A few pics from the weekend up at Loch Long. Hot, hot, hot!
By half way across the mouth of Goil I could see that the big oak bay was very calm. Too calm to risk - looked like midgie hell in the making.
Quite a few shoals of fry around and Goil was relatively free of jellyfish(Long was full of them).
Visited the mussel cliff in passing and plucked a dozen of it's bigger offerings...
...and went to check this out. Wanted to make sure it wasn't pouring out fuel - was a faint sheen coming from it and heading up loch but looked more like what'd be coming off greased fittings and the likes. Shore next to it looked ok - decided to risk the mussels.
The light patch in the water is the tender, a nice and not so wee clinker rowboat. Looked like it was on enough of a line not to be pulled down so I'm guessing the tender was already under when she hit the shore. Lively patch of water this, Goil can be like a wind tunnel sometimes and it's mouth can be heavy chop when everywhere roundabout is much calmer.
Having written off the usual campsite I doubled back to the point where we normally gather firewood. There was a light breeze spilling round from Long, the only one to be seen.
Home sweet home.
Part varnish sympathy but mostly sheer lazyness - waited for high tide to bring the boat up.
Laid a bed of shale for a fire out on the point itself...
...and leveled a nest on the beach. Had checked the tides so knew there weren't going to be any soggy midnight awakenings.
Teased open the mussels in seawater then finished them off in butter and homebrew cider.
Next morning I set off with fine intentions to properly test the new paddle with a cruise right up Goil and back. Rarely get a chance to paddle an empy boat and she was fair scooting along. Was barely across to the north shore and round the corner though when I scrapped the idea. Was just too hot to paddle.
Meandered back, stopped for water from the good burn in passing, slung a few rocks from the shade of the oak but it was too hot to sling too. Back at camp I lazed on the beach for a few hours in the shade of the young spruce.
Left the boat where it beached. When the tide turned and came back up to it that was my cue for some drifting around.
One wee codling's better than no wee codlings. Would have liked to have stayed out longer but my legs were starting to bake.
Was a lovely evening.
Didn't want to go this morning but needs must. Was just getting accustomed to life on a rock and still had most of my food left. Bah and humbug!
Amazing how long you can stretch out a couple of mile paddle when you don't really want to go home. Was in and out of every nook and cranny and done as much drifting as paddling proper.
Rhodie-o-rama. That's probably what the whole country will look like in another hundred years.
Never fail to get that land of the giants feeling when there's a tanker in. A little twist in the gut reminding you how tiny and vunerable you are.
Perfect timing for landing. Another half hour and I'd have been unloading from the wall which is a bit footery with the gear in the end compartments. The car was like an oven and full of dead midgies(I never remember to close the air vents).
Speaking of midgies, they were out all weekend(bad but not too bad). Was always ok out on the point then come bedtime I'd pop on my net before walking to the beach then quickly slip off my shoes and into the bivy bag still fully clothed.
Firewood collection was headnet, trews in socks and Nordic Summer on my hands. Didn't have to Nordic my face because I was always going to be back at the point soon, was never in their territory for long enough to warrant it.
All in all a fine weekend but boy was it hot!
Josh
By half way across the mouth of Goil I could see that the big oak bay was very calm. Too calm to risk - looked like midgie hell in the making.
Quite a few shoals of fry around and Goil was relatively free of jellyfish(Long was full of them).
Visited the mussel cliff in passing and plucked a dozen of it's bigger offerings...
...and went to check this out. Wanted to make sure it wasn't pouring out fuel - was a faint sheen coming from it and heading up loch but looked more like what'd be coming off greased fittings and the likes. Shore next to it looked ok - decided to risk the mussels.
The light patch in the water is the tender, a nice and not so wee clinker rowboat. Looked like it was on enough of a line not to be pulled down so I'm guessing the tender was already under when she hit the shore. Lively patch of water this, Goil can be like a wind tunnel sometimes and it's mouth can be heavy chop when everywhere roundabout is much calmer.
Having written off the usual campsite I doubled back to the point where we normally gather firewood. There was a light breeze spilling round from Long, the only one to be seen.
Home sweet home.
Part varnish sympathy but mostly sheer lazyness - waited for high tide to bring the boat up.
Laid a bed of shale for a fire out on the point itself...
...and leveled a nest on the beach. Had checked the tides so knew there weren't going to be any soggy midnight awakenings.
Teased open the mussels in seawater then finished them off in butter and homebrew cider.
Next morning I set off with fine intentions to properly test the new paddle with a cruise right up Goil and back. Rarely get a chance to paddle an empy boat and she was fair scooting along. Was barely across to the north shore and round the corner though when I scrapped the idea. Was just too hot to paddle.
Meandered back, stopped for water from the good burn in passing, slung a few rocks from the shade of the oak but it was too hot to sling too. Back at camp I lazed on the beach for a few hours in the shade of the young spruce.
Left the boat where it beached. When the tide turned and came back up to it that was my cue for some drifting around.
One wee codling's better than no wee codlings. Would have liked to have stayed out longer but my legs were starting to bake.
Was a lovely evening.
Didn't want to go this morning but needs must. Was just getting accustomed to life on a rock and still had most of my food left. Bah and humbug!
Amazing how long you can stretch out a couple of mile paddle when you don't really want to go home. Was in and out of every nook and cranny and done as much drifting as paddling proper.
Rhodie-o-rama. That's probably what the whole country will look like in another hundred years.
Never fail to get that land of the giants feeling when there's a tanker in. A little twist in the gut reminding you how tiny and vunerable you are.
Perfect timing for landing. Another half hour and I'd have been unloading from the wall which is a bit footery with the gear in the end compartments. The car was like an oven and full of dead midgies(I never remember to close the air vents).
Speaking of midgies, they were out all weekend(bad but not too bad). Was always ok out on the point then come bedtime I'd pop on my net before walking to the beach then quickly slip off my shoes and into the bivy bag still fully clothed.
Firewood collection was headnet, trews in socks and Nordic Summer on my hands. Didn't have to Nordic my face because I was always going to be back at the point soon, was never in their territory for long enough to warrant it.
All in all a fine weekend but boy was it hot!
Josh
