Happy returns in Morar

The first few months of 2024 have seen some really poor weather conditions in Scotland.  In the north-east of the country it was the wettest winter for many years and April was the coldest since 1905!  When the forecast for the first few days of May showed warm and settled conditions on the west coast, Douglas and I made plans for a few days sea kayak camping.

We met at Mallaig mid-morning on a glorious day.  A glance at the map shows how well positioned Mallaig is to access superb sea kayaking routes.  Our plan would be very flexible and would largely be dictated by a forecast of variable winds from a generally easterly direction.  Before packing our boats we took second breakfast of croissants and pains au chocolate with coffee from the excellent Mallaig Bakehouse and also bought a large focaccia bread to accompany dinner.

 We were on the water and away shortly after noon and enjoyed a leisurely few hours paddle towards our first planned camp.  As we'd both had long-ish drives to reach Mallaig we had no intention of pushing hard to make distance, it just wasn't that sort of a day.  A light breeze from astern helped push us gently along as we paddle-sailed a shoreline alive with the sounds of Willow Warblers and echoing to the calls of Cuckoos.

Arriving at a camp we've used before is a bit like meeting an old friend; one looks for the subtle changes and reminisces about good times.  We were pleased to see not much had changed here and that the bracken hadn't started reaching up, making for a better range of pitches.  We got our tents up, enjoyed a coffee and then went for a walk.  Douglas and I both enjoy the off-water parts of a sea kayak trip as much as the paddling, exploring and just being in a place adds so much to the experience.

We climbed above the shore and through woods of birch and oak to a stretch of higher ground which had clear signs that this now deserted shore was once worked by a community.  "Run Rig" furrow marks were everywhere, testament to back-breaking work over generations to make something of the poor, acid soils by fertilising with seaweed and dung.

Croft houses, some little more than a gable or a "rickle o'stanes" dot the ground near the shore.  It's likely that the occupants had been moved from better agricultural ground inland to theses far edges to make way for sheep in the years of the Clearances.  The houses had a superb situation, but a view won't feed your family and this was subsistence living at the extreme with starvation an ever-present threat.

Near the ruins of a more substantial house was this tractor which is slowly being consumed by rust and the boggy ground.  We could make out that the engine was a Standard make, but little else - it would be fascinating to learn something of its story.

Just around here we were treated to one of the experiences which really make a trip.  Overhead we heard the distinctive "kyow-kyow" call of a White Tailed Eagle.  looking up we saw not one but two birds flying purposefully overhead.  But things got even better; a third, absolutely huge eagle (an adult female we think) launched from a nearby crag and engaged the two overflying birds.  Twisting in mid-air and presenting its talons seemed to intimidate the two birds which flew quickly off.  Then the third bird was harried relentlessly by a pair of Ravens which mobbed it all the way back to the crag - it was a great wildlife spectacle!

It was only four or so hours into our trip but already it felt that we'd been amply rewarded for making the effort to get out!  Returning to our camp we gathered driftwood and some fallen birch branches for a fire and started to think about getting dinner prepared....

An anything but "dry" January

January can, in some years, be a month of enforced abstinence from most outdoor activities.  Limited daylight, often hostile weather and low temperatures can combine to make things a bit of a challenge.  this year, with more free time, I was keen to grab opportunity where I could, work with the weather and just generally "seize the day".  

I did at least one walk every day, averaging 13km per day across the month in a variety of conditions from the sublime to the downright nasty.

 

When the snow came in heavily, accompanied by strong winds and drifting....time to switch from walking to skiing!

There were a few days of really good conditions for XC Skiing right from home

A spell of settled weather in the north west of Scotland tempted Allan and I to plan a few days kayaking

...amply rewarded by some superb winter paddling conditions.....

..and some great wildlife encounters.

Generally amenable if breezy weather gave good opportunities for gravel riding in the Cairngorms...

...and several rides closer to home, such as here on Lord Arthur's Hill on the Correen ridge.

So, January proved to be anything but a "dry" month for outdoor ventures; the trick now is to keep it up for the year!

A celebration on "Mica Beach"

By the time we'd paddled about half way down Loch Shiel and the mountains had begun to recede on either side, the wind had dropped to a very light breeze.  It was still an assistance though and we would eventually cover the length of the loch at an average 7km/h despite taking plenty of time to dawdle and enjoy the situation.

Second luncheon was on the horizon and we pulled over to the west side of the loch to land at a beach we've passed previously but not landed on.  Stark when we saw it in winter conditions, it seemed a lot more welcoming with fresh green spring leaves opening and birdsong echoing across the hillside.

