Just had a few days paddling and camping up on the west coast of Scotland at Loch Fyne.
As we were meeting at 10 a.m, I'd decided to set off up there at half eleven on Thursday night to try and make some headway before getting my head down for a few hours in a wood somewhere. A nice steady pace (65mph) saw me reaching the outskirts of Glasgow at almost 3 o'clock, as I was starting to get tired I pulled off into one of the services and got had a couple of hours on the back seat under a wool blanket.
I woke at half five and sorted my head out, cranked up the kelly kettle in the car park then set off northwards to the Trossachs. I made good time and reached the shores of Loch Lomond just after 6 o'clock so I had a bit of mooch around Firkin Point, had another brew and pressed on. I didn't get far before I had stop again and take in the views at Rest and be thankful. Stunning, but I never took any pics
Having the road to myself just about I was making really good time and was thinking maybe I should have had a few more hours kip at Glasgow. The AA route planner had said nearly 7 hours but it was looking like I was going to do it more like 6, I suppose I didn't take into account I'd be travelling through the night with only a few trucks for company.
The drive through Glen Kinglas was again stunning with clouds of mist breaking through the thick pine plantations. Loch Long was like a mill pond and I had to stop a few times just to sit and look out for a few minutes, onwards passed Inveraray and Lochgilphead and I was nearing the meeting point. I check with the guys to see where they were and found they were still a good hour behind me so I found a layby about 5 miles from Tarbert and got some more kip.
Stephen turned up shortly after so we carried on the the meeting point and got the boats loaded ready for when Josh joined us.
A few pics ...
Interesting sign post, not. Having finally remembered to unpack my camera I was trying to get Inverary bathed in sunshine against the black clouds. Oh well.
Last layby before the meet up point. Saw a couple of dolphins here whilst waiting for the guys.
The put in, conditions were looking good.
Josh arrived soon after and after a quick supplies mission to the co-op we were off.
Josh looking relaxed
Stephen getting to grips with the new boat. It didn't take long.
Interesting rocks ...
Time for a quick stop.
Then we were away again, this time with company.
The last half a mile was quite tough, a constant head wind although not that strong, made it feel like we were paddling through jam at times.
Home for the next few days.
Friday night was a pretty early one, for me anyway.
When I woke Saturday morning I could here waves on the shore and wind and rain battering my little tent. I stuck my head out the door and sure enough it was pretty wild out there. I went for a short walk along the beach, smoked a couple of cigs and then decided to go back to bed as the other two didn't look like moving just yet.
When we'd all eventually crawled out of our tents we set about knocking up a nice big shelter with a truck tarp and materials Josh had already boated out in the past.
Fishing looked like it was going to be off as it was too lumpy out on the loch, white caps further out and wind which couldn't make up its mind what it wanted to do.
We just chilled out around camp for most of the morning, avoiding the heavier showers and generally tweaking the shelter against the elements. I collected some pig nuts which we roasted in the embers, tasty.
Josh and I decided to do for a bit of a mooch about in the woods and see what was about. We had a few encounters with some Sika and checked out some old buildings, scoffed some primroses and went back to camp, a little damp. Sorry no pics from me as it was too wet but I think Josh got a couple.
The shelter and camp ...
It calmed down about later on so whilst Josh went off to find a nice piece of timber for his next bow project, Stephen and I went for a bit of shore line fishing with the spinners. We didn't get much apart from kelp and the odd barnacle grabbing the hook, but I managed to embed two of the triple hooks into the end of my finger, that made me smart when I pulled the barbels out.
It was starting to get dark but Josh had already made good progress on the bow before calling it a day with the sharps.
Stephen and Josh heading off for a bit of twilight fishing.
Saturday night involved much the usual merryment around the fire accompanied by a good bottle of malt. Some lasted longer than others though and 02:30 was enough for me.
Stephen pondering life's many questions
A few pics from camp before leaving
Josh was out for the count and didn't look like he was going to get very far on Sunday so Stephen and I tidied up camp, took down the shelter and left Josh in his slumber.
Then we were off back to the cars and back to reality
A nice steady southerly wind pushed us all the way up the loch with very little in the way of paddling, just steering strokes mainly with some nice surfing and chunky swells.
We were eventaully packed and ready for off. It took Stephen a while to make his inflatable fit back in the car. Once he'd realised someone had stolen his engine he managed to stuff it under the bonnet though
A great weekend with good company, nice one chaps.
