Most of us – older, retired, time-flexible – met up at the Tigh-na-Mara campsite with its swish toilets and fabulous views across to the Skye and Rum Cuillin and Eigg on Friday evening.
The following morning, we departed thence and arrived in sequence in Mallaig East harbour, where we identified a small-but-perfectly-formed-although-a-bit-steep-so-watch-your-ankles loading and launching point.
Launched, we paddled along the north Morar coast to reach the agreed initial stopping point which was just beginning to show the promised sandy beach on LW springs (and also revealed some mussels.) A break here gave us a good indication of our progress – a steady 6 kmph. The weather continued to shine on us and a small school of porpoises frolicked behind as we paddled across to the Madonna statue and towards Inverie, where one of the party indulged in vegan venison stew and mash at The Old Forge, Britain’s remotest pub, which is now community-owned. You know you’re remote when the only coffee shop for fifteen miles is shut on a Saturday.
After the rest of us had dealt with our sandwiches, donned sunglasses (and a shortie top plus more suncream in one instance) we continued round and down the northern coast of Loch Nevis, with brief stops to collect a) firewood and b) more mussels. By now the tide was on the flood (as planned) as we approached Kylesknoydart, which felt more like a river paddle than a sea experience as we shot through the relatively narrow gap to encounter small boils, fences, overfalls and some slightly “squirrely” water. The full vista of the inner loch was now revealed as we headed towards Sgurr na Ciche which towers over the loch and dominates the skyline, despite being surrounded by some pretty impressive other mountains. The physics of the Enlightenment was thrown into disarray by the discovery that port-side water is warmer than starboard, giving rise to a discourse on paddling in left-handed water. Easy conditions and superb sunshine made for a wonderful paddle into Sourlies bothy, where the shallow bay had flooded in time for our arrival (it’s all in the planning of course) having covered over 25km.
The bothy was in part occupied (one can never just appear and expect a bothy to be exclusively available), so stifling the tent envy rife within the group, we pitched alongside the bay and chatted to both those ensconced and subsequent arrivals. Moule mariniere was finally on the menu. The clear night made for a stunning canopy of stars and the Milky Way.
HW was at 0800 next morning, so to be away before the bay dried out, we were up at 0600ish (mostly, especially if one remembered to set the alarm) to discover overcast conditions and a good F3/4 easterly wind which would blow us back to Mallaig. The wind funnelled down the upper part of the loch and we even managed some surfing before approaching Kylesknoydart again, which though far fuller than before still held a significant current. Safely through, we dodged into Tarbet to view both Cameron Macintosh’s holiday home/castle-in-miniature and the portage-that-might-have-been.
Ardintigh brought the boat-that-looks-like-a-whale and actual rain. After meeting a couple of paddlers on their way into the loch, we stopped briefly at our initial beach to refuel under the lowering clouds. Very much at the end of the day’s 23km trip and with thoughts about the drive home beginning to occupy our minds, any rain easing, we were suddenly stunned by an actual whale – a minke surfaced not once but twice amongst us. At a distance of twenty feet or so, they’re larger than you think. None had ever been as close and as a finale to the whole trip it was unbeatable.
Many thanks to Richard for leading and all the admin, and to Clare, Mike, Dave, Nick and Graham for some excellent company.