of Skye earlier, we have more time to choose another island or section of coast.  Experience this unique and what promises to be a memorable and 'Big Adventure'.

Price £1590

Limited to only 4 people
Expedition pre training over one weekend - dates agreed with the team
Total number of days 25 with 23 days for the expedition
Expedition dates: 23rd April - 15th May

For more details on this expedition, have a look at the website and at the bottom of the page, here

The Roof of Britain Circumnavigation 2017

This expedition is 'One BIG Adventure', that takes in the rugged coastlines of the West and North of Scotland and the relative shelter of The Great Glen. And at over 400 nm this is a significant and realistic venture. This expedition covers some of the most spectacular and exposed stretches of the UK coastline, including Cape Wrath, the infamous Pentland Firth and the most westerly point of mainland UK, Ardnamurchan Point and many glorious beaches along the way.  In 2015 the team was successful in completing this adventure in 28 days, and its worth taking into account 10 days were storm bound leaving 18 days successful paddling!

Experience this unique and what promises to be an epic and memorable 'Bigger Adventure'.  

 

Price: £1990. Expedition development over four days or two weekend (incl in the cost) and dates aranged with the team.Expedition dates 15th April - 14th May 2017.   (the aim is to beat the arrival of the midges!!)Total number of days: 34 with 30 days for the Expedition. Limited to ONLY 4 people 

For more details and information have a look at the website here

The Outer Hebrides, Tarbert to Tarbert and a jaunt around Scarp from Huisinis - by Sonja Ezergailis.

Tarbert is nestled in a valley where North and South Harris come together and can be accessed easily by hopping on a Calmac ferry at Uig on Skye, with a journey time of just over an hour and a half. The usual plan when Liz and I plan a trip is for each of us to come up with a shortlist of 3, chat, debate, um and aaah and then decide on the best course of action based on the prevailing weather conditions. This time around we were blessed with a more settled weather system and in comparison to our Moidart to Morar trip last year thank fully we had no 4 hour portage sessions over a hill!! We were joined by two of Liz’s friends, Pete and Kate who decided that our plan was a good one and who brought the kitchen sink with them……!

Liz, Kate and Pete

Starting in Tarbert (East) is not something to be done at low tide. The mud is thick and mega sucky despite the allure of a landing jetty and steps and there is a good chance of you losing one of your limbs down there if you don’t get your technique and timings right. Liz managed her first unintentional swimming session here too so be warned! Paddling out towards Loch an Tarbert we skirted our way in and out of the many “Eilean”(islands) Rubha (headlands), Geodha (coves, inlets) and Mol Ban (white shingle beaches), sighting 3 otters with an hour of being on the water, awesome.  The morning after our first nights camp was the morning from hell with the worst midges I think I’ve ever experienced in a camp spot. Pete’s ankles and legs looked like a dot to dot and at low tide getting the boats back on the water was agonisingly slow due to the weight of the boats, slime, rocks and the high risk of ankle busting. At this stage in the game the total score for falls so far by day 2: Liz 2, Sonja 2!! Pure relief as we finally escaped to the water and paddled our way towards our southern most point, Renish Point and up to Leverburgh for a provisions top up before our crossing to the Isle of Ensay for the night. 

Mug of tea and an egg butty please…

Its worth mentioning at this point that the Outer Hebrides Guide can leave you wanting for more information about tidal flow at particular points with tidal flow in the Sound of Harris difficult to predict and subject to only one tide per day. Paddling out from Ensay back through the Caolas Sromaigh we made the call to land as the winds picked up and with the swell around decided that Toe Head with wind against tide didn’t look that inviting! The obvious diversion was a walk to the coffee shop at Northton and soaking in the amazing views of Scarasta beach through the isthmus. Proceeding around Toe Head in the morning was the right decision and a new experience as I’ve never paddled through masses of sea foam before! 

One of those lovely spots ...

Toe Head

Crossing the over to the island of Taransay was something I’ve wanted to do for ages ever since cycling past on a cycling trip of the Outer Hebrides and it wasn’t disappointing. Ben wasn’t there (shame!) but 200 deer were, as were turquoise seas, white sand, fantastic views and shocking cold water to swim in. Desperate for a wash after having been devoid of fresh water for a few days, immersion had to be done but it wasn’t as warm as Anglesey!! Paddling up the Sound of Taransay back to Tarbert Liz had a friendly follower for a large section of the journey in the form of a young seal who thought she smelt “lovely”.

