Stories of Adventure

The Environment

2009-02-02T20:38:00.006Z

While at work today, I was stuck for motivation, so I thought I would try to write about something I was inspired to write about...it happened to be some environmental issues.

I'm currently looking into more natural and sustainable methods of making kayaks. There is a manufacturer who makes resin from 95% vegetable oil derived products, which I might end up getting a kayak made with. I'm going to write a report weighing up the advantages and disadvantages that there will be from this. While writing a draft plan, one of the questions I plan to address is 'how can these materials help the environment?' Two answers I can see are that organically produced materials are renewable, and that fossil fuel based materials will in the long term, run out.

I think one of the problems is that in some ways, humans operate like business, i.e. in the interests of personal gain and reducing costs. This is most prominent in terms of effort. In business, traditionally the environment is viewed as an externality, which means it's a cost that the affected party does not take a decision on, and will only pay it if they have to. In some ways, it is not in our interest to look after the environment in the short term as it is more effort. However, in the long term, not caring for the environment may cause more costs than investing in preserving the environment now. Which then got me asking myself, why should we care for the environment? The immediate answers that came into my head were:

to invest in the future, for our children

environmental stability

respect for the environment including all the animals and plants around us

if we run out of resources, they will get more expensive, wars will start, and it's only a matter of time. Resources will run out.

So I then thought, why should we not bother about the environment?

we're living for now, live life as richly as possible

who cares about the future

we can and will adapt

easier to do nothing

It seems to me that none of the latter are long term solutions. So I then tried to look more objectively. What are the problems?

There are so many people, and it's only an increasing problem! The less people there are, the longer our energy will last

Energy generation and waste are only second order problems. The are symptoms of the causes, which are that we could use less energy, and we could waste less. I think that if we have waste at all, we have done something wrong. In pre-industrial times people lived on what they had around them, and wasted much less - the only waste was probably organic, which got put back into the ground as fertiliser, or fed other animals. Instead of staying up when it's dark, with lights on, listening to music and watching TV, people maybe played simple instruments or chatted or played games or just went to sleep.

I guess it must come down to individual's decisions about how you want to live your life - I'm not here to tell anyone how to live their lives. Do you want to consume as much as possible in the conception that this is a richer life, or consume as little as possible, or somewhere inbetween? The extremes could be:

A high earning investment banker or CEO who flies to work, has a huge office with the heating on, but windows open so it's warm but feels fresh. He relaxes at lunch time in a jacuzzi. He goes home to a huge house and huge family, walks around in a t-shirt in the winter time with the heating on, and flies away for a relaxing holiday at least 3 times per year to lovely exotic places. Is this a successful person in our current society?

A family of 3: 2 parents, 1 child, hence reducing the net population once the parents are gone, will reduce. They live in a small cottage in the UK by the sea. They grow their own vegetables and have their own animals, and rarely have to go to the shops, but when they do, they buy local produce. When they are on holiday from work they prefer to stay at home and just read books, or go down to the shore or up the hills with their children and neighbour's children. Their house is insulated well beyond the minimum that the government recommend, so they don't have much of a heating bill, but when they do get cold, they put a fleece on. They also have lots of trees planted around the garden which their family have lived in for generations, so if they're cold, the chop some wood from their totally self sustaining forest. Life is simple but satisfying. Not much development, but they have everything they need to survive - food, fuel, and their close friends and family. The are all experts at surviving on what they have around them, being skilled hunters, farmers and craftsmen.

I know which I'd prefer, but it's not that simple. There are an infinite number of possibilities inbetween. It's not that I'm against the first example or for the latter example. But I know which way that I'd personally lean and prefer. Although I don't know eactly where I stand on it.

I'll leave you with that thought. Nothing conclusive, just food for thought. Thanks for reading and please keep looking for progress on the next SusExp trip which will be round Skye.

Caffeine fuelled inspiration...

2009-01-18T19:50:00.004Z

I haven't written in a while, since the last day of my expedition up the Western Isles in May 2008. This trip was a truly amazing journey for me, much more than I ever thought it would be, from so many different perspectives.

