From 24-27 May Tom, Colette, Rob, Mark W. and I (Dan) attended the 10th Skye sea kayaking symposium. Rob and I then stayed on for 2 days of the extended activities. The symposium was as brilliantly organised as usual by Gordon & Morag Brown, Ken Nicol, Duncan Winning and co. The weather was lovely and warm, so with dozens of other paddlers I opted to clock up some miles, paddling-
-from the Gaelic College near Armadale to Kyleakin (highlights: the strange shallow waters of Kyle Rhea where our boats were shunted about & seals fished);
-from the College to Knoydart & back (highlights: the exhilaration of an open crossing with mountain views & seeing puffins and guillemots);
-from Kyleakin to Plockton & back (highlight: seeing the setting for 'Hamish Macbeth') ;
-from Tarskavaig to Loch Eishort & back (highlights: lunch on a beautiful coral beach & spotting my first ever wild otter).
I was pleased to stay upright on the last two of these trips in particular, because we experienced what were for me difficult cross winds and short wavelengths with white horses. Duncan tried hard to persuade me to deploy my skeg on my new Nigel Dennis 'Explorer', but unnerved from the sudden change in conditions I wouldn't let go of my paddle for a moment to release the cord. I was coaxed along calmly for the rest of the paddle by another paddler who had impaired vision and some helpful words of advice. Rowland Woolvron pithily (and accurately) summarised my performance later: "I saw you at the back of the group. You've got to learn to trust that boat." Hopefully I will get a bit more practice in it this summer.
I also attended Stephen Doughty's bushcraft session, which was great fun, as well as interesting. Colette and Tom had recommended this session. They must have been naturals at bushcraft, because Stephen had roped them in as assistants for their second session. Because of her pregnancy, Colette was entirely shored based, attending Nicky Mansell's excellent navigation session & Andy Stamp's seminar on tides. Rob, Mark and Tom did more skills based paddling sessions than me such as manoeuvering which they found very helpful.
Over 150 people attended the symposium. There was a really nice atmosphere and I tried my best to be as friendly as everyone else!
I didn't have the patience for the evening slide shows, although the short film on Hamish Gow's adventures in West Ireland in the 1950's was charming. My favourite evening event was the lively chaos of the Saturday ceilidh. Colette and Tom did quite a bit of dancing and after much searching I found a partner for one dance. Predictably, I got the steps slightly wrong, prompting the caller to stop the music temporarily, saying that she found the dancing "too distressing" to allow it to continue. After a reminder of the steps we were allowed to continue.
Colette had found our accommodation at Armadale, the Clan Donald lodge. It was a beautiful spot overlooking the Sound of Sleat. I stayed at the Gaelic college for a couple of nights which took a bit of pressure off the shower at the lodge.
I enjoyed our evening drinks at the hotel at the Isle of Ornsay. A local lad was enjoying his 18th birthday over enthusiastically, working his way through their range of whisky ("I'm pished") so the proprietors let us into the residents' lounge which was smart & comfortable with a real fire.
On our final evening together we ate at the Red Sky restaurant which was much better than the recommendation which Tom had found on-line ("the best restaurant in the Broadford area"). It was one of the best restaurants I have ever been to with tasty sea food, friendly service and a great view over Inner Sound.
On the trip home Rob and I broke the long journey at Loch Lomond and the Lake District to climb a few mountains and do some rescue practice (and rinse off the boats) in Ullswater. This holiday ranks as one of my favourites.
