Day 121 Shoreham-by-sea to West Wittering

After a good day off in Shoreham we are back on the water at a very civilised 9am. The sun is out and the wind light so its looking like a good day. On the down side we have a flat tyre on our trolley.

We get to west wittering at 5 and we have a long walk, this would not be to hard if we did not have puncher. After lugging everything up the beach my auntie Di is waiting for us and the helpful folks of West Wittering Windsurf club let us store our boats in there compound over night (Thanks). Then we Head of to Di's for the night.

We are treated to a great BBQ and lots of drink and the surprise of the night is a birthday cake for me (its my birthday on Thursday).  A realy good night, if only I did not have to get up in the morning.

Seaton to BRIXHAM

So, that's it, we're home and what a welcome home. It was awesome.  Thankyou to everyone who made it a day to remember forever. Im still smiling about it now.
Thankyou to everyone who's sponsored us and gave us drive on the tough days. If you would like to sponsor us follow the link on the website.
Will be posting here with a few more bits and photos but until then i will be mostly chilling
Rach

Weymouth to Seaton

Waiting til 11, we nipped around Portland at our earliest opportunity and then paddled into a strong headwind for 9 hours. A really tough day, made a lot easier by a great breakfast and wave off from Pennie, Paul, Jake, Ben and crew. We then had a lovely welcome from Mum and Dad at Seaton. Including fish and chips, somewhere to store our boats and a great stay with Jan and Nick. Thanks very much all.
Well that's almost it - soo  looking forward to seeing everyone. See you at 5 ish!!!!!!

Day 124 Worth Matravers to Weymouth

Phew - today was hard. 6 hours of paddling into a force 4/5 headwind. Scenery was lovely though and we are as close as we can be to paddle round Portland tomorrow. It is very easy, however, to forget the hard day now Imo Sat here having just eaten and looking over a windless and calm Portland harbour.
Really hoping that the wind isn't too strong tomorrow so we can get as near to Brixham as possible. We will prob put our SPOT device on tomorrow and Sunday so you can track our progress by following a link on our website.
Rach

Day 123 Milford on sea to Worth Matravers

Robs birthday, so the day started well with a trip to the cafe and a nice late start after all the socialising we've been doing recently. A good paddle, although quite a strong headwind. Finished in a lovely bay, with no sand, no long kit carry and a sunset.
Rach

Day 122 West Whittering to Milford on sea

With some apprehension today we left the beach ready to take on the solent. Weather couldn't be better - good visibility and a slight tail wind. A few days ago we heard that it was Cowes week so we were expecting busy and it defiantly was. We spent the morning making our  way around the shipping lane,  ferries, motor boats and nipping in behind a few hundred racing yachts. We were on super alert mode and constantly predicting where everyone was planning on going next.  As we went past Cowes we had 2knots of tide with us and weaved in and out of moored boats to avoid more ferries and motor boats. After Cowes we had one more ferry route to cross, one more yacht race to negotiate and some lovely scenery and then we were through to meet Bryony, a friend who kindly took us out for a pub dinner and a catch up. So many friends and family have come out to meet us this last week it's been amazing and has made what could have been a tough week a lot of fun.
Rach

Day 120 - Shoreham

What a lovely day. Weather was rubbish, so another day off the water, but some friends paid us a surprise visit all the way from somerset. So had a great pub meal and catch up. Thanks Dave and Katrina for a lovely day. Rob has gone for streamlining tactics for our last week on the water. He went to the barbers today and i now barely recognise him after cutting off 3 months worth of beard. Im feeling quite excited after spending this evening planning the next few days of our trip. We Will hopefully put ourselves in good positions to go round Portland on Fri or Sat and get to Brixham on Sunday - fingers crossed for good weather.
Rach

Day 119 Seaford to Shoreham

What a difference- the sea looks alot more welcoming today. A fairly short paddle due to tides, winds and finding a nice place to camp. A windy Sunday and by far the busiest day on the water we've seen. Yachts, tourist boats and jet skis everywhere. I guess with the solent not far off it's a taste of things to come. A 2pm finish and helped out with a great place to camp by a friendly local.
Rach