I'm sitting in Portsmouth, with my relatively new job doing renewable energy project management, which I'm about to be made redundant from due to restructuring, so I'm coming back to Scotland! I can't wait. Even though I was aware of it, it's surprised me how much moving away has made me realise what I miss and what I want to go back to.

So I'm planning the next Sustainable Expeditions trip: Round Skye for a few weeks in July (or August). I'm hopefully going to know much more about living in the outdoors, what you can and can't eat. And hopefully will get a lot more local produce as well. Also, because it's more accessible, I'm hoping that some paddling buddies will be able to come along. I'd really love to have some outdoorsy people along who can help contribute to the cause that is learning more about being self sufficient. So, the plans continue. I've got a boat manufacturer who's interested in giving me a boat made majorly from natural ignredients, so we'll see how that goes. Watch this space! And please get in touch if you have any thoughts/ideas/opinions.

Ciao for now.

Day 28: Garenin Hostel, NW Lewis to Port of Nis, Butt of Lewis (25Nm, 10hrs)

2008-06-03T10:26:00.001Z

Today was a fantastic finale to the expedition, involving the longest paddle, the most exposed paddling and the best finish.

It started at 7am in my bivvy bag with a nice sunrise. I went up to the hostel to boil the kettle for a cup of tea and to fill my flask, and heated up my black pudding and potato omelette from last night. It wasn’t as tasty as last night for some reason but I ate it nevertheless. After chatting to various people I managed to get on the water at 9.45am, 45mins later than I planned to, so that meant I’d be arriving around 7.45pm.

So I was off on the last day of the expedition, I’d nearly made it, so far, I couldn’t believe it, I’d nearly managed to paddle the whole length of the Outer Hebrides! Although it was far from over. I came out of the mouth of the inlet the hostel was in,and started along the coastline. There was coastline as far as I could see and further and I seriously wondered if I was capable of doing it. I carried on paddling. I was pretty good at being happy in my own company by now, not to say a paddling buddy would have been great, and coped with various activities such as singing and making up songs, talking to myself which I thought was pretty good conversation (!) and listening to the few hundred MP3s on my mobile phone which I now knew off by heart. The coast just went on and on and on.

One nice thing that happened was befriending a Fulmar who thought I was a fishing boat and kept on landing in front of me and watching for waste fish as I drifted by. It did this for a good 20mins and I started feeling sorry for it I aimed straight for it when it was in front of me, which scared it and it flew away and didn’t come back. The weather was great, clear blue skies, not too much swell - I stayed roughly 1km off the coast to avoid swell in the shallower water - and I was working with the tide (the whole 1Kt of it!). The paddling was a cycle of paddling as long as I could before the aches and pains got too much, then having a rest to stretch and move around to get blood flowing in my legs/feet again.

A nervous point on this leg was paddling past the army firing range which had ‘Danger’ labelling the boundary of an area on the map that I was paddling through. I thought about phoning the coastguard to make sure it was safe, but in the end thought they would probably see me if they were going to shoot anything. I couldn’t help wondering if things were going to fly past me at any time and explode!

I got to the planned lunch spot at Siadar, recharged the mobile phone which had run down due to listening to music, had some coffee and a cup of soup with the locally baked bread. After a 20min break, periodically floating my boat inshore and moving my stuff as the tide came in, I felt refreshed and ready to carry on.

So I continued with the tide and the sun into a light northerly wind on the next 4.5 hour paddle - the final leg! I was pretty ecstatic for a good while (probably partly due to the coffee), coming to terms with the fact that I had nearly paddled the 250Nm (275 statute miles) up the Western Isles. I looked back to see how far I’d come, grateful to see the headlands fading into the haze.

If paddling long distances does anything for you, it forces you to think about forward paddling technique! I think the technique frequently anyway but forward paddling is really the most essential skill in sea kayaking and good technique makes paddling much more efficient. Coaches often talk about aspiring to make kayaking skills effective and efficient, but I’d now like to coin the term EESSy (effective, efficient, smooth and stylish - in that order) which I think adds two more important qualities to skills and I’ll be using that in coaching - ‘…how can you make your strokes more EESSy?...’

