AJ at Oban again!

AJ at Oban again! 22 juli 2012 Today Onno, Karien, Thierry, Rob and I left from Oban, after we did some shopping in town. Oban is a nice small village. Yesterday we had dinner near the harbour, prepairing for the trip. Packing the kayaks is always like making a big puzzle. After one hour all the stuff fitted. We left Oban at three o clock. It was quite a trip to the garvellachs. Headwinds and some swell from both sides. We saw puffins, gannet and even an otter close to the coast. After four hours we arrived at the garvellachs. A island with ruins of a monestary. This is where we stay for the night. Rain is coming. The wind was caching up last night together with the rain. We decided not to go for a paddle. With gusts of 6 bft and camping on such a nice spot it isnt that hard to decide to stay. The monestary was build 500 ad and d was getting bigger in the 9th century. In the 10th century the buildings were destroyed by the norman. To stay overnight you should be brave bevause the place is hounted! Well i slept very well last night.... We went for a walk in the afternoon. Its a beautiful island with lots of small plants and animals because of the hard conditions. We are all okay and have lots of fun, knowing that the weater will be better tomorrow. Yesterday we left the garvellachs and went for a paddle to the Grey Dogs. On our way we even saw dolfins! The trip was quite easy because there was no wind. We had a break at Belnahua, an island were they are digging slatestone for roofing. Because of the weather we got lazy. But not for long! After the break we came along some nice spots to paddle around in nature and beautiful islands. Them we arrived at the spot i was very keen on, the Grey Dogs! The Grey Dogs is a tiderace near the islands of Scarba. First it was quite calm but later on the tide it was getting better (or worse). We all played a little bit and sometimes the bow even went under water!! It was hard to say goodbye. Leaving ment that we had to find a spot for camping. A very nice field near the shore. Excellent to make a small fire! After dinner we made a walk to see the Grey Dogs from the cliffs. Walking the coastline was hard because of the midgets and the peaty terrain. But good for a sleep afterwards. This morning we started late again. The paddle to Jura was that early and in combination with the late campfire we decided to change plan and go up north again to the small village of Easdale to eat some pie and drink some tea at the pub. Onno told us about the famous carrotcake, but unfortunately they ran out off!! But the chocolate cake was a good alternative!! Having kayakkers in your pub means that all the plugs are taken for re-­‐charging batteries, cameras, vhf radios and mobile phones. Dripping clothes with salt water and in the end they want to take fresh water too!!! But we gave a 5 pound tip! On the way we played a little bit on a small race and practiced some ferrygliding, as Ray Goodwin showed us in Wales. He is out some where near us with a Dutch group of peddelpraat. During our cake party it started to drizzle. Now writing this the rain takes over the drizzle en de wind is catching up. Well cooking in the rain isnt really my hobby, so after a late dinner i'm now in my sleeping bag. Camping on farmland with po around in a dense rain is also part of a kayakking holiday! Tomorrow we have to get up early at 6 to make the trip to Jura. Halfway the island is a camping spot we want to check. Singing in the rain, not really. It is a hard day today. Lots and lots of rain whole day. We started with hard rain this morning at 6. Packing wet stuf in the kayak isnt fun, but getting it wet out again in rain is horreble. After a crossing from Luing to one of two island in the middle of the bay we were first paddling a little against tide. Between two islands the current was quite fast and taking us up south again. On our way we saw dolfins again! But furter on it became a hard paddle against wind and the cold rain. Now we are camping near the shore and a fresh water stream. It is still raining and i hope that it will be done quickly!The rain stopt in the early morning... but then the midgets came. That means packing up quickly to get back on the water again. The weather forecast gives nw 4 to 5 but the last days we didn't had any wind. So we are a little bit careful. We made a crossing from jura to a small island in loch Cranish. Half way we made a stop in a small harbour. Then the first sun was comming throug. During the break we were sunbathing on the shore. Paddeling along the coast we met a fisherman who was busy feeding the salmon in the fishery pods. Now our camp is placed on a small island. The sun is shining and we are drying our clothes and stuff. We atill have two days to go. A storm is expected on sunday. Another easy day. The sun is shining and the sea is calm. No waves or swell at all. Its an oppertunity to see the current is flowing around the islands. At the Dorus mor the sea is flat as well. No fun playing to day! However, the sea water is very clear and shows us the underwater nature. Big jelly fish like the stinger are swimming close to the boat. Half way we meet Kate. Kate gives kayakinstruction to her four friends. She is prepairing to become a Bcu level 5 coach. We have a chat about our trip and she gives us some suggestions for sight seeing in the area. Her students are very keen on the way we are travelling around with our kayaks. Especially how we manage to take so mutch food and fresh water for ten days. Well, we explaind that adventure food is easy to pack and has a lot of energy. Together with some vegetables you have quite a decent meal. But what goes in must come out. Now they start laughing. Because leave your droppings in sight isnt nice for next visitors. So, you take a big flat rock. You do what you have the do and throw the rock into the sea when your done! Well, afther the break we paddled along the coast to our next camp at Torsa. A small island in Loch Shuna. An island without cattle, we thought. Suddenly cows appeard at the horizon! We managed to get them back to theire island beside ours. Because of the low tide they crossed the canal between the islands. After our farming we lit the campfire to spend our last evening in the outdoors. Tomorrow we go back to Oban. Yesterday we came back at Oban from the island of Torsa. The trip went thru a small canal. The bridge that connects the island with the mainland was built in 1792. The story goes that wearing a kilt on the mainland was forbidden. But as a resistance to the English people on the island were still wearing kilts. To visit the mainland you had to change you’re kilt for pants in the nearby pub! After a visit and a cup of tea in the pub we paddled on. But the tide was to early so we had to wait for a moment. Entering Oban we made some kayak rolls to close the holiday trip. After a shower and a nice meal at the local tajemahal restaurant we went to sleep. This morning we went to Tesco’s for some breakfast. We had breakfast at the bank of The Falls of Lora. Some research learned that today is a perfect day to surf it. Not everybody was keen to go on the water because of the wind. After some phone calls we cancelled the plan. We would have not enough people on the water to have a save paddling. Maybe next time! So to spend the evening dry because of the rain we had a pancake party! Thanks for following this blog! AJ