Out and About with Ralph: Grey weather is no excuse to stay inside!
What to do on a grey day… weather is no excuse for staying in!
I’ve sometimes thought of Loch Watten as rather a dull expanse of water, surrounded as it is by farmland, with the main Thurso-Wick road close to one shore and the railway along the other. It’s not a wild place, but once you’re out on the water it takes on a character all its own, as many anglers would testify.
On a cool, cloudy and quiet morning, a big swell deterred me from venturing into the sea so I chose instead a gentle paddle around the peaceful loch. I did notice “algal scum” by the car park but hadn’t heard the warnings to keep out of the water, fortunately most of the loch was completely clear of this potentially toxic growth.
Often there are many ducks, especially wigeon (which confusingly make a call that sounds like “teal”) at the eastern end of the loch, the best way to see them is usually from your car! This morning there were just a couple of swans in the distance.
I paddled off into the gently rippling water, planning a clockwise circuit. The loch was low and the water quite warm, there were a few mayflies or similar, but very few ripple-rings from rising fish and only a couple of boats out, maybe the air was too cold for good fishing.

A larger group of swans in the distance, maybe up to 50, never let me get close, nor did several families of ducks with little chicks. I simply could not catch them up, as I approached they would start flapping along the surface at speed, or simply dive.
The western end of the loch is a secluded spot of long rushes and dense bur-reed, a big flattened patch showed where swans had nested.
In winter when there’s less vegetation you can paddle a little up the inlet channel and feel a long way from anywhere.
Now I returned along the northern shore, you don’t notice the railway until a train passes with a toot and a wave. An old railway hut with graffiti dating back to the era of the Vietnam War and an old boathouse both provide interest.
Ancient sites in Caithness are still largely neglected, one such is an artificial island or crannog near the eastern end of the loch and dating back at least 2000 years.
I first swam out to it many years ago but it’s a bit disappointing with nothing to see other than a thick overgrowth of nettles and rushes and no sign of a causeway.
A large group of waders turned into lapwings as I drew closer, at least a hundred were feeding on the fields and circling over the loch.
I’d noticed two or three very large birds over the water, now I saw that they were indeed ospreys, frequently stopping to hover, looking for fish but never diving in. Soon I was back at the car park, having enjoyed six miles of very peaceful paddling and a host of wildlife on what is maybe not such a tame loch!
While writing this an email came in from the canoe club saying that the evening’s session was cancelled because of the wind.
Well, it wasn’t yet that windy and Dunnet Bay would be quite sheltered… it was a good excuse to get away from the computer keyboard!
Within an hour I was launching the kayak from Dwarwick for a quick paddle out along the cliffs to Chapel Geo. It had been grey, windy and damp for days but there are still always wonderful places to visit so close to home.
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I landed a couple of miles on among huge boulders in the geo, then scrambled up by a little otter path through a couple of old walls made, perhaps, to retain some fertile growing soil.
The chapel itself, again never properly investigated, is no more now than a square of stones and an old slab among the heather and grass.
Back along that coast of huge piled and balanced boulders I landed briefly at the Peedie Sands, deserted on such a drizzly morning.
The wind was picking up round Dwarwick Head but the sea still mostly flat. Soon I was back at Dwarwick, and home for lunch – having made the most of a grey morning.