A Paddle with Pete; this time it was all about ‘being’…
Getting off the water last year after a pretty wet and windy, yet ‘proper bloody brilliant’ (PBB) adventure sea kayaking on Skye, we set a date in the diary to do just the same a year later. A lot can happen in a year, but a diary date is a diary date, so on a warm sunny afternoon we were loading sea kayaks in the Northwest Highlands of Scotland for yet another PBB adventure.
There was a touch of reality to contend with in the planning stage for this year’s trip however; our minds were very much willing but our bodies were feeling the strain and recovering/dealing with ongoing neck and back injuries. We needed a venue that offered flexibility and our minds had to settle on the fact that the distances we used to paddle in a day would this year perhaps take us three days! We soon realised that this trip was very much about feeding the soul and not feeding the rat; words a good friend shared with me helped frame the trip’s objective: “We are called human ‘beings’ not human ‘doings’; we therefore need to make time to just ‘be’ a little more”. So as our kayaks loaded with seven days supplies left the shore, we set off with an objective of just ‘being’: being with a friend; being in an amazing environment; being at a campsite; being with wild life; being away from it all and through that of course being content with every moment of every day.
When a trip is about ‘being’ as opposed to ‘doing’ it offers a very unique and special type of freedom; you can follow your daily feelings that in turn are shaped by the weather and environment on the day. Each day the destination is flexible, the end point unknown; yet the outcome is guaranteed when it comes to that content feeling at the campsite when the day ends. For us the campsite time became often the highlight of the day, each campsite was spectacular and it gave time to rest and recover; yet at the same time chat, relax and become totally absorbed in the surrounding scenery.
Whilst campsite time was special, the trip was very much about ‘being’ in our kayaks and exploring as well. The section of coastline we ended up paddling took us from Ullapool to Lochinver, this included the wonderful Summer Isles and headland of Rubha Coigeach. It is an area that fair packs a punch when it comes to variety; affording us small crossings, remote islands, sandy beaches, turquoise waters, cliffs and caves a plenty. The main company we had on the water was the resident wildlife; with porpoises, sea eagles, otters and sea birds never far away we would be easily fooled to believe we were the only people left in the world.
For Scotland the weather was doing us proud, although a bit windy on some days it was on the whole warm, relatively sunny and most importantly midge free! With this in mind it did come as a bit of a shock when on the fourth morning there was the sound of rain on the tent when waking up. Calling across to Pete’s tent I ask the question “Pete, it’s raining what do we fancy doing”; to which comes back what has become our standard reply on mornings like this “Well it’s raining, we might as well go paddling then!”. So, paddle we did, but as the trip was all about ‘being’ (not being wet and not being uncomfortable) we left our tents standing and went out for a day trip to explore islands and caves, via the local pub for lunch! As always, once on the water the rain did not impact on exploring some great caves, and fuelled up with a fish and chips lunch even the headwind back to camp was enjoyable.
Leaving the Summer Isles our journey took us northward around the tidal headland of Rubha Coigeach, a following wind and sea whisked us easily there and rounding it the wind dropped as the full splendour of the dramatic mountains was unveiled. The mountains of Assynt rose vertically from the surrounding wilderness and looked down on us as we explored the numerous caves that hide along Rubha Coigeach’s eastern coastline. Time seemed to stand still as we made the most of every moment we had ‘being’ there; taking time to sit and stare at all around. We were heading for a beach marked on the map that I hadn’t visited before, but we were hopeful it would offer us a campsite to relax and enjoy what was turning out to be a really special day on the water. As we landed on the perfect sandy beach with an area of flat short grass big enough for two tents at the back of it, we knew we had lucked out and arrived in our own slice of heaven. Kayaks unpacked and tents pitched it was time for the most important job of the day that Pete referred to as ‘a brew with a view’.
The following morning saw us heading off to cover the final section of coastline that led to the finish at Lochinver. A warm, sunny and calm start to the paddling led us into the false security that it was going to be plain sailing to complete the trip. As the wind went from nothing to a gentle breeze, we pulled a shore for our first break of the day. In the twenty minutes we were a shore the gentle breeze had turned into a full-on Force 7 gale, the speed in which the weather changed was surprising even for Scotland! We stuck our kayak noses into the wind but quickly decided the best plan of action was ‘being’ off the water, so an exciting downwind surf saw us to a spot we could pitch the tents and wait it out. The old Scottish weather adage ‘if you don’t like it wait a moment and it will change’ was never truer, by late afternoon we were back on the water in flat calm conditions paddling in the sunshine to our last campsite of the trip. The unexpectedness of the stunning weather that we enjoyed at that last camp seemed to add to how special it felt. We stayed up enjoying the solitude and the views until the sun set on the final day of our PBB adventure.
Arriving in Lochinver early the following morning saw us in time for Pete to catch a lift on the local school bus to get back to the car. As you can imagine his school uniform was a bit scruffy, he hadn’t done his homework and of course he went and sat on the back row! Although sad that our annual paddling time together was at an end, this was easily offset by how special it had been and the fact we already had the date in the diary for next years. The only question will be on the state of our bodies for the next one and will we be back to a classic long and fast Pete ‘n Doug trip about ‘human doing’ or will we continue on the theme of enjoy just ‘human being’ – only time will tell…
Text and imagery ® Scottish Sea Kayaking (www.scottishseakayaking.co.uk)
