Adrian Lough & Mike Mineter decided to go for an afternoon paddle from North Berwick and invited along any other paddlers who were interested. As an afternoon paddle does not suit all Club members, they kindly offered to break their paddle into 2 trips; they would go for a paddle from Milsey Bay at 3pm and then return to the bay at 6pm, for a 2nd trip. Having sent out the relevant email to the Club members, we ended up with 3 people signing up for the evening paddle: myself, Andy Longmate & Stephen O’Sullivan.
I arrived at Milsey Bay around 5:45pm (usual parking challenge) to see Adrian & Mike approaching the shore, as they returned from their afternoon paddle. Adrian had caught a couple of mackerel during the trip and whilst he skilfully gutted them & and packed them away for later consumption at the Lough dinner table the rest of us unloaded the kayaks and got changed. Once Adrian had washed the fish-guts off his drysuit, we set off. With the wind from the east, Adrian proposed that we paddle towards Seacliffe on the outward journey and see how we got on with the headwind. We could then decide where to turn around, to still get back before dark.
I hadn’t paddled with Mike, Andy or Stephen before, so it was good to be able to chat to them and hear about their paddling experiences. There was the usual chat about kit choices and preferences. I noticed that 2 out of the 5 paddlers had Greenland paddles, so this paddle choice is clearly gaining in popularity. I felt seriously deficient in the technology department, as 3 out of the 5 kayaks had electric pumps fitted and Mike had a voice-operated, helmet-mounted Go-pro, which was quite impressive.
The headwind did not cause us too much of a problem and we made good progress along the shore, weaving in and out of the rocks and small islands that make up The Leithies. A short while after this we were joined by a pod of dolphins who stalked us for a few minutes, before continuing their journey eastwards. We paddled past the imposing bulk of Tantallon Castle and following the obligatory visit to the tiny harbour at Seacliffe, we landed on the beach. Either Seacliffe beach has moved westward or I’m getting fitter, as the paddle from Milsey Bay did not seem to take as long as my previous trips there. I’m hoping it’s the latter.
After a brief stop at Seacliffe beach for snacks & a pee, we re-launched and headed back to towards North Berwick, with the wind at our backs. We returned via much the same route (no dolphins this time) and with the wind-assist, we arrived back in good time.
All-in-all a very enjoyable paddle, in decent weather and with good company. My thanks to Adrian for organizing and to Mike, Andy & Stephen for their chat & advice.
https://vimeo.com/990010772?share=copy