SIX DAYS AROUND SKYE
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.
There are no official records of the first circumnavigation of Skye, though it is entirely plausible that members of the Clyde Canoe Club completed the trip, along with many other notable journeys including crossing The Minch, as early as 1875, and possibly even before that.
A century and a half would pass before Tim and I completed our own circumnav’ in six days of wonderful paddling. We were lucky with the weather, enjoyed close encounters with orcas, risso dolphins, sea eagles, and for the most part, avoided the midges.
Landing on the last day at Armadale, we joined a group in the bar above. Several pints later, too tired to do much more than nurse our drinks and blisters, they left us to it, the last of our new friends pausing as he passed our table, with a prophetic look. Leaning closer with mock gravity he offered his advice: ‘Don’t sink.’
An account of our trip was later published by Sidetracked Magazine.