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 mae 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.
