An other early morning start beautifully timed for morning coffee at the Real Food Café. From the scenic beauty of Glencoe Mallaig awaited us.
On arrival we came across something that looked like a car boot sale with someone selling a kayak. Our trip organizer ,Tim was displaying his wares for everyone to see. Shamelessly packing into an already bulging kayak.
Tim had a plan which swung from plan A to B and of course maybe not. In the end we choose WTH The weather gods were not going to be kind to us on the third day of the trip.
Montgomery of the kayaking world Tim had a plan of attack . Saturday we were to camp on Rum ,Sunday circumnavigate Canna and maybe stay on then to travel back to Rum , eventually back to the ferry.
The particular ferry we were booked on took us to Rum first then back to Canna so we had time to view our potential campsites. Montgomery’s spotter Chris spied we may have to share our campsite with deer.
So the expeditionary force was well under way by 13.30 as we left Mallaig with a new brief. This altered the logistics of the expedition. Tim was right on it informing the Ferry crew we would need bailed out from Canna not Rum.
Our arrival at Kinloch was uneventful. Successfully disembarked and ready to hit the beaches by 1800 hrs. off we paddled in rather glorious sunshine which was not expected. You don’t always need David Grieve on your trip to bring out the birds! Within the first fifteen minutes we spotted a Golden Eagle followed by two Sea Eagles. The rock formations are quite stunning on this stretch of Rum. We enjoyed a gentle pottle up to our campsite for the evening at Kilmony.
The weather forecast for Sundays crossing to Sanday /Canna was going to be F4/5 from a westerly direction we also had to time our arrival at the East end of Sanday to avoid the bumps The occasional gust hit us on the crossing overall a pleasant crossing.
The trip from Kilmony to Guirdit bay was interesting beautiful rock formations and a not so beautiful grounded fishing boat being left to rot. Some rather unamused feral goats stared at us from their vantage point on the cliff faces.
The seas at the bottom of Sanday had their moments also so rather interesting caves with water being sucked up skywards. Our campsite was on Sanday named A.Chil . Hawk eye Clare spotted a lone camper on our beach rather hurriedly putting his clothes back on as we approached.
Monday was a day of land exploration as the weather was against us. There is a superb Café on Canna , well worth a visit and re visit .
Evening meals were prepared under cover of our tents . A commonly known fact that most kayaking accidents happen on land. True. Yours truly managed to cut a neat little flap on the end of my finger. Fortunately Nurse Tim was available to steri strip my wound and stem the flow of blood.. So that was me grounded for two days.
Tuesday was circumnavigation of Canna day . Choosing to pass under the bridge which connects Canna and Sanday to travel in an anticlockwise direction . The missing day will be covered by one other.
Wednesday was brake camp day and head under the bridge to the Ferry Terminal . On an advanced reconnaissance Montgomery Tim had discovered big Angus hated kayakers so we were careful to be on our best behavior. So after a wee walk and our final visit to the café it was homeward bound.
Thank you to my travelling companions Tim, Clare and backroom planner Chris for a wonderful trip.