Taking advantage of the calm between the storms with a kayak on Loch More
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OUT AND ABOUT WITH RALPH: Heading onto the still waters of Loch More in Caithness for a gentle paddle in the sea-kayak
In Caithness we’re very used to gales. When it’s too windy for bikes or boats, you can still enjoy a walk provided you’re dressed for the weather. A heavy squall of sleet can soak you in minutes if you’re not well waterproofed and you can soon get very cold indeed, so be prepared!
So I was well prepared for a walk along the coast from Sandside, a further hazard being waterfalls blown backwards over the clifftops like heavy driving rain.
You know it’s getting really windy when your leg is blown sideways before you can manage to put your foot on the ground. I’d hoped to get as far as the deep puffin cove, halfway to Melvich, but after fighting the gale for a couple of hours decided to retreat up over the moor to the road.
Below, wild seas drove white breakers through passages and caves in sea-stacks where I’ve often kayaked in gentle conditions, though even then this coast is never to be underestimated.
Less common are the days of calm between the storms.
January is not a good month for sea-kayaking but one of those calm mornings gave an opportunity for my first trip for a long time – on the easy waters of Loch More.
In January I have skied across the loch and even on one occasion done a complete circuit on ice-skates. Such conditions have, however, become ever-rarer and it was on a mild morning of thick grey cloud and drizzle that I slowly negotiated, by car, the badly potholed road leading out to the loch.
The loch was flat and grey, mist lay low over the moors and all was still. An advantage of Loch More is that it is relatively easy to launch the boat from by the fishing bothy. Much of the loch is shallow, it warms up quickly in summer but then in winter the water will be little above freezing. This was not going to be an occasion for practising rolls and rescues.
Anyone who would like an introduction to the sport of kayaking, just turn up at Thurso swimming pool at 6.45pm on a Thursday night with your usual swimming gear and an old T-shirt. It’s an ideal activity for young and old of any gender, but you do need to be older than 12 and be able to swim a couple of lengths. It will only cost your pool entry fee and qualified members of the Pentland Canoe Club will be delighted to help you learn the basics. That’s how I got started!
Even on the flat-calm waters of the loch I wore a buoyancy aid and drysuit, the spare paddle, paddle-float and helmet were perhaps a bit OTT but then I hadn’t been out on open water since early September. But better over-equipped than under, and I could circuit the loch without worries about changing weather or falling into cold water.
The loch was lovely and atmospheric in the calm, grey conditions. Along the eastern shore you soon reach the old cottage of Achscoriclate. Here also, I’m told, are the remains of St Bridget’s chapel and an ancient well, sites on the Northern Pilgrim Trail from Tain to Kirkwall.
A score of whooper swans took off from the southern end of the loch, the white of their wings reflecting from the calm water, their trumpeting calls mingling with the whistles of wigeons.
Exploring all the little inlets to the main loch pays dividends, you can paddle up the river as far as Dalnaha cottage and also almost reach the rarely-visited Lochan Dubh just above the western shore. Best of all is to follow the western arm of the loch, you can go a long way up the Sleach Water into remoter moorland, sometime I must try to reach Lochan Chairn Leith.
The real secret route though, when the loch is high, is to turn up the little Uidh Ruadh which twists and hairpins seemingly forever before suddenly emerging in Loch Gaineimh – another fine loch to paddle round.
But this was my first kayak outing for months and I’d done quite enough just exploring the main loch, I paddled back across through the thin drizzle to the end of the road. And the wind was gusting to force nine again the next day.
