Helensburgh CC

HCC Trip Report

Newark Castle

May 10^th ,2026

Participants: Steve Wheaton, Paddy Muir, Geoff Riddington, Stephen Mckeown, John Young

F3 – 4 from NW

Lovely fast paddle with a following wind to Newark Castle. Lunch in the grounds. Paddle back along southern shore. Wind brisker than anticipated from which some respite was obtained by transiting the Great Harbour. Low tide required short portage at west end below the bridge. Continued by U Crane Bolt and Craner Swift before striking north for Rosneath Point. Gusty F4 from NW made for a choppy crossing that included some towing practice. Still blowy from Rosneath to Helensburgh Pier but paddling further off the wind and so a bit easier.  Of-course 2 hours after getting back the wind dropped and the estuary was flat calm!

Though good experience for a couple of paddlers that had not previously been out in windy conditions and a choppy sea, the alternative option of initially heading west to Kilcreggan / Loch Long would have been a better choice for the day.

Tuesday 12 May marked the resumption of our Tuesday evening open water sessions after the winter break.

We dont normally record these here but as we’ve been unable to use the pool over the winter, this seemed worth celebrating.

A description of the evening and some pictures can be found on one of our paddler’s blogs…

HCC Evening Paddle

Paddlers: Gordon, Steve, Iain, Mark, Simon, Finn, Paddy, Martin

Tom organised and joint RNLI/HCC exercise on the Clyde. From an HCC perspective, the main objective was to practice VHF comms, from an RNLI perspective the objective was to prioritise different issues as the scenario unfolded.

The scenario involved a party of 8 kayakers getting split into two groups by high winds. One group ended up on Ardmore Point, with one of the paddlers suffering a dislocated shoulder. The remaining kayakers radioed for help. Whilst the lifeboat was proceeding to deal with the Ardmore group, this group suffered a capsize and were unable to get the kayaker back in their boat and radioed for further help.

The lifeboat response to the scenarios was as hoped. HCC were impressed by the lifeboats response and the feedback from the RNLI was that HCC’s radio calls were effective. and they were impressed by the level of safety kit we carried. However, the following learning points were noted:

• There was no point in having a handheld VHF on low power – after first real transmission I switched to full power, otherwise I wasn’t heard
• I noticed that not all handsets received equally well – I heard some bits of messages via others VHFs, not my own
• I’m going to move my VHF to the right hand side of my BA – Im right handed and it was awkward to use with it on the left
• I was surprised at how often I forgot radio protocol, missing out ‘overs’, not getting call signs correct etc – it’s really good to practice
• Even in daylight, the LED flare was extremely effective for locating the group on Ardmore |Point.
• A suggestion for lifeboat crew: if pulling a kayak up onto the Rib, lift by bow so that it drains.

A big thanks to Tom for organising and a special mention for Paddy for going in the water and Finn for dislocating his shoulder. A full set of photos can be found here but some highlights are below:

December 14th, 2025

Participants: Steve Wheaton, Gordon Smith, Stuart McCartney, Martin Tidestrom

F4 from south

Another year nearly away so fast and the last club paddle this season. No storm alert this year just a yellow heavy rain warning for Argyle & Bute!

As usual once in our boats and paddling it all felt worthwhile. Hugging the western shore we headed south to Tarbet and a lunch stop in the little pavilion by the café. Gordon supplied the mince pies.

One & half hours down but with the wind in our favour, one hour back. A little bit of surfing was possible, with Martin’s new Tiderace much quicker on the waves than the other three more traditional boats.

Thank goodness this was in the calendar as left to our own devices it would have been a day to have spent indoors and yet, having made the effort so good to have been out on the loch.

Participants Steve Wheaton, Geoff Riddington, Edward Homson.

Wind SW F4 with strong gusts, 11Km

A dreich day saved by having a lovely venue with shelter from the wind when needed before putting us in position for the run back with a following wind .