Day 118 - Seaford

Glad to be tucked up in my sleeping bag rather than paddling in a horrible looking sea this morning. So instead;
Although initially walking around a busy town was a bit of a shock to the system, a lovely day visiting Brighton and the pub. Thanks very much Muggie
Rach

Winchelsea beach to Seaford - day 117

Kinda non eventful paddle today. The coast did however start getting pretty again at beachy head. And our camping spot and surrounding area is nice.
Big old head winds tomorrow so we're staying put for a day which nicely coincides with my mate Muggie visiting.

Seaford

Day 116 Folkestone to Winchelsea beach

Good to get going again.
Generally, apart from the occasional kayak fisherman, we don't tend to meet many boats on the water. However on the last three paddling days we've had a Coastguard boat and a fishery patrol boat come over to check we are ok. As we paddled past Dover the police popped over (not really sure if they we checking up on us, but they seemed chatty and went off happy) and then today it was the military. As we were paddling past a firing range they zoomed (at a worringly high speed when you're in a small kayak) over to us to check we were going far enough out. They did offer us a lift, which of course we declined, so instead they stayed 500m behind us for about two hours until we were well past the range.
You'll be pleased to know everyones been very friendly, and although it felt a bit bizarre being followed today it did break up an otherwise quite dull day crossing two bays. Early night ready for a 4:30am get up tomorrow. Aaarrrggghhh
Rach

Frinton on sea

Dover

Folkestone campsite

Folkestone (still!) days 114 &115

Still a full on headwind. Looking good for tomorrow though. The last few days have felt bizarre. Visited a few cafes and wandered around shops, we're staying on a well equipped campsite - currently don't really feel like im on a kayaking trip. Can't wait to get going again and tick off the final few miles.

Day 110 Clacton on sea to Margate

Aftert spending the night in one of our least glamorous camping spots we are keen to move on. It was worth waiting a day to cross Thames as the weather today is almost perfect.
At the start of the day we have to paddle though a wind farm. These wind mills are massive and there are hundreds of them. As we are getting to the far side of the wind farm a boat comes over to check we are not kids. Aperantly there were some kids who had paddled out here on stand up paddle boards onetime.
We countuined paddling across, there was not as much shipping to contented with as we had expected so it was all pretty much routine.
10 miles offshore from Margate another boat this time a fisheries patrol boat comes to see if we are ok. We are so we carry on. We get to Margate at 7pm wear we spend the night on the beach.

Correction

Oops. Seem to have lost ten days. Change last post to day 112 & 113

Day 102 &103 Folkestone

Frustrating that now we've turned the corner to head west the sw wind has picked up. We feel we're so close to home now we just want to get going. However, although windy the sun is still shining most of the time and I've found some nice places in Folkestone to wander around. Also, weds onwards looks like the weather is alright so we'll be able to get going soon.

Margaret to Folkestone - Day 111

An early start, a chat with the very friendly night shift at Dover coastguard, and a requirement to keep our average speed above 4 knots to get to Folkestone before the tide changes. This, however, shouldn't be too difficult as long as we don't have too many breaks, as the tide flows fast around Dover. With fog, and thunder rumbling in the distance we make our way down to Dover. As we approach the harbour 4 massive ferries leave and we radio the very busy and calm port control to ask when is best to cross. Not only is Dover the busiest harbour we've crossed but we have no visibility into the harbour as we paddle along the eastern wall. So when we get the go ahead we shoot across both harbour entrances and paddle towards folkestone. We are pretty chuffed to find a campsite (with laundry) in walking distance from the beach. Wild camping has been getting more difficult everyday now so it's good to find a campsite where we are probably going to stay for a few days and sit out the headwinds forecast.
Rach

