cmcwhirter1
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Sea expedition - 2007/08/24 14:22
Just got back from Arisaig after a sea kayaking expedition that I would really recommend. Here's how it went.
Day 1
Put in near the mouth of the river Morar and paddled towards Arisaig, stopping for lunch on one of the many beautiful sandy beaches. The same beaches, in fact, that were used for the Bacardi advert after a hurricane made filming in the Carribean no longer an option. Unfortunately, the wind picked up as the day went on and we found ourselves faced with force 4/5 winds and a 4 foot swell. Personally, I thought it was quite good as the wind was steady and going in our direction, but the others weren't enjoying it to the same extent. Then one of my friends capsized so we stopped on Luinga Beag, an island off the North channel to Arisaig and ended up staying the night there as the wind seemed unlikely to relent until the next day.
Day 2
Much calmer and still plenty of sunshine around. Paddled between the little islands taking photos of the seals and seabirds whilst enjoying the surrounding turquoise waters, white sands and more distant mountains. After getting round the headland we stopped on another sandy beach which looked out to Eilean a' Ghaill. We perhaps took a little too long over lunch, though, because it was only with a helpful shove from some German? tourists that we paddled through the rapidly disappearing gap between the next island and the mainland. we continued on up Loch nan Uamh until Prince Charlie's cave at which point we decided to head across the loch and make for Peanmeanach ruins where we intended to camp. As we arrived the sun was setting the breeze had completely died away and the midges were terrible (even in North-West Scotland terms) so it was to our immense relief to find a bothy just up from the beach. Luck was not on Fiona's side though; having capsized on day 1 she fell in stream on the way up to thhe bothy!
Day 3
Quite misty, but by lunchtime visibiltiy was good enough to set off. We stopped briefly on Eilean nan Gobhar to look at the remains of a couple of vitrified forts on the island before continuing to Samalaman. It was there that we discovered to our dismay and disappointment that the "Ho" in "Samalaman Ho" that we'd spotted on the map stood for "house" and not "hotel" as we had hoped. All was not quite lost though as, upon reinspection of the map I noticed a "Ph" a few hundred yards behind us and after some drinks and snacks at the Glenuig Inn (as well as lazing about on the beach for quite some time) our spirits were restored and we were back on the water. There was a bit of a swell once we got round the headland, but nothing like what we experienced on the first day. We saw another group of kayakers camped by a beach opposite Eilean Coille so the fact htat one of our campsite was unavailable helped us to finalise our decision to head on to camp at the South-West tip of Eilean Shona. It was by far the right choice. While the other kayakers' campsite was stunning ours at Aonach was even better. The sea came in to form a sheltered shallow lagoon where we went swimming after pitching our tents and the view of the sunset over Eigg, Rhum and Muck was amazing. Also, on a more practical note, the location meant that it was more exposed to the breeze so we didn't get too many midges in the evening.
Day 4
A really short day as we were due to get picked up at 11 o'clock from Castle Tioram. Had a long lie and took a (very) leisurely paddle in to the Castle where we got some final photos before going back to clean our kit and head home.
All in all it was a great trip, one that reminds you of the unique opportunities in places that are only accessible to sea kayakers.
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