The glacial nature of the landscape is obvious in the ice-polished rock on the shore.  The geology in this area is quite complex, this looks to be a metamorphic rock type.  Among the pebbles on the beach we found some pieces of mica which were incredibly bright - almost mirror-like in their shine.  We'll know this place as Mica Beach on future trips.

The view back up Loch Shiel was very fine, bright blue water framed by steep hillsides clothed in green and backed by a mountain skyline.

Closer to hand, the spring flowers were in evidence on a grassy bank above the beach, the beautiful flowers of Wood Anenome (Anenome nemorsa) studded the undergrowth; a welcome sight.

Another welcome sight was a small libation of Caol Ila malt whisky, dispensed from Douglas' flask - for we had something to celebrate.....

.....the first day on the water for Douglas' new P & H Cetus MV kayak.  As we were marking h=the vent on fresh water, we would of course have to hold another launch ceremony when "Sula" first felt salt water!

Tough stuff and rough stuff in the Arisaig skerries

We continued south down the Morar coast and entered the maze of the Arisaig skerries.  One could paddle here a hundred times and not take the same route twice, it's a great place to sea kayak!

Another beach, another brief rest stop, though rather than sand this beach on Luinga Beag was composed of......

....shells and coral.  The coral is actually the calcareous skeletons of a red algae and it's quite tough stuff. We left this beach and paddled out around the outside of Luinga Mor, a short piece of coastline which, despite having paddled the Arisaig skerries many times, I'd not paddled.  It proved to be fun.....

.....in a bouncy way!  This is the best image I could get in the choppy, clapotic conditions.  Reassuringly, the P & H Cetus MV handles this rough stuff with absolutely no drama.

As soon as we turned the corner at the south west of Luinga Mor we entered much more sheltered water,  protection from the prevailing southwesterly weather is one of the great advantages of paddling at Arisaig.  Since leaving the River Morar some four hours earlier we had been paddling steadily into a southerly wind but now we had the wind at our backs......time to hoist the sails......

Cold start

I slept well, and despite a marked drop in temperature when the skies cleared in the early hours (the thermometer on my watch registering minus 5 Celsius) I woke warm and well rested.  One of the nice things about paddling with Mike and Douglas is that all three of us have similar routines and are naturally early starters; we were up and about at 6am in the pre-dawn making breakfast and packing away our camping kit.

The frigid air wasn't conducive to a leisurely breakfast; breakfast and hot drinks done we erased all signs of the previous evening's fire and completed packing our boats.  This was the first time I'd camped out of the Cetus MV and the space available came as a very pleasant surprise.

Unexpectedly, we found our boats a little higher from the water than we had left them the previous evening.  We'd jokingly remarked that there was no tide to worry about, but here was indisputable evidence that the water level  in a 28 kilometre  loch had receded by at least 15 cm overnight.  That's an awful lot of water and we knew that our route would follow that outflow later in the day.

Just as we were getting on the water the sun was rising above the hills to the east.  While it brought the first welcome hint of warmth, the sunrise changed the relative humidity very quickly, misting camera lenses and sensors.  It was some time before things equalised and the DSLR cameras were fully functional.

We paddled out onto the still water of Loch Shiel in anticipation of a great morning's paddling.......

                             ......but we had no idea just how good it would turn out to be..........

Sea Trials

Having seen at first hand what a versatile day and (particularly) multi-day capable boat the P & H Cetus MV is, I was very happy when the opportunity came up to purchase a very well cared for example.

Regular readers of the blog may previously have noticed this particular boat in Orange with Golden Yellow graphic in quite a few posts; whilst readers of this blog will certainly be familiar with it!  It has seen some outstanding adventures already and I hope it will continue to see many more :o)

The boat feels comfortable, alive and capable right from the start and sea trials have been underway with the aim of getting the personalised fit "just so"......

Image courtesy of Chris Sugden


......whilst paddling along the Moray Firth coast......

....during some interesting luncheon stops.....

......in the swirling tidal waters around Buchan Ness.......

....and along the stunningly colourful Angus coast. 

The boat has a custom bulkhead, a real bonus in my opinion, and the final few adjustments have been made to a minicell foam block (thanks Douglas!) which now forms a footrest at just the same angle as the footplate which I've found so comfortable in the Tiderace Xcite.  There may be a couple of adjustments still to make around the seat, but the Cetus MV really does feel superb on the water.

The Xcite will continue to be the boat of choice for tight rockhopping and rough stuff, while the Cetus seems the logical "go to" boat for longer paddles.....  I'm very fortunate to be able to be able to choose between two such boats, but of course there's another important aspect to the choice of boat for a particular paddle.....

......a yellow view from the cockpit.....

......or an orange one ?!