Walton on the naze to Frinton on sea -Day 109

Today might be in the running for winning shortest paddle of the trip. We paddled around the Naze and a very long pier which unfortunately at the end, had a very grumpy fisherman who i think just wanted to shout at someone, we then paddled past the largest amount of beach huts i have ever seen. They had tiers and even had them on stilts when they ran out of land. We landed between Frinton and Clacton where i am currently bivied next to a cycle track (its not my best wild camp of the trip!) We don't want to go any further as it will just make our paddle out of the Thames longer and can't cross the Thames today as the headwind is too strong. So, spent a lovely afternoon walking around Frinton and planning our paddle tomorrow.
Rach

Thorpeness to Walton on the Naze. Day 108

Morning paddle to Felixstowe where we met Mike and Rohan (the dog) on the beach. We had met them previously a couple of months back on the west coast of Scotland, and Mike had kindly offered his support when we arrived at his home town. So on treating us to lunch, and my radio debut on BBC Suffolk (pretty scary) we relaxed on the beach for a few hours. After realising we weren't going to be able to paddle across the Thames tomorrow with the headwind forecast we did a short paddle across the Felixstowe shopping lane (with the biggest container ships I've ever seen) to a lovely beach recommended by Mike.
Thanks Mike and great to see you again.
Rach

Winterton on sea to Thorpeness Day 107

Somedays are very frustrating with good weather not matching up with tides and everything taking longer than expected. Today was not one of this days. We got on the water at 6:30am and paddled to a beach past lowestoft on a very still morning and almost spring tide which gave us at least 1.5 knots of tide. About 5 mins after i returned from filling our water bottles after we landed and Rob finishing putting up the tent a thunder storm went over with heavy rain. After a few hours kip and with only a light breeze and blue skies we emerged from the tent to paddle another few miles on the evening tide. A very satisfying day and ready for another early start tomorrow.
Rachel

West Runton to Winterton on Sea - day 106

The day started slow with thick fog but after lunch we caught the second tide. We had a slight headwind but were bombing along with a strong tide. Just before the sun set we landed on a beach with quite a few people on- these turned out to be RSPB volunteers. We had landed next to a nature reserve so after a chat with the friendly wardens and learning about little terns and ringed plovers we found a beautiful spot to camp.

Chilling near West Runton

Day 105 - West Runton

With wind, tiredness and fog this pm, we're staying put today and switching to (very early) morning tides tomorrow.

Wells next the sea to West Runton - Day 104

We woke up at 5:20 after a friendly! wake up call from a beach warden. Although can't really complain this is the first person to tell us to go away in almost 2000 miles. Made the most of the late tide and stocked up with food, and made use of the miniature railway to take us back to the beach. We've been properly spoiled the last two weeks so paddling today was a bit of a shock. Force 4 headwind, overcast, choppy sea and potentially a dumpy surf landing. Paddled for about 16NM wishing I had taken some sea sickness tablets (3 months and still getting sea sickness - very annoying). We paddled past Sheringham until we found somewhere which wasn't backed by cliffs and looked like it wasn't going to be too much of an awkward landing. We landed through a bit of surf for a drizzly but sheltered evening and had a good nights sleep with no wardens or drunk people.

Skegness to Wells-next-the-sea day 103

We set off towards the largest wind farm we have seen yet and prob the most dullest paddles of the trip. on arriving at the wind farm the mist came in and for 5 hours we paddled into a head wind with only mist and sea in our view, although after about two hours one fulmar flew past! Things got more interesting on sight of land with people spookily appearing to walk in air. We locked up our boats and walked into town for a meal and a few drinks on a restaurant boat with live music. Come night we finally found somewhere quiet to camp on what must be the most wardened beach in Britain.
Rach

Maplethorpe to Skegness - day 102

Short day today, so we are able to cross the Wash tomorrow. It has allowed us to catch up on sleep though and sample the delicacies of Skegness!
Rach

Maplethorpe to Skegness - day 102

Short day today, so we are able to cross the Wash tomorrow. It has allowed us to catch up on sleep though and sample the delicacies of Skegness!
Rach