I passed some creel buoys and was happy to see them downstream of the rope in the water meaning the tide was flowing in my direction. Then I got to a skerry which had an eddy NW of it, again comforting me because I was going with the tide. I was getting closer, now only an hour from the Butt. The anticipation was killing me! Eventually I got there, great!

What a place for paddling, with loads of islands and a natural arch above the HW line, but I couldn’t explore because it was 7pm and I needed to get on. I was nearly there! I rounded the Butt and had 3km to Port of Nis. I enjoyed the coast with the deepening light from the start of the sunset and the reduced swell on the east coast of Lewis. The tide had started flowing in the wrong direction for me and the last headland I had to cut in close land to avoid the current which looked a good 2-3kts.
Then I got to the harbour - woo hoo! It was like some kind of Mediterranean beach and with a flat sea, everything lit with sunset orange, I landed at the slip way in Port of Nis! I had done it! I sat down to come to terms with the fact that I had done it! Then some pals (Sean ZS and Innes) arrived with their bio-diesel, from used vegetable oil, van. They gave me a can of Tenant’s Lager which I gulped down - thanks guys! The rest of the night is another story which involved sausage rolls, whisky, more lager, and a party in Stornoway.

The next day we went for a trip out into the Minch on a 67-foot yacht which Innes and his dad Angus charter. What a life! Sean, Innes and Alison gave me a lift and buddied me down to Leverburgh where I paddled across the Sound of Harris with the wind which was great, and had a wee play in the wind and against tide next to the hostel which was quite a big area of 1ft standing waves with the tide ripping through at 3ish knots! Stayed with Brian and Kath, the friends with the wind turbine, left the boat there, stayed over night and then got the bus the next day to Eriskay and the ferry back to Barrabados!

So now I’m back at home, eating lots of green vegetables that are growing in the garden! That’s it. The first Sustainable Expeditions expedition is finished! I’ll wait a couple of days then I’ve got a few kind of results of and thoughts on this expedition which was really a bit of an experiment.

Day 27: Reef to Garenin Gatliff/SYHA Hostel, NW Lewis, via Callanish

2008-06-03T10:25:00.001Z

Today was the second last day of the expedition and the last night of camping.

I had stayed at Paul and Alison’s for the second night, thanks to their generosity. I had some muesli for breakfast, packed my stuff, said my goodbyes then walked to my kayak with my newly dried clothing. Everything was covered in sand and there was a message on the boat: “Hello from Stornoway Canoe Club! Keep on moving!!!” So that’s what I did. It took ages to pack the boat and get ready because I was out of the swing of things, but I eventually got on the water at 10.45am.

I was exploring west then east Loch Roag. It was great - flat water with no wind! I enjoyed the relaxation but after 15min of an open crossing got bored and had to put music on my mobile phone. Then I got to an island and found this great natural arch right through quite a wide point of the island, must have been 100m long and a good few meters underground.

After paddling under the bridge from mainland Lewis to Great Berneray, I paddled with the tide to Callanish, had a wee look at the stones and had some potatoes and chocolate cake for lunch. The stones are interesting to look and find out about, probably erected around 3,000BC. After that it was north to the hostel. Into a F3/4 again for a bit in mid-afternoon, but thankfully it died down almost completely after a few hours and I could enjoy exploring the coastline again. The coast is an abundance and maze of rocky outcrops and inlets that could provide hours of endless fun for exploring in a sea kayak, especially if there was a bit more swell. As it was there was only a foot or two of swell which increased as I got further out of Loch Roag. I had only glimpsed the second map (which the hostel was on) today, so I paddled off the first map then along the coast hoping to find the hostel. I knew it was a rocky beach and saw a few with big boulders for shores which worried me, but I eventually found it to be a nice shingle beach.

So I got to land, set up camp, cooked dinner in the hostel due to lack of any firewood or heather, phoned people, found sorrel and watched an awesome sunset. Another good day but I’ve got diarrhoea from the food poisoning and am a bit dehydrated due to that, so it’s not all good!

Food today: breakfast - muesli; lunch - potatoes + chocolate cake; dinner - fried potatoes/omelette/black pudding.

