Intermediate Course day 1

Today was the first day of the course, the first part of the day was taken kitting out and looking at different kayaks with the two other people that are on the course. Tina and I now have all our own kit but it’s still good to hear about the differences in kayaks. Mid morning we left the centre and went to the north end of Loch Duich where Duich and Loch Long meet. We put in at the slip just north of Eilean Donan Castle. Crossing to the castle, the tide was on its way out but there was still sufficient water to go under the middle arch of the bridge which joins the small island that the castle stands on to the main land.

We headed south east for about ½ nautical mile before crossing the loch which was a little choppy. Once on the other side we went north west and just around the headland into Loch Alsh. On route we stopped and practiced some new skills. It’s likely to be windy this week so one of the most important skill we learnt today was about turning in the wind. When windy it can be a bit of a battle to turn a sea kayak and it is possible to get in a situation where no matter how hard you try you just go in a straight line, not so good if that straight line takes you out to sea!

On the way back from Loch Alsh in to Duich we practiced moving along close to the rocks and another choppy crossing got use back to the castle.

Today’s route was only about 4 nautical miles in total, but we learnt some new stuff and got to practice some of the old stuff.

Wild life count – numerous sea birds and 1 seal