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These are some photos of our recent trip to the west coast of Scotland. The place we stayed was on loch Moydart, it is west of fort William. We booked a little cottage on, the very end of the river Shiel, just as the river runs into the sea loch. The cottage was 30 yards from the edge of the lock, it had a sandy bottom so it was possible to have the boat on a small anchor and a back line. All I needed to do was pull the back line and the boat was in, and ready to board.
The loch is very complex in shape, it has a big island in the middle, it is very sheltered, and many many lovely island, coves with white beaches. to cap it off it is teaming with wild life. there is also a castle.
we set off most mornings just about 08,am, the tide was right and the water very calm. this picture shows us near the castle. there was a tide, but it was only about 1-2 knots
We had the most amazing sun sets most evenings.
most mornings we were faced with a hard frost, yet by lunch time it was blistering hot.
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Fantastic
How did you manage it it has rained everyday here for the last week
keep p0sting and let us know in advance wherre you go so that we can all turn up to enjoy the sun
Canoe & Kayak Owner
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Wow!!! pam5 I am very envious.
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Thks. Please post more
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What a wonderful place and with a mild climate. The boat also looks good. Thank you for the photographs.
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we had some trips that took us out remote beaches on head lands, the water was crystal clear, the sand completely white as it was made up of nothing more than crushed sea shells. Often we would pull up on these places and have lunch. Most of these places were only accessible by sea as they were usually at the end of very rough ground with no road or path access.
With regards to the boat, we did some speed measurements during the times we were rowing. With two up in light winds we would easily cruise at 3.8 - 4 knots. We could sprint at 5 - 5.3 knots for a short period of time. When the wind was blowing at 10 - 15 knots we only made about 2.2 knots, so if you put a bit of tide flow with this, we would be making little headway. On the whole the boat responded very well to sea swell and chop. we tried this in all directions, directly on the beam, on the rear quarter and head on, all was fine. When you got it directly behind you it was brilliant, you would fly along, rising nicely on the swell, at no point did you feel there was any difficulty in controlling the boat, the skeg fin worked very well.
The lock was separated into two parts, the south and north channel, these were above and below the island of Eliean Shona, to the east of this island the channel met in a long loch that headed inland, this was littered with small islands and channels. The whole place was beautiful. One day we did a circumnavigation of the island and in and out of the channels, we landed on some of the above beaches. the most impressive part was the north channel, this was very narrow, quite tidal and had high sides with tall rock obstacles around.
in this photo you can see the dog is sniffing the seals that were popping up all around us.
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One day we came across a few guys in Canadian canoes, you should look how much gear they are carrying, and to round it off they had a fully grown German pointer riding along with them. good job it wasn’t choppy.
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All in all it was a fantastic week, we had the best weather, there were no midge to contend with and the place couldn't have been better. the boat performed very well and we are looking forward to our next trip that will be a camping trip, boat fully loaded with food, tents and kit. I will post some more photos for this trip once completed.
I will end with the final sunset.
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What a dream trip! And such a beautiful craft you have built to carry you to these places.
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...really, really nice photos! - thank you for sharing them...
'...so, how many kayaks do you really need?...' - '...one more!...'
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Awesome pics!! Beautiful places and very good climate. Have never been to Scotland and would like to go there now.
Bathroom Vanity Cabinets
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Hi, the boat is about 20.5 ft long, it and designed specifically to be a coastal rowing/cruising boat. If you look at the 'location' section of the forum you will get a good areal shot of the boat showing the internal layout. I know Fyne Boats have the plans for this craft and can supply the parts and advice you need. They have been a fantastic company to work with on all levels and having researched other such companies in the UK, they are the best by far on price and number of designs available. good luck.
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