Adele, Bella, Chris, Gordon, Holly, Jamie, John, Kerry, Rosie, Sam, Steve and Stuart went down the River Teith on Saturday 26 August. Beautiful sunny day with the river level at 1.0m.
We launched at Callandar and made our way down to the exit point about half way to Doune on the A84 where there is a convenient lay-by.
General coaching of ferry gliding and breaking in and out of eddies with some of the more confident paddlers playing in the waves.
For those interested in such things, Chris, Gordon and Stuart all went for a swim.
Report: With the previous weekend trip cancelled because of the wind the possibility of a day trip in reasonable weather was welcome, albeit in a limited time frame. The location was flexible but the sea and swell was preferred and a planned trip out of Ganavan (Oban) north was resurrected. However high spring tides generated by the solar eclipse were expected to generate a strong southerly tide (2.5knots) just as we would have been heading north so we decided to head to the same area from the north.
As we came across the mountains the weather was terrible and the mountains stayed covered for the rest of the day. We headed for South Shian on Loch Creran which provided an excellent launch point
Cloud on the mountains around Loch CreranLaunch Point
The entrance to Loch Creran was characterised by a series of tide races that shot us on southwards, albeit with some excitement as the boat was tossed around in the swirls. On the open sea the strong tide was met by a strong breeze (top end of F3) that led to a relatively bumpy ride, with frequent white horses.
Swirls (looking south)
Midway down stands an island, Eilean Dubh (small black island), which looks impregnable from a distance. As we got near however we could see a small beach and decided to visit.
Eilean Dubh looking northLanding on Eilean Dubh
The island itself is covered with impenetrable undergrowth. Only kayakers could land and very few would want to! So after lunch we headed on down south towards Camas Nathais, an attractive inlet topped by a lovely sand bay. For reference there is also a lovely camp site here.
Camas NathaisThe Beach looking south to Oban
The tide had now turned so, after another break, we had a fast passage back up towards Loch Creran, stopping only to investigate the passage between Isle Eriskay and the mainland. We had hoped to use this but the channel , although past mid water was simply not deep enough. It should be runnable at high tide.
Instead we shot round into Loch Creran with an exciting run on the flow at the end of the islets Sgurr Caileach. We arrived back at the launch point having covered around 28km tide assisted in less than 6.5hrs with about 1.5 hrs lazing onshore. A good day’s paddle.
Paddlers: Geoff, Steve, Damien, Lee and Tam (and a couple more)
Report: August 2017 was a windy and wet month but still provided good local kayaking. Our first trip sent us to Kilcreggan for a pint of excellent Guiness with a new local paddler picked up at Craigendoran beach. Our second evening outing saw us at Lomond Shores for a paddle to Inchmurrin. Not wonderful weather it was still an excellent evening with good coffee in the Pub on the island.
The 9th was presented as a trip to the Sugar Boat and on to Greenock. There was a strongish wind (F4) from the west/north west which resulted in rather uncomfortable paddling with biggish waves coming on sideways. Since we were unsure of the landing/refreshment on the other side we decided to head instead into the wind and make for the sailing club. Another excellent Guiness then back to Craigendoran in an increasing gloom. Another excellent evening.
Adele, Bella, Chris, Gordon, Holly, Jamie, John, Kerry, Rosie, Sam, Steve and Stuart went down the River Teith on Saturday 26 August. Beautiful sunny day with the river level at 1.0m.