Set out from Luss and headed south via a brief look in the river to Rossdhu Castle, then north east via Inchgalbraith and a second castle to a lunch stop on Inchtavannach. Lunch over and rain starting again we passed through the Straits and returned to luss.

Paddlers: Gordon, Geoff, Edward

Weather: F2 SW

Distance: 17.5km

Launched from the carpark at the North end of Croy Bay, realising with hindsight that we should have parked by the toilets and used the slipway rather than carrying the boats over the rock breakwater. Pleasant paddle SW passed Culzean Castle, Maidens and on to Turnberry point for lunch and then doubling back.

None of the forecast sun but lots of Cormarants, or were they Shags? (must learn to tell the difference).

Arduaine, Puilladobhrain, Sound of Luing, Arduaine

September 27^th & 28^th 2025

Participants: Steve Wheaton, Gordon Smith, Edward Homson

Saturday 27^th, F4 & Strong Gusts from SSE, 14Km

Arduaine to Puilladobhrain

Atrocious windy & wet weather, not surprising only three of us out today. With the wind running with us, very rapid progress was made across the mouth of Loch Melford and Seil Sound. Through the rain we spotted seals, a dolphin and a sea eagle. Arrived at Clachan Bridge near low water (neaps) and decided to give it a try with the fall back that we would return to the pub if unnavigable. We got through with a few inches to spare. Made camp at the head of the bay and not even bothering to change, headed along the path to the pub.   Blazing fire, the 2^nd half of the Ladies Rugby World Cup final and a couple of drinks. Tempting as it was to make an evening of it we returned to camp where, confined by weather to our tents, made supper and retired.

Sunday 28th, F1-2 from S, 30km

Puilladobhrain to Arduaine via Sound of Luing

Bright,sunny and not a midge anywhere. Breakfasted and paddling just after 0900. Near HW so out through a gap below Eilean Buidhe into the Firth of Lorn where we were straight away surrounded by pods of Dolphins busy feeding. They stayed with us to Easdale where we stopped for coffee. With the options of returning through Cuan Sound or taking the longer route south through the Sound of Luing, the great weather and a couple of hours of favourable tide saw us heading south. The dolphins were still with us and numbers appeared to increase. Of all trips not to have brought cameras! Luckily, we had our phones.  

Stopped for lunch at the bottom of Luing and caught the north going tide back up to Arduaine.

A great day made very memorable by the wildlife.

Paddlers: Gordon, Michael, Lorna, Edward

Day 1

Light winds. 15km

We set of in idyllic conditions from a stony beach below a layby just West of Roshven, making our way West and then South to just before Singing Sands. Stunning views of the Small Isles to the West and of the Cuillin to the North. Just as we were discussing what could make the trip better, we saw a Minke Whale a few hundred meters away.

We stopped for lunch just South of Smirisary although if we had paddled a little further we could have landed on a stunning sandy beach rather than a very rocky one. The sandy beach is more or less due West of the North end of Eilean Coille. This would make an excellent camping spot although likely to quite busy – lots of people had walked in via Glenuig.

Another stop at the SW corner of Eilean Shona (another stunning beach). Then onto a wonderful camping spot – a grassy knoll at the East end of Camas an Lighe (aka Singing Sands), landing on the East side of an outcrop of rocks.

Day 2

NW F1-2. 24.5km

Lorna spotted some interesting tracks among the dog and human footprints on the beach – later identified as otter. We followed coast back up North and into the South Channel of Loch Moidart where we were pushed gently along by tide and wind. Lots of seals on the small skerries. We stopped for a leg stretch and explore at Castle Tioram (now very securely closed for access) before moving onto the small islet between Shona Beag and Riska Island for lunch. This had been described as an ideal camping spot in previous trip reports but we felt ours at Singing Sands was definitely superior.

We then paddled out of the North Channel and around Eilean Coille before another leg stretch at the beach identified the previous day. The final leg too us back to the cars. As we passed Samalaman Island a large flock of unusually silent birds (later identified as Manx Shearwater) alerted us to possible shoals of fish and we spotted a Minke Whale again in the distance.