En route to Taransay

Saying goodbye to Pete and Kate, once we’d emptied boats, unpacked and repacked Liz and I headed for some showers and then headed off down a dead end road to Huisinis, our camp for the night with a few glasses of wine prior to heading out to go around Scarp the following morning. Bright and early with a sunny day anticipated we headed off clockwise around the south west coast of the island. With swell still rolling around this exposed section of the coastline we couldn’t access things close up but landed on the beach opposite Eilean Cearstaigh on the north coast for a pause and to admire and enjoy our surroundings. There are some amazing examples here of Lewisian Gneiss (very attractive, very old rock, up to 3 billion years old making it the oldest rock in Britain!).

The elusive otter……

Back in our boats we explored north and back to the small island of Fladaigh before heading back down the Sound of Scarp and our journey home and what had been a fairly rare opportunity to paddle in the Outer Hebrides without it howling a hoolie.

Thanks to Liz, Kate and Pete for their company, sharing their wine and Smidge That Midge!

By Sonja Ezergailis.

East Coast Scotland - sea kayaking journey ...

The original plan with Zoe and Gary, was to finish off the 90km of paddling on Skye, from last years journey.  But looking at forecast the West was getting it bad, with gale force winds. While the East had much lighter wind and was looking dryer.  After a couple of emails we decided on Inverness to Wick, about 140km, not much tide and coastline non of us have paddled before.  What also made it workable was that the A99/A9 ran along the coast and two buses back to the start.  I was looking forward to paddling with both Zoe and Gary again, who had recently achieved the BCU UKCC 4 star leader award.  Well done both!

We used tidal info from the chart for the area, but have since realised the super Pesda Press books now have a sea kayaking guide book for the area, which I'm sure would have been very helpful.

We started down at the beginning (or the end) of the Caledonian Canal, which had good free parking and a pub close by and looked like a 30 minute walk from where a bus would return.  While packing our sea kayaks, a couple of guys walked over and chatted.  One of the guys sailed and he said ' when its wet and windy on the West coast its dry and bright on the East, but the reverse would also seem to be the same'.  We hoped the forecast would hold and his words would prove to be true!  

 Passing Chanonry Point below ... in super calm conditions, but no dolphins.  Apparently they tend to be seen more on the Flood, rather than the ebb.

I had over 100 photos so I've tried to limit and allow the photos to tell the story ...

It was largely a rocky coastline with few landing places, (more in the first two days).  Features began to increase the further north we went.

Crossing from Tarbat Ness and North to Brora and an attractive little village with a co op, cafe and more ...

Now the coastline started to get dramatic, with waterfalls, big cliffs, caves, geo's, arches and stacks of sea birds.  Many Black Gilimots, Eider Ducks and a new one for me - long tailed ducks ...

The needle, as it was named was a super stack and with the light, shinning straight into the cliffs and the wind, blowing us along, it was a magic moment ...

Further along the coast a waterfall was being blown by the wind and the water was wrapping around a buttress and a lovely rainbow sparkled in front of me ...

Gary having a wash under one of the many waterfalls ...

This amazing tunnel we nearly missed, as it was only when we looked back and we saw the light shinning through ... we just had to turn and explore ...

We arrived in Wick late afternoon after 4 and a bit days paddling and found a suitable place to leave the kayaks and walked into town, for fish and chips.  However, this proved to be one of the initial challenging elements of the trip, as we found two but they had closed at 7pm ;(  .... a Wetherspoons saved the day and provided good liquid refreshment.

Next morning Gary got the bus back to Inverness, which involved two buses and a 3 hour journey and by all accounts was straight forward... while Zoe and my self tucked into a good Scottish breakfast, again at Wetherspoons!




Gary was back after a total of 6 hours and kayaks were up on the grass and kit had been dried in the sunshine.  What now?  We decided to drive the short distance to John o Groats, as none of us had been there before and visit the light house at Duncansby Head and a super view across to the Orkneys.

It was great paddling with both Zoe and Gary again and their recent success with achieving the 4 star leader sea award, was clearly evident with both looking skilled. 

The East coast had blown us all away and was the perfect location, in the conditions we had W/SW winds from f3-f6.  The further North we paddled the more committing the coastline became, with reefs extending out, many boomers and landing's less frequent as well as suitable camp spots.  People were top friendly, interested in what we were doing and camping in a harbour, seemed ok.