Withernsea to Maplethorpe - day 101

What a day! I've not been looking forward to paddling across the humber due to the amount of traffic. You have to allow enough tide the other side to get to Maplethorpe, otherwise you set yourself up for long carries over sand, there is also a military training range the other side. So in the morning we paddled to Kilnsea to get as close as poss and having notified the coast guard, VTS Humber, and phoned the military range we set off with good visibility. On arrival at the main shipping lane we waited half an hour for a convoy of ferries to pass then after contact with VTS Humber we shot across and carried on paddling on a beautiful night. At 1am we landed on a beach for a quick dinner and sleep. A very satisfying day. We now have less than quarter of our journey so are both pretty excited about getting home and making good use of this amazing weather.
Rach

Calm seas Berwick upon tweed

A long way from the sea nr Goswick

St Abbs head

Flamborough head

Seals at Peter head

Bass Rock

Amble

Flamborough head to Withernsea - Day 100

An early start to paddle around the head and what an amazing morning. I've never seen the sea so flat. We arrived at Hornsea to sit out the ebb tide, collect water and of course ice cream. Frustratingly a head wind picked up in the evening so we couldn't get far enough to get into a position to cross the humber the next morning, but we paddled another 10 miles to camp on another sandy beach.

Scarborough to Flamborough head - Day 99

After a very welcoming stay with some of Robs family we set off into town to stock up on Cheese oat cakes (the fuel of choice for this trip) and replace our stove which really annoyingly sprung a leak in quite a dramatic way setting on fire part of our shelter. Although its patched up now.
With boats stocked up but considerably lighter after sending a load of colder weather kit and books home we set off on the evening tide to a small bay and watched an awesome sunset.

Day 97 Hawthorn Hive to Runswick bay

Well, last night, we were invited by a friendly guy to join them around the fire for some food, which would have been great if he hadn't been drunk and therefore failed to notice/or care that we were both fast asleep. Same drunk guy obviously thought that he had been friendly all night so at about midnight had a huge argument with a friend! saying he had "been f*!?@*g nice all evening". I understood this from the other end of the beach but he thought the message wasn't getting through so repeated again and again for about half an hour. Anyway, when our alarms went off about 2, after about 2 hours sleep, Rob and I decided we weren't up for a big day and instead left at about 10. After a couple of hours we stopped at Hartlepool for lunch and to sit out the worst of the tide against us. After lunch we had to cross the harbour entrance, which was pretty horrible and had to be on constant look out for boats. At least the shipping channel was pretty obvious so after waiting for one tanker to pass we sped on by. After a couple of hours the coast started to look a bit more welcoming again and not so built up. We landed on a pretty bay in Runswick bay ready for an early start. 

Rach

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Day 98 Scarborough

Got woke up at god knows what time by a couple having a domestic about five meters from me. Not happy about it as I've got to get up at 3am.
3AM and we are up after 4 hours sleep and we are on the water by 4.30. Its cold and foggy we have 22Nm to do until we get to Scarborough and the tide turns against us at 10.30  so we crack on and set a good pace.
We arrive at Scarborough at 10.30 and after I get some abuse from a sea angerler we are greeted by the harbour master who directs us were we can store our boats.
After some sorting we meet Julie, lily and Owen and head to their house where we are staying the night. Julie cooked us a lovely dinner and Adam got the ciders out and we had a nice relaxing sunday.

Day 90 - Achmithie

Hawthorn hive - Day 96

Tynemouth to Hawthorn Hive

A late start due to tide had a pretty relaxed paddle to an out of the way beach where we planned a very early start the next day to do a long paddle to Scarborough. So in bivis at 8pm ready for a 2.30 wake up. All good until about 8.30, when about 20 people descended on the beach with tents and crates of beer - oh.

Rach 

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Day 95 Sugar sands to Tynemouth

A pretty uneventful paddling day until meeting Martin on the water who paddled back to Long sands with us. Martin paddled around Britain last year and had kindly said we could stay with him, being a paddler himself knew exactly what we needed and was good to hear his stories from his trip. We had a great evening and curry with Martin and Jen before setting off the next day recharged. 

Thanks Martin and Jen

Rach

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Day 90 & 91 Auchmithie To nr bass rock

Day 90 still windy today so another day on the beach.

Day 91
Its a nice sunny day and we are looking forward to moving on.
First challenge is launching with out getting out feet wet as there is a raw sewage outlet and it stinks. That done we paddle in a straight line towards bass rock.  32 Nm later we get to bass rock which has a large gannet colony. Im always surprised how we manage to pass these large bird colonies with out getting mucked on. 2 more Nm and we get to our beach for the night.

Day 94 Holy Island to Sugar Sands

We shot around Holy Island (Next time we will have to stop - looked like a nice place) and on to sea houses for a short break. Met some friendly sea kayakers who told us of their travels over the years and then paddled on to camp on a beach with more fresh Mackerel for tea.

Rach 

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Day 93 - St Abbs head to beach before Holy Island

We left before the tide had turned so we could stop at Eyemouth to collect water and Ice cream. So paddled a few miles at a grand speed of 2 knots. Ate ice cream and after one failed attempt(first of the trip - we were told we couldn't fill our bottles!??) Rob managed to collect water for a couple of days. We generally try to carry 2-3 days water with us, so we are not as limited on where we have to land. We may have got a bit too relaxed on the sunny beach, so when we arrived at Holy island later that day we had run out of tide so had to cut our planned distance short and land on a very, very long sandy beach which involved a very, very long carry. However, for tea we ate freshly caught mackerel - so the carry was quickly forgotten.

Rach

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Near Bass Rock to St Abbs head - Day 92

After a sandy camp (grrrr - I will never get used having to deal with sand all over kit) we set off in lovely weather, past lots of lovely seals and a not so lovely power station. We were making good progress on what had planned to be a big day, however, come the afternoon a big old headwind picked up and after trudging on for a few hours we landed early on an old disused jetty on St. Abbs head and camped on some grass(hurray). St Abbs head was a good place - went for a walk to the lighthouse to see the views - you get very used to seeing the world from 2 ft above sea level and watched the sunset- beautiful. 

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Day 87, 88 & 89 Inverbervie to Auchmithie

An early start and very tempted to wait a few hours as the surf was big. However, with the invaluable help of Bobby holding my boat while waiting for a lull in the waves we made it out to be very quickly greeted by dolphins. Thanks so much Bobby hope you didn't get too wet!
After a fairly easy paddle, accompanied with lots of yawning we came into Auchmithie setting ourselves up to kayak across to Fife Ness on our next paddle.
A strong headwind means we're staying put for a while but the weather from Sunday looks amazing so it will be great to get properly going again without all this stopping and starting. We're using our time to do the usual exploring, resting, kit maintenance, litter picking and foraging. Verdict from Rob is good who says that Frosted Orache is actually aright and doesn't just taste of leaves like some of my other finds.
Rach

Day 85 & 86 Port Erroll to Inverbervie

After a day off yesterday due to winds we decided to make the most of the day knowing tomorrow would prob be another windy day. So up at 2:30, for a 4am start, a bit of a headwind but fairly easily paddling. Paddled past dolphins and alot of ships queing up (the ships not the dolphins) to enter Aberdeen - reminds us of how careful we will have to be around the Thames and Humber. We were glad to reach Cove bay for a few hours sleep and a chat with some of the local fishermen and residents. When the tide turned again in our favour we had a lovely paddle past thousands of sea birds to Inverbervie - in total paddling 40NM making it our furthest day yet. We were greeted by many fishermen and caravaners including Bobby and Gwen with a cup of tea for us both. We then stayed at the campsite for a windy wet day and were treated to tea with Gwen, Bobby, Brook and Ian. Meeting locals and holiday makers and the amount of help we receive has been one of the most enjoyable and appreciated parts of the trip and never fails to raise spirits on hard days.
Rach

Day 84 Port erroll

I'm woken up with a start as a golf ball hits my tent. Im so glad i did not sleep in my bivi. We are staying put today as its really windy. I spend the day reading and sleeping.