Day 26: Reef, NW West Lewis

2008-06-03T10:24:00.002Z

Today was much better in comparison to yesterday but I still wasn’t feeling great and it didn’t involve much Sustainable Expeditions stuff, so again I’ll make it short and sweet. I got up and did some e-mailing and blog writing, then went to the school sport’s day with Alison/Paul’s kids. After that I borrowed Paul’s bike and cycled to the nearest shop (30min cycle) to get some emergency food, then spent the rest of the day writing up the blog which felt like it took ages. I usually write a page of A4 in my pad about how things have gone then type that up whenever I can, so a week’s worth of writing takes a while to type up. I eventually finished at 9pm then enjoyed relaxing and reading a magazine.

Food today: breakfast - muesli + tea; lunch - cheese sandwiches; dinner - fish fingers, peas and chips - lovely!

Day 25: Reef, NW West Lewis

2008-06-03T10:23:00.001Z

Today was undoubtedly the worst day, so I’ll make this write up short and not so sweet.

I woke up with my neck in agony and could hardly move it. I had slept without any kind of pillow and who knows what I did to my neck but it was sore! That was today’s first lesson. This was about 9am, so I thought I’d wait to see how it went. I ended up in bed till 12pm(ish) then it started raining, soaking my stuff that was hanging on the improvised washing line - tow rope tied to either end of kayak with split paddles making support on middle. I also felt sick and was sick nearby my camp after trying desperately to keep whatever it was down. Up came last night’s barbecued vegetables which I thought should have been digested by now, so I thought maybe a dodgy mussel had blocked up the plumbing. Whatever it was, and I’m sure it was the mussels that I had taken from the inlet with not a huge amount of flow, next to the road, I felt sick for the rest of the day. This in combination with a stiff neck and the rain made it pretty miserable.

So I eventually went up to knock on Paul and Alison’s door to ask if I could use their bath as I’d got cold after getting wet in the rain. Thankfully they said yes, and also offered me dinner and a bed for the night, which made life a lot more comfortable than it would have been. Thank you Paul and Alison!

Food today: breakfast/lunch - bread and jam; dinner - pasta and vegetables.

Day 24: Reef, West Loch Roag

2008-05-29T19:33:00.004Z

Today's been a day of rest that was well needed after yesterday.

I only woke up at 12am when the sun woke me from being too hot. I finished writing the journal entry from yesterday because I fell alseep while writing it last night. After that I got up, rinsed my salty clothes using the tap at the nearby campsite, hung them up, had breakfast (bread + jam) and drank some water.

I needed to get some more emergency food after eating it all yesterday so I wondered into Valtos to find a shop. Unluckily there was none but luckily I went to say hello to Alison/Paul who told me where the nearest shop was and lent me a bike. I cycled there and splashed out - a bag of assorted caramels and two dairy milks emergency food and a can of tango which was great! (I disposed of it in the nearby recycling skip.) Then cycled back to Valtos, picking up some mussels on the way back, where Alison/Paul invited me in for a cup of tea.

We chatted for a few hours then went for a barbecue on the beach where we had potatoes, mussels, scallops, Halumi cheese (sheep's cheese), skewers with vegetables and chocolate cake. I didn't eat many potatoes, so they'll do for lunch and dinner tomrrow. We said our goodbyes and went our separate ways, neither more than 1km, mine less than 100m to my bivvy.

So I'm lying here in the dunes writing this having just watched an awesome sunset over the hills. I just heard the forecast on the VHF - NE4/5, 6 in the north - not good at all! I doubt I'll either make it or attempt to make it to the Carloway tomorrow.

Mealasta to West Loch Roag (13.5Nm, 7hrs) via Aird Bhreinis, Ard Mor Mangurstadh & Gallan Head

2008-05-29T18:30:00.004Z

Today was without a doubt the hardest day of the expedition so far, both physically and mentally.