I know one thing I will be back to East coast and hopefully next time we will see the 100 plus dolphins that are resident in the area ...

Roger
www.coastalspirit.com
info@coastalspirit.com

expedition paddling
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sea kayaking expeditions

Around Ireland ... photos and thanks

My kit is washed and dried and almost packed away ... and I think Im up to date with bookings!  

Here are some of my favourite photos from my paddle around Ireland.

The first few are taken on my Canon SLR camera.  

Day 4- We had just paddled round Carnsore Point, just beyond Rosslare.  It was a short day, but a peaceful camp, in amongst these giants.  

Day 15 - Great Blasket Island was a magic place.  This was the following morning after a F6/7, from the S/SW (beach faces N) and 300-400 seals enjoying the sunshine ...

One of the bee hive huts on Great Blasket Island ... I could have stayed longer 

 Day 22 - A sea stack at the Cliffs of Moher on the West coast.

Day 27 - A pod of 30-40 common dolphins, while crossing Killala Bay, SW of Donegal Bay.  We were with them for 10-15 minutes and it looked like they were feeding.

The following were taken on my small Pentax waterproof camera 

Day 2 Wicklow .. hail and it stung!!

Day 3 and the Raven Point Wexford.  A super sand bank area with loads of terns and sea birds, plus our first big pod and heard of seals. 

Looking out from my Bivi, towards the Fastnet lighthouse and the blur of the lighthouse caught by my camera.  The end of the South coast and moving North.

Day 15 and approaching Little Skellig. From a distance i could imagine it was Manhattan!!  If you wondered what the white was, the answer is to do with 30'000 nesting pairs of gannets ...  This was my top day, as we left Deenish island in the mist and on a bearing to the Skelligs, 30'000 was amazing soaring above our heads.  Justine landed for 30/40 mins and the tourist boats gave us a storm warning, so we headed off to the Blasket islands, where a pod of dolphins swam through us on our way. 

Day 16 and rounding Sybil Head. This was my most gripping day with 3-4 mt swell, reflected waves, curling tops and BIG clapotis.  The conditions slowly increased and we really experienced the Atlantic swell in action!!

Day19 - a couple of days after the storm and this section was pretty messy and confused.  Justine above  getting close to Brandon Point.

Day 21 and section of the coast after Loop head.  Again lots of confused water, with swell going one way, reflected waves the other.  It was sustained paddling.  After 4 hours and 14 nm I was happy to land and stay on Mutton Island, after all it was my birthday!

We had lots of this and more than expected ...

Day 26 - and even more of this ... truly stunning.  Along from Benwee Head ...

 

Day 31 -  despite the wind and rain this was another section of stunning coastline, North from Glencolumbkille.  A section called the 'enchanted rocks' provided a clue!!
  

This one above was amazing ... one tunnel led out and a waterfall greeted us and another tunnel carried on ... 

Day 33 and Ballymagaraghy. We meet soooooo many super and lovely people, thanks to you all.  This guy had just got in from work.  We were looking in a small village for some wear to eat, Jane (centre) knocked on a door to ask. The fella driving answered (sorry Ive forgot your name) and he said the nearest place to eat was 7 miles away.  We thanked him and started walking away, his wife ran after us and said they could give us a lift into town .... its when I happy to be the tallest in the group!!

Thanks to Sonja Ewen for taking the photo.

If you have never paddled along the coast of Ireland i would highly recommend it.  Its so peaceful, you have big areas to your self.  It has a far more remote feeling and a truly stunning and beautiful coastline.  

I would like to thanks P+H for the Cetus HV, which still looks pretty good and comfortably carried all my food and kit.  To Kokatat for all of my paddle wear, which in the hail, wind and rain kept me dry and warm.  To Mitchell Blades for the paddles which helped me crank out the miles and to Axel for the Axel Pack map case, which impressively kept all my charts and maps dry.  To Stena Line for there support both to and from Ireland.  It really was a smooth and efficient process.  To Sonja, for managing mission control, with updating the Blog, bookings and day to day admin with Coastal Spirit. 

As some of you may know I was also raising money for Cancer Research UK and a BIG thanks to so many of you who donated.  I raised over £1200 ... :)

Justines Blog and recap of our journey with some super photos can be seen here

Will i be back? I really hope so.  Was the Guinness good? Oh yes!!