Day 82 crovie to rosehearty

It was good to sleep inside last night, and really good to meet Dan who generously let us stay the night and cooked us tea.
However Im not in the best mood my neck seal has ripped and it is wet and windy today. I've fixed it up with gaffa tape but its not pretty. Seems like most of my kit is being held together with gaffa tape now.
Its windy and the sea is getting rougher. We only do a short paddle to rosharty Where there is a camp site right on the beach or so the map says. When we arrive a guy tells us it has not been a campsite for a long time but we can camp here if we like. It is just a park now, its not a bad spot, flat grass and right by the sea. We head to the pup for tea before setting up camp for the night.

Day 83 Rosehearty To Port Erroll

Got a shock this morning as i unrolled the top of the breakfast dry bag in my tent and loads of earwigs dropped out and scattered across my tent. I spent ages trying to get them all out.
Its a good day today and we paddle past fraserburge And Peter head and end up on a beach near port erroll We find a good spot to camp up off the sand on some grass, it is on the edge of a golf course but Im sure it will be fine. Its late and we have tea at about 2330.

Crovie

Crovie

Crovie

Banff to Crovie Day 81

Now i don't want to give you all the impression that this is all turned into a jolly and that we're now after a bit too much luxury. Its just been a coincidence that we stayed in a house last night, paddled a whole 5 miles and then staying in a cottage tonight. We'll get back to our roughing it ways very soon. We've been getting a bit too relaxed about the surf recently-as we've had none. so we got a bit of a shock this morning getting our through the 4 ft surf and with the forecast saying its building we decided that it may be a bit tricky getting into our intended destination. Hence our 5 mile paddle to a lovely little village where we met Dan, a great guy, who said we were welcome to stay with him. Thanks.
And thanks very much katrina for my parcel- its changed my whole paddling day!
Rach

Lossiemouth to Banff day 80

Average length day with a bit of wind behind us. Good to get away from the noisy jets.  We had a lovely evening in Banff with Matt, Leanne and Fergal. Thanks so much guys for food, laundry, showers, phone charge and great company. Are boats were kindly looked after by banff links caravan site - thanks

Lothmore to lossiemouth

Fairly average crossing apart from the pretty noisy fighter jets flying over head for most of the day - err could you keep it down please we're trying to have a discussion down here. Found a place to camp on the beach and had a bit of a wander around lossiemouth. Now, are there really lots of dolphins in the Moray firth? because i was looking out for them all day and didn't see one.

Lothmore campsite day 78 & 79

Ahhh, finally a couple of rest days to recharge our batteries. It's pretty windy so i spent most of the time reading in my tent and relaxing. Met the friendly community at the caravan site where we are treated to duck eggs and camping.

Dunbeath to Lothmore Day 77

A short late paddle. 16 kn with the wind behind us and some good following swell this turns out to be a fun paddle and takes just 4 hours.
We set up camp at lothbeg campsite and we plan to stay here for a couple of days.

Staxigoe (the inlet of the stack) to Dunbeath Day 76

A dull day but Im not complaining there a light wind to keep the miges away and its not raining.
After dealing with a very slippy slipway we get going about 1230 the tide is against us so we keep in close and enjoy the coast line. We met some local kayakers yesterday and they told us about some good caves to explore along the way.
We stop at Sarclet head for a long lunch while we wait for the tide to turn in our favour. The sun pops out and i feel like a lizard warming up on the rocks.
Back on the water and we make good time to Dunbeath where we find a perfect camping spot.

Day 75 Wick

We decided a while ago that we would stop in Wick and replenish supplies. The day started well when i was kindly invited into a local ladies house for tea, cake and a wee dram of local whisky. We then spent the rest of the day either in a cafe or shopping for food. In the last 3 or 4 weeks we have now had 3 days off the water. The problem that we're finding however, is that these days are taken up with washing and sorting kit and walking to and from shops and very little of it has been us actually resting. In the last few days we have really felt it and although they have been slightly shorter days we have been feeling pretty lethargic. The other problem (if you can call it that) is that its pretty much light all the time at the mo so it can be quite difficult to get a good nights sleep in a tent. However, it looks like sun and Mon aren't looking that good weather wise so will be a perfect time to stop and have two good days rest.
Rach