I started off well. I planned the trip the night before and set my alarm for 7am so I could be away by 9ish. After a few 'snoozes' I got up and ate my pre-cooked porridge. The wind was chillingly cold so I sheltered behind a rock to eat. Then I packed stuff up, dragged the boat to the water's edge and packed it. Ready to go at 9.15am, fantastic, my earliest day yet!
It was still pretty breezy, probably F4/5 gusting 6. I had four headlands to round, with exposed open crossings in between and knew it wasn't going to be easy. So I set off, full of porridge/jam, on what was going to be the most difficult paddle of my life so far. What followed was 7hrs (not including breaks) into a F5/6 wind. At first, while I was still fresh, it wasn't too bad and I found refuge in the numerous inlets which although were still breezy, there were spots that were pretty sheltered. I had to have two lunches to keep me going, which were pasta and sauce, and beef olives, thanks to Iain from STV. I made it to the headlands one by one, Mangurstadh was a bleak place with spectacular cliffs and rock gardens, but nothing living there, no plants or birds - the rocks all looked new which made me think it was still eroding relatively fast. It didn't feel like a place that humans should be, so I carried on. The headlands behind me seemed to take forever to get closer! Eventually I got to Gallan Head and had another toilet/lunch stop. I felt refreshed but knew if something went wrong after this and I ended up on the rocks, me and my boat were as good as bananas in a food blender. So I carried on. The worst bit of swell was the first bit where the sea bed shallowed and the waves were reflecting and interfering with each other. I very slowly watched Gallan Head get further away. This was the worst part and I seriously questions my reasons for doing the trip. I cursed and swore and screamed as loud as I could at the wind and the waves as they played with me like a puppet.

I ate the last of the emergency food - boiled sweets - and was determined to make it! I could write a book about this, but to cut a long story short, eventually I made it to the camp site in West Loch Roag. I was wet and cold and needed to change into dry clothes. Then I needed to get away from the sea and the boat, so I took a walk into the village to use the phone. While I was on the phone telling family I was still alive, Paul who I'd met on the beach yesterday, popped round outside the box, signalling beer + food, which I was only too happy to accept! Paul and Alison gave me a nice pasta with tomato and vegetable sauce, then home made ice cream with Scottih raspberries and strawberries. Then offered me a shower which again I gratefully accepted - I also felt at least a kilogram lighter after the shower. On my way out Alison gave me a still-hot freshly baked cake. Again, I'm touched by the friendliness and generosity of the people I have met. I also left my sandals on Mealasta, so Paul gave me an old pair of shoes.

So I walked back to my campsite, hung clothes to dry and fell asleep in my bivvy, minus the tarp because if it's not going to rain, then it's more trouble than it's worth. I ate the whole of the cake on the 15min walk back!

Day 22: Mealasta

2008-05-29T16:20:00.003Z

Well, today's been eventful as usual. It's 6pm and I'm writing now because I've got time and because I need to get sleep early for an early start in the morning.

Eventful as it was, it's also been nice and relaxed. I got up at 9am, wrote the blog for yesterday, then for the fire going for breakfast. There was no heather close by so I made it my goal to light the fire with one bit of paper which worked just fine. I made some kindling sticks, as in bits thin enough that they would catch light quickly from the paper. Crumple the paper, pile some kindling on top, light the paper and hay presto - fire! Then lightly pile on progressively larger bits of wood (but not too soon). Then get some nice square stones to put the grill on. So I cooked some porridge for breakfast in the morning with jam and boiled some water for tead.

STV came at 11am(ish) and we did a wee bit of filming which will be on North Tonight either tomorrow (Monday) or the day after - fantastic! This is what the whole expedition's about - raising awareness and making people think. Iain McIver from and Michael the cameraman from STV were unbelievably kind, bringing gifts of locally baked bread, free range eggs, beef 'olives' (local beef), jam and salmon! I was set up.

After that I went to get some heather to light the fire again, it was a nice 15min walk up the hill which allowed me to look over yesterday's journey from Husinish - all 11km of it!

So I cooked dinner on the fire which had been kept going since PJ, Lewis, Nina, Suzie, Frin (the last three being the 'Lewis/Harris bikini girls') and Kara had cooked their lunch. Potatoes and beef olives (mincemeat rolled up in slices of beef) with stew - lovely! The porridge is cooking just now so I don't have to cook in the morning.

So now I'm sitting next to the fire, it's another nice night and there's some sorrel growing at the river so I'm going to get some vitamins! This place is idyllic, but then so were all the other places! I've packed the boat ready to try and leave at 9am.

