By the time we came to consider a circumnavigation of Mull, I had already paddled the south coast on several occasions and explored the islands including Iona, Staffa and the Treshnish Isles. We had been lucky with the weather on each occasion except the first day of that trip along the south coast when a big south-westerly swell and gale force winds ensured an enforced stay on the edge of Loch Buie. This time, given we were paddling all the way round, there seemed little point getting the ferry across, so we launched from Easedale, starting the trip with a long downwind crossing.

Sea kayaking has always appealed to those who care little for organised sport, records and the bureaucracy of modern clubs. Offering the space for free spirits to operate independently, governed only by wind and tide, journeys requiring more than a day or two on the water, remain the preserve of those who are comfortable with the commitment the sea demands.

If you have been, you will go back. If you haven’t, you really should. This is why.

Crossing the Minch is something of a rite of passage for sea kayakers. Going via The Shiants could perhaps be seen as complicating matters unnecessarily, cheating - giving yourself the chance to break the crossing, or as two separate crossings.

Like tandem bikes, K2 racing kayaks have never really appealed. But Mike and Tim had designs for the Devizes to Westminster race and needed practice, so we went along for the ride.

Having paddled among the Islands of Fleet on numerous occasions, a trip along the coast to Burrow Head was perhaps inevitable.

My first trip to Eigg was perhaps the best of many I have made since. An evening crossing, an idyllic camp, a perfect sunset across the Rum Cuillin, and a relaxed return on calm seas, finishing among the skerries of Arisaig. The pictures say it all.

Gigha is one of those islands that requires a little effort to reach.

As far as headlands go, the Mull of Galloway has something of a reputation. Without doubt, it’s not a good place to make a mistake with your tidal planning.

An unlikely destination for the sea kayaker, the Ravenglass estuary offers a surprisingly entertaining day out in the right conditions.

Climbing the Old Man of Stoer had been a long held aspiration and returning years later in a kayak, I looked at the route I had climbed with Paul and tried to work out where we’d gone wrong.

My first attempt to paddle around Handa was abandoned off Ardmore Point.

It was the last of the big three west coast headlands. The Point of Stoer and Cape Wrath had given two wonderful trips but Rubha Reidh had always seemed more austere somehow. Putting on at Charlestown near Gairloch, I remembered standing on the headland the previous summer. A 2m swell was running before a cold northerly wind and the race off the point looked intimidating.

Coll and Tiree are famed for their beaches, aqua-marine seas, a lot of wind, and sharks. Tiree in particular is one of the places you are most likely to encounter basking sharks on the Scottish coast. Our circumnavigation of the two islands over three days didn’t disappoint…

Sea kayaks are among the most sea worthy craft ever designed. Perfectly capable of handling big surf and bigger swells, they’re fast, light and in the right hands, remarkably agile. They are not however, an ideal choice for rocky spate rivers.

“Just paddle alongside that rock will you…”

Calling its siren song to every sea kayaker, Cape Wrath is for many, the ultimate sea kayaking trip. The challenges it presents are well documented and once on the water, all too real.

Scotland’s north coast can be an intimidating place from the seat of a kayak. And Whiten Head is one of the most committing sections of this coastline. One that is worth waiting to explore when the swell is low.

Every sea kayaker should paddle around Bass Rock at some stage.

Any trip to the Skerries is likely to prove memorable. On a bright Spring day it is one of the best trips off Anglesey.