Murkle bay to Wick - day 74

We can't quite believe our luck. Going around Cape Wrath and through Pentland firth have been on my mind for a while and we assumed that we would probably have to wait a few days for good conditions to get around the north of Scotland. But here we are on our third day since Cape Wrath with perfect conditions for going through P. Firth. Today there is a 1ft swell from the north and tomorrow there is forecast 7ft swell arriving from the west so just enough time. As we go around Dunnet head (mainlands most northerly point) the swell still feels pretty big and as we go around the Men of Mey the sea was choppy. We then go through the firth at 8knots on flat water with a keen eye out for ferrys, until just before duncansby head where we get a few waves in our faces but continue to zoom around the corner until we are eventually heading south. Woohoo. Then its about 15NM with a knot of tide all the way to a little bay in Staxigoe just north of wick.
After an excellent few days where we have rounded cape Wrath, Duncansby head and passed the half way mark (not sure exactly where it was as it depends on our route from here) we thought we should have a celebratory meal. After a long walk into wick - which prob burnt half the precious calories consumed in the meal, we had a great meal before deciding we should walk back before we fall asleep in the pub.
Rach

Day 73 Armadale to Murkle bay

Not much to say about today. A midday start and we paddle towards thurso. The weather is still being good to us and with a bit of wind and tide in our favour we get to Murkle Bay by six. I met some fishermen on the beach who were interested in our trip. I think they thought we were mad for even thinking about kayaking through the pentland firth. As i left one of the lads ran after me and gave us a tenner for the pot. Im still plesantly surprised by the friendlyness and generosity of all the people we meet along the way.
We find a great camping spot on grass at the back of the beach and get a good nights sleep before tackling pentland tomorrow.

Duress to armadale day 72

A nice late start, due to tides, and a plan to paddle just over 20 NM, as we are due a few relaxing days. After a few hours of paddling i was thinking it'd been quite an uneventful day. We had been paddling a couple of miles from the shore so although the views were good we hadn't seen much stuff. A few miles from the end of our day we came in and were paddling a couple of hundred metres from the shore when i heard, what sounded like a very large porpoise and out of the corner of my eye saw, what looked like, a very large dolphin about 10-20metres away. So we stopped and then saw a Minke whale in front of us. (pic on my camera so you'll have to wait for that one) It was pretty exciting and i suddenly felt pretty small. Didn't see it again so off we paddled to a good although sandy beach (grrrr, i hate camping on sand), feeling pretty chuffed on our sighting.
Rach

Day 71 Durness

Up at 0345 today ready to take on Cape Wrath. We need to get round today as the firing rang will be in use all next week.
Its a gray day low clouds and mist. As we get past sandwood bay the tide starts pushing us along and we make good time.
I'm thinking we must be nearly at the cape and I'm gearing myself up for the big seas when i glance at my compass to see we are paddling east? And then realise we have past it. We carry on along the north coast with its big cliffs disappearing into the clouds and puffins everywhere until we get to Durness where we stop for the night.
Will add some photos later if i can.

Day 70 nr lock an roin

Another windy day but its back on our noises. We set of to Scourie for some supplys. The wind is blowing offshore but seems to get stronger the closer we get to the shore at some points it felt like we were going backwards. Finely about ten meters from shore we get some shelter for five min until we turn into Scourie bay, then back into the wind for another half mile. Lunch and shopping in Scourie then back in to the wind.
We don't get as far as we wanted as the head wind slows us down to less than two knots. Rach picks out a great little bay were we camp for the night.

Day 69? Culkein bay

It's windy this morning but its on our backs for a change so much so i do the first half mile with out paddling and still manage to do about two and a half knots. When we do start paddling its great fun surfing the swell and letting the sea do some of the hard work for a change. We get to the point of stoer just as the tide turns so we pull in to Culkein bay and sleep in our bivi bags on the slip way.

Mellon Udrigle

Windy, but another beautiful beach