As we were meeting at 10 a.m, I'd decided to set off up there at half eleven on Thursday night to try and make some headway before getting my head down for a few hours in a wood somewhere. A nice steady pace (65mph) saw me reaching the outskirts of Glasgow at almost 3 o'clock, as I was starting to get tired I pulled off into one of the services and got had a couple of hours on the back seat under a wool blanket.
I woke at half five and sorted my head out, cranked up the kelly kettle in the car park then set off northwards to the Trossachs. I made good time and reached the shores of Loch Lomond just after 6 o'clock so I had a bit of mooch around Firkin Point, had another brew and pressed on. I didn't get far before I had stop again and take in the views at Rest and be thankful. Stunning, but I never took any pics
Having the road to myself just about I was making really good time and was thinking maybe I should have had a few more hours kip at Glasgow. The AA route planner had said nearly 7 hours but it was looking like I was going to do it more like 6, I suppose I didn't take into account I'd be travelling through the night with only a few trucks for company.
The drive through Glen Kinglas was again stunning with clouds of mist breaking through the thick pine plantations. Loch Long was like a mill pond and I had to stop a few times just to sit and look out for a few minutes, onwards passed Inveraray and Lochgilphead and I was nearing the meeting point. I check with the guys to see where they were and found they were still a good hour behind me so I found a layby about 5 miles from Tarbert and got some more kip.
Stephen turned up shortly after so we carried on the the meeting point and got the boats loaded ready for when Josh joined us.
A few pics ...
Interesting sign post, not. Having finally remembered to unpack my camera I was trying to get Inverary bathed in sunshine against the black clouds. Oh well.
Last layby before the meet up point. Saw a couple of dolphins here whilst waiting for the guys.
The put in, conditions were looking good.
Josh arrived soon after and after a quick supplies mission to the co-op we were off.
Josh looking relaxed
Stephen getting to grips with the new boat. It didn't take long.
Interesting rocks ...
Time for a quick stop.
Then we were away again, this time with company.
The last half a mile was quite tough, a constant head wind although not that strong, made it feel like we were paddling through jam at times.
Home for the next few days.
Friday night was a pretty early one, for me anyway.
When I woke Saturday morning I could here waves on the shore and wind and rain battering my little tent. I stuck my head out the door and sure enough it was pretty wild out there. I went for a short walk along the beach, smoked a couple of cigs and then decided to go back to bed as the other two didn't look like moving just yet.
When we'd all eventually crawled out of our tents we set about knocking up a nice big shelter with a truck tarp and materials Josh had already boated out in the past.
Fishing looked like it was going to be off as it was too lumpy out on the loch, white caps further out and wind which couldn't make up its mind what it wanted to do.
We just chilled out around camp for most of the morning, avoiding the heavier showers and generally tweaking the shelter against the elements. I collected some pig nuts which we roasted in the embers, tasty.
Josh and I decided to do for a bit of a mooch about in the woods and see what was about. We had a few encounters with some Sika and checked out some old buildings, scoffed some primroses and went back to camp, a little damp. Sorry no pics from me as it was too wet but I think Josh got a couple.
The shelter and camp ...
It calmed down about later on so whilst Josh went off to find a nice piece of timber for his next bow project, Stephen and I went for a bit of shore line fishing with the spinners. We didn't get much apart from kelp and the odd barnacle grabbing the hook, but I managed to embed two of the triple hooks into the end of my finger, that made me smart when I pulled the barbels out.
It was starting to get dark but Josh had already made good progress on the bow before calling it a day with the sharps.
Stephen and Josh heading off for a bit of twilight fishing.
Saturday night involved much the usual merryment around the fire accompanied by a good bottle of malt. Some lasted longer than others though and 02:30 was enough for me.
Stephen pondering life's many questions
A few pics from camp before leaving
Josh was out for the count and didn't look like he was going to get very far on Sunday so Stephen and I tidied up camp, took down the shelter and left Josh in his slumber.
Then we were off back to the cars and back to reality
A nice steady southerly wind pushed us all the way up the loch with very little in the way of paddling, just steering strokes mainly with some nice surfing and chunky swells.
We were eventaully packed and ready for off. It took Stephen a while to make his inflatable fit back in the car. Once he'd realised someone had stolen his engine he managed to stuff it under the bonnet though
A great weekend with good company, nice one chaps.