Food today: breakfast - oatmeal with jam; lunch/dinner - potatoes, beef olives & sorrel.

Day 21: (Morning after) Husinish to Mealasta (6Nm, 3hrs)

2008-05-29T14:53:00.004Z

Yesterday had potential to be one of the worst days of the expedition so far and in some ways, it was.

Through the night, the rock for the tarp line had moved and the tarp had come off the pole and was flapping around. Then the pot of porridge I had precooked blew over so I had to get up again to cover it. Then through the night the wind picked up which was pushing the tarp down on me as if the elements wanted to bully me a bit after all the good weather so far. I woke up in the morning at 9am and looked at the porridge, it was covered in sand, so breakfast was cold sandy porridge with jam. Then I planned the trip, Husinish to Gallan Head (19Nm). The only problem was that it was blowing force 4-5 NE or E which was totall the wrong direction for me. It would be 10+ hours to Gallan Head, so I planned to just see how far I got and camp wherever that may be.

So I set off. I should have been up much earlier, and have now vowed to plan trips at the latest the night before. I made slow progress, quartering into a F5. Eventually I made it across the bay to more sheltered water. The coastline to the east looked awesome for exploring but I had to resist. I continued, making better progress in the shelter. So many inlets that I wanted to explore but I knew I had to push on. I was now looking for a lunch spot. Eventually I found a nice beach at Mealasta.

And, of all the places I thought I'd find girls in bikinis, the west coast of Harris wasn't one of them! After nice chats and gifts of cheese sandwiches and apples, I set off again. The journey got more negative again. I was going to have to paddle directly into a F5-6 for 3k to get to the next stop. I checed the GPS and was managing to make 0.5kph! Then I heard to forecast on the VHF - F4-5, 5-6 in the Outer Hebrides. That was it, no way was I paddling into that. I turned around and with with an average speed of 7kph and a max speed of 13, I got back to the beach in no time!

I set up camp and went on the search for firewood and thanfully found some, but no heather. It was going to have to be a stove night. Luckily the Harris bikini girls as I called them, and PJ, offered me dinner which I accepted gratefully. A nice night of chat and whisky followed.

Day 20: Husinish, North Harris

2008-05-29T14:11:00.003Z

I say this every day, but again today has just been great, a slow start but great all the same. I'm sure other people might people might think this was boring, but I like it, here's why...

I woke up at 8am and wondered around for a while coming up with a plan of what to do today. A few things were on the list: find firewood + heather; find food; phone people like my folks, the coastguard, and the media to let them know I'm still alive and how it's going; find water. So I tried to start on my list of essential activities. I couldn't cook breakfast before finding firewood, but I was still weak from paddling, so I ended up falling asleep for an hour. After waking up again at 10am(ish) I went to search for wood and eventually found a palette - fantastic, I could have a fire tonight. I also tried to find a mobile signal up a hill but there was none. So after chopping the firewood and making a fireplace, I had a quick chat with a local guy who pointed me in the right direction, which ended up being a 45min walk along the road to the watershed where I could see the mobile phone mast to the east. So I made my calls and on the way back collected some dead heather and a wee bit of peat. Spea to friends/family was nice and I'm starting to look forward to coming getting home.

When I got back to camp I had to have another sleep, which I also did on the road back. I don't know if it's too hot or because I hadn't had enough food, or because I was still shattered from yesterday's paddle.

After I woke up I got cooking dinner, which tonight for lack of finding or catching anything was potatoes, a few spoonfulls of jam for pudding, and dried mint tea.

So now I'm sitting infront of the fire, drying my wellies, it's another nice night! I tidied the campsite and am looking forward to setting off again tomorrow. I've got loads of thoughts about the expedition, about what's possible and what isn't, about life and how we could/should life and the costs/benefits of different ways, but I'll save writing them till the end!

Food today: breakfast - bread + jam; lunch - hard boiled eggs + white pudding; dinner - potatoes.

Day 19: Berneray to Husinish, Harris

2008-05-29T13:34:00.006Z

Today has definitely been one of the best days of the expeditions - that's not saying much though because it's all been fantastic.

