New Year Paddle, Loch Lomond Jan 6th 2018

Paddlers: Gordon, Geoff, Al, Damien, Adele, Stewart, Monty

Weather: Absolutely perfect; cloudless skies and no wind.

Report: A wonderful day. Initially the plan was to keep warm in the sun so from Aldlochlay, with a departure time of around 11am, we headed north and were rewarded with superb views towards Ben Lomond

Looking North

The initial plan was to have a break at the top of Inchmoan but the beach was underwater and because we were really enjoying the trip we decided to head over to Inchcruin and find a sunny sandy beach there.

Portrait 1: Gordon
Portrait 2: Stewart
Portrait 3: Al

No suitable beaches could be seen on Inchcruin or Inchfad so we pushed onto to a favourite spot, Port Bawn on Inchcailloch. A lovely table in the sun with hot mulled wine and mince pies. Difficult to beat.

Our return took us on the south side of Inchmoan where we met a large group from the Clydebank club.

Meeting the Clydebank Club

On round the end of Inchvannach, where Roy Rogers was busy getting a car back from the island.

Old Oaks (with Ben Lomond) at the end of Inchvannach a.k.a. Chocolate Box to be turned into a Jigsaw

Although the paddle was almost effortless we still managed some 14 km by the time we got back at 2.30. With almost an hour off for lunch the average was between 5 and 6 kph.

Aldlochlay was still frozen and by the time the kayaks were loaded freezing fingers were setting in. Without a doubt a fantastic day.