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Yeah I thought that was the fife coast but only ever walked it so the perspective was throwing me
Went around to Ulva Ferry yesterday for a social paddle with a couple of others - paddled around to few islets and went through a channel in the rocks no wider than my paddle - had to time it with the swell to avoid hitting the bottom. Saw a big raft of eider ducks, but no otter, seal, porpoise or dolphin action.
What a great spot for a paddle...I was taken last year by it.
Not exactly a Paddling Mecca, but not entirely grim.
Leam river, Leamington spa
Harold at the bows.
@dovebiker looks a great spot, must get over to Mull again without elderly father, kids and dog in tow.
What is your kayak, Tahe Greenland?
@dovebiker looks a great spot, must get over to Mull again without elderly father, kids and dog in tow.
Indeed - I took 79yr old there last easter, and while wonderful was not as adventurous as usual... We want to come back with bike, boot and bike.
Anyone interested in a cheap open boat?
I've a 16' Novacraft Prospector for sale. It's ex-hire and has two splits in the inner plastic - but has been like that for 8 years in our care....
Which means it's new boat day for me shortly 😎
SP3 or Royalex Matt?
Sp3
Mrs_oab hasn't been well the last couple of months, and is still in pain from shingles.
However, she requested a cuppa today.
So we floated out for one
She's now asleep, but it was worth it. 👍
Good weather clinging on in new Zealand as we head towards winter , so got the kids out on the lake today.
Those spring sky's in Scotland look amazing matt .
They are - last couple of days have been amazing.
Nice little paddle on the local loop.
You start on the river Leam, paddle to the confluence with the river Avon, then up steep steps onto the Aqueduct that carries the Grand Union canal. Up that a few miles until it draws alongside the river Leam, then paddle downstream to the start again.
Just over 7 miles.
Quick spin with my dad at the helm and the dog. Who started in the middle but demanded to sit up front, after filling the midship with spew, which really isn't that comfortable
That loop with the aqueduct looks cool. I love an aqueduct. Would it be suitable for a SUP?
Had a good first paddle of the year last year. Took the kids on Loch Shieldaig nr Torridon for their first mini sea paddle. Daughter is very fond of otters at the moment and started moaning about 3 minutes in that she hand't seen one. Right on cue one otter playing about near the boat, followed by a whole squad of Common seals that followed us around getting right up close to the boat. Just to top it off we got a great view of the sea eagle on the return leg. She was blown away by it such a cool and very lucky trip.
For balance we did a 2hr wildlife boat trip later in the week on somewhat rough seas and saw absolutely nothing!
Shieldaig is brilliant - did you happen to pick up my nice new Samsung phone which is on the bottom between island and hire place?
@joshvegas - the dogs face is classic!
First outing of the yea for us, as usual we just wheeled the canoe a few hundred yards to the local canal for a quick out and back trip, but this time we did spot of litter picking
Made it quite hard work for me as I often had to back oars swiftly to pick up something spotted last minute. A good workout.
I had a litter experience last week. I was paddling under a bridge on The Bridgewater canal and found some younger teenagers trying to retrieve 6 full black bin bags from the canal. They had seen a car pull up on the bridge and dump the rubbish in the water.
I used my kayak to collect the bags and the kids stacked the rubbish at the back of the towpath. An email to Peel Holdings got the rubish dealt with.
What impressed me was that the kids actually cared about the environment when faced with deliberate fly tipping and actually tried to sort out the situation on their own initiative.
Great see @NBT collecting litter 🙂
She was reasonably happy after she got to sit in her safe place, looking over the gunnels at the bow wave.
That is good Bruce....
Canoe camping trip to Loch Duntelchaig with my son Tom last weekend. It's our local Loch close to Inverness.
His first time in the back of the boat in charge of the steering.
Home for the night.
View from my sleeping bag (minus my legs of course.)
Sail back to the pick up point.
Quality father / son time.
Lovely!
I'm rather excited for a change of boats in 10 days time - I need to get back out and paddle more...
Paddling a sea kayak with Sealions, dolphins and penguins yesterday afternoon. In the Falklands, it was wonderful to be so close to these animals.
I’ll try and post some pictures or videos
Very nice boat, I now have serious boat envy.
Aye, it's a long time coming. I've only moved it twice, but soooo nice to pick up Royalex not SP3...
Last week on Ullswater with my son. Took the Neris. Had a cracking paddle, was raining but no wind so the lake was like silk.
^ I think your Instagram page is private?
Ah yes. I'd forgotten that. Got fed up of excessive spam. I'll have to find somewhere to host the pictures.
First paddle on Loch Chon.
Chuffing cold.
Great brew up and sausage fry up on one of the islands.
Nice little paddle down the Wye for the other half's birthday.
Love the Wye, despite it being relatively popular.
@Matt_outandabout, looks immaculate! Nice one P16?
Does this work?