I was up at 7.30, woken by a flapping tarp which had come off my wooden peg. I had an easy start, packing my stuff away in my routine method at a relaxed pace, then went to the hostel to make breafast - porridge with jam. After saying goodbye to the travellers I had met, I carried on packing. I've got a happy routine system now: food and sleeping stuff in front; all emergency stuff including hot flask of coffee in the dat hatch, and everything else in the back hatch (clothes, electric stuff, paper/books.)

It was the windiest day so far today, at around F4/5 sometimes 6 east or southeast. I had the right maps out and planned the trip assuming 4kph into a F5, working with the tide in the Sound of Harris, and then it was off. It took a while to get across the Sound but once I got to the channel between Harris/Ensay the tide was taking me NW, great!

I rounded Toe Head and found some amazing caves where I had to make a precarious emergency toilet stop. The inlet with a beach I had planned to stop for lunch on unfortunately had boulders before the sand so I couldn't easily stop witout dragging my boat over rocks which I decided against, instead opting for a balancing act on submersed stones which resulted in my losing four slices of bread, and eating lasnight's pork off the bone and eating tonight's pudding - chocolate cake. Then the longest crossing so far, roughly 10Nm from Toe Head to Husinish, with Taransay on my right side. It was great paddling in a new place with new things to look at. I was seriously starting to wonder if I'd lost my passion for exploring and this totally refreshed my enthusiasm for it!

So I got to the N beach, set up camp - the best tarp set up yet, with a sand shelf for more height - phoned STV, helped people packing their boat for Scarp, cooked on MSR because there was no firewood. Now I'm lying here under the tarp, lovely night again. Expedition life is harder than a 'conventional' life but simpler.

Food today: breakfast - 2 portions of porridge with jam; lunch - pork + chocolate cake; potatoes and dried ham; 2 oranges from the Scarp people (David + Lesley), and a mug of coffee.

Day 17: Lochmaddy to Berneray (~12Nm, 4hrs)

2008-05-21T18:08:00.009Z

Today took ages to get started due to coming back from my mid-expedition break in Skye. I got back to Lochmaddy Outdoor Centre at 8.30ish lastnight and there were people there! It was nice to meet some new people: a bird photographer; some BT people; and a holiday cyclists. I managed to eventually leave the hostel 11.25pm. I worked out tidal stream times and planned the trip the night before, so it was just a matter of packing the boat.

I decided to leave a few things in the outdoor centre to pick up the the return journey. The Kelly Kettle, it's great, but takes up too much space when I already have pots that I can boil water in - though not as efficiently. Also left behind used maps and charts, face mask, sun hat and spare flask. It's all so far unused kit that I didn't want to be carrying.

I set off intending to have lunch on a skerry but didn't have time due to the late departure as the tide was turning, and the flood tide, which flows SE in the Sound of Harris, was at it' spring rate almost, in the wrong direction, so I wanted to avoid it as much as possible.

I got to the hostel shore, had a wee play in the tidal race that was flowing, then landed to set up camp. The east facing beach on Berneray is amazing and has a great view. There were no rocks at the campsite I chose on the machair so I had to chop some wood for tent pegs. The sand was too far away from camp and although I dug up the top layer of vegetation next to the camp, I decided in the end it would be best to just use the cooker at the Gatliff/SYHA hostel to save messing up the environment. The hostel's now been refurbished with aluminium foil lined insulation which makes it much lighter inside (roof was black before) and much warmer! I cooked dinner, had a few nice chats to people: German couple on 6 week tour of Scotland tour; NZ couple on Europe tour and a Glasgow couple just cycling around. So now I'm lying here, shattered from the day's padling.

Today's food: breakfast - porridge/jam; lunch - smoked salmon; dinner - potatoes, lamb chops, carrot.

Day 11: Roisinis to Lochmaddy (12Nm, 4hrs)

2008-05-15T20:53:00.002Z

Again I'm writing this in hindsight - was too tired and last night to write.

I'm sitting in Lochmaddy Outdoor Centre. Slept in the porch of the centre which was pretty luxurious, having a roof over my head and not having to set the tarp up. The paddle was good, as usual, in lots of ways, with a few challenges here and there.

I had a crap night's sleep so I ended up in 'bed' till 9am. I thought this was