Edit. Nope. I have no idea how to put photos on this site anymore.
@malgrey - yep, barely used P16 on Royalex that's been stored indoors and never used on moving water.
It needs some name stickers removing and properly fitting out.
Came with a trolley, multiple new BA's, paddles, kneeling mats, third seat....all barely used.
Happy days.
@supersessions9-2 - you need to put the Google photo link into Labnol and convert to display.
https://www.labnol.org/embed/google/photos/
@malgrey – yep, barely used P16 on Royalex that’s been stored indoors and never used on moving water.
It needs some name stickers removing and properly fitting out.
Got a trolley, multiple new BA’s, paddles, kneeling mats, third seat….all barely used.
Happy days.
Excellent.
I've seen a P16 on the Ocean, well a sea loch, in a sudden F5. There was an element of Pioneering going on, as the bailer blew away and it was the first time I was genuinely worried for my companions as we headed for safety! So the name could work, sort of!
😆
I'm hoping for none of that, so the name is going..
Loch chon looks Ike a nice wee explore I have just splashed out on some new sup paddles that convert to to kayak paddles for those days that are a bit blowy or for a change of pace.
Took doggo out on thriepmuir. I have learned a number of things:
A 20kilogram dog on the smaller and narrower board is significantly harder.
When she gets bored she will jump off and abandon me to the Headwind.
Me falling off doesn't mean she's going in too just that she will look down on me and the fact all her treats are ruined.
Loch chon looks Ike a nice wee explore
It is - we were disappointed in how much goose poopage the islands all had, and the fact that two of the lochshore campers had outboard engine inflatables... 🙁
I am keen to explore more of Katrine - we were discussing teaming up and doing a shuttle on the ferry - canoe one way, lock the boats up and steam back 🙂
Thanks for adding my pic. Hers another just before setting off.
And thanks for explaining how to do the image thing.
A lovely day on the Teith.
Well, it rained overnight. Other rivers were not rising as fast. So we went back to the Teith again....
https://photos.app.goo.gl/kYukQ2G15MLmC77u8
Great evening for a paddle around to Tobermory Lighthouse, catch the wake of the Kilchoan ferry and finish off with a lap of the bay with porpoises for company
Lovely.
I am quite envious of people who live in places with nice local paddling.
Training on the canal for me tomorrow 🙁
Only just noticed this thread!
Few pics from Loch Tummel tail end of last year. Bert loving life as usual!
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It's the Garry (Invernesshire) Matt, hoping to take the prospector down later but I doubt it will end well😬
Took a trip down a new section of my local ditch, the Gwendraeth Fawr. Plenty of post-industrial bridges that were set too close to the water to paddle under, which made for some awkward portages. Glad I took a kayak not my canoe because there were some squeezes around fallen trees too.
Any other fans of ditch boating on STW?
Any other fans of ditch boating on STW?
Yeah me!
Continuing with my paddling of the whole of Shakespeare's Avon today with a section starting from Rugby.
Really changeable quality with some horrible tree portages and litter-jams.
Man I hate litter... 😞
Early portage
Wildlife
Concrete Jungle
Rugby cement works
Horrendous litter jam I had to climb over
Neigh bother
Looks like a good adventure! Shame about the litter but it's nice to be able to get to places that almost no-one else will (mostly because it's a ballache to get there😅)
A few from last weekend. Bubbenhall to Warwick on the Avon.
I've got one more section to paddle and I've paddled the whole 108 miles of the river then(the paddleable bits at least)
Limbo weir
Electric fence portage. Got me 4 times!!! 😳
Stoneleigh. The rough end.
Have they built the fish pass at Warwick castle yet Kayak? That's one of my designs.
Have they built the fish pass at Warwick castle yet Kayak? That’s one of my designs.
Ooh really?
I don't know if I'm honest.
Is it a stepped ramp kind of deal?
Looking forward to getting some pictures for this thread, have just ordered a canoe
Excellent, what have you got on the way?
Some Tuesday morning distraction for you all.
https://www.sidetracked.com/fieldjournal/a-canoe-perspective/
@malgrey - care to share a link to your Easter adventures here?
I've not had the boat out for ages. I'm usually in the water, not on it. Thought I'd best make sure it still floats 😁
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Beach looking lovely, and not too busy (yet).
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There was a wedding on the beach too - piper and all.
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Edit: ace place on a sunny day
@malgrey – care to share a link to your Easter adventures here?
I'd vaguely intended to post some piccies directly at some point, but haven't found time yet. So here ya go: https://www.songofthepaddle.co.uk/the-voyage-of-the-pirate-of-moidart-t60508.html
Nice little sup paddle on the Avon down into Tewkesbury.
The M5 long distance trail
Tewkesbury flour mill
Fletcher's Mill
@mattoutandabout plus anyone else.
We are going up to Foss this weekend, which watery bit would be the most interesting for a couple of paddle boarders with a dog and a picnic ( with sensible paddle boarding attire).
Preferably with islands or an unroaded lochside to make a bit of a goal.
Foss by Pitlochry?
In which case: Loch Tummel is lovely. Getting access to it after all the horrid dirty campers have upset the locals could be a challenge. I used to walk through woodland on South shore to get access.
Loch Rannoch I really like, particularly the South shore. Again some issues with dirty campers, and more prone to wind.
Loch Faskally - great paddle IMO, and you can even try heading upstream of the Garry into the gorge/below the bridge. It's challenging, but I've canoed, poled and lined a canoe Upto the visitor centre/soldiers leap falls. A great spot imo. 😎
To add: if you want a place to yourself with atmosphere, head to Loch Laidon at Rannoch Station. It's a 1km walk in to Dubh Lochan, then paddle through to Laidon Beach...
Loch Faskally – great paddle IMO, and you can even try heading upstream of the Garry into the gorge/below the bridge. It’s challenging, but I’ve canoed, poled and lined a canoe Upto the visitor centre/soldiers leap falls. A great spot imo. 😎
Ah I've done that. It really is a lovely piece of water.
Laidon looks mint aswell
Frankie the 8 month old Labradoodle's maiden voyage last weekend:
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A couple of days of dry land familiarisation with the boat made the trip a success, i.e. he didn't decide to leap out when we were in the middle of the loch:
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A couple of not-very-good pics from my cheapy waterproof camera, but a gorgeous few hours in a boat.
Did the Copeland Canoe Club 'Seaquest' event last Sunday, a 3hr Canoe orienteering event in the Ravenglass lagoon and the estuaries of the Irt, Mite and Esk. Paddled as a 3-person team in generic sea kayaks, but there were open boats, general purpose boats, some fast sea kayaks/marathon boats, SUP boards and a few inflatable kayaks as well. Really well planned event and a cracking few hours on the water
Faskally paddled in yesterday's glorious weather.
Set off from the research centre nosed up the Linn's of tummel then scooted round for a wander up the Garry didn't go as far as the gorge. Then paddled under the bridges to be shouted at by the boat hire guy having the temerity to try and stop for a bit to eat in the cafe. Paddled back.
We took the convertible paddled. I didn't but then expecting top quality, defo a bit to flexy especially with 25kg of doggo onboard but the concep is good, it's nice to be able to site down and change up the position/get out the wind.
Doggo managed two bump transfers successfully then on the third one launched herself with quite a gap so she and I got very wet.
Got an underwater phone case to take photos. Case works great but the phone was being a dick
Another maiden voyage here for the canoe and dog
https://flic.kr/p/2oDMa6q
How was the dog in the boat? It seems to go one of two ways....
Canoenine companyon?
Excellent thread … "there is nothing – absolutely nothing – half so much worth doing as simply messing about in boats."
Hadn't been out paddling since December last year so good to get out for a few days last week. Paddled out of Eyemouth, North Berwick and Elie, enjoying the minimal swell, light winds and sunshine.
North Berwick – Seacliffe – Bass Rock – Craigleith
Glad to see loads of noisy, smelly gannets on the Bass and rafts of cute puffins bobbing around Craigleith after last years avian flu outbreak.
Elie – St Monan's
A lazy paddle on a roasting day. Arrived at St Monan's on a low tide, so popped up a couple of rusty ladders on the harbour wall to pick up some lunch from East Pier Smokehouse. Found a wee bay to enjoy langoustine and chips with a leatherman proving to be valuable claw cutlery.
(When I tried a dog in a boat, it went the hilariously bad way, those look like very good boys above)
Ada was really good in the boat.
Was very interested in everyone else out on and in the lake, so was moving from side to side to look at whatever was closest. Only had one moment where i thought it was about to go wrong when she tried to climb on top of girlfriend to snatch the paddle out of her hand but she stopped and sat back down when told.
Think when we go out somewhere quiet like river or non waterpark lake she will settle down nicely.
Re dogs: I used to work with someone who's dog Bracken would 'assist' with paddling - she would literally sit behind her owner and try to paddle with a paw. She would also go and sit up front for ballast on occasion, and in moving water...
Here is Bracken.
Frankie was good in the boat as well.
Probably helped that the three of us (Me, Frankie, Daughter) were the only 3 people out on the water, or on the shore for that matter.
He got a little bit interested in the front paddle at one point and I thought he was going to dive in to grab the blade but told him not too and he was fine.
He got soaked running about in some long grass when we landed for lunch mid jourbey so being wet through and with a bit of a breeze he tried to sit on my lap on the return journey for warmth. Apart from that - no issues. He can be a crew member again.
Lola does not help.
Mainly she lies sunbathing, often at the unhelpful end. She likes wandering about gradually embalming my leg in wet lead. Or she takes on the fly drinks from the water.
And that box of seafood would stand no chance, she'd tan it and worry about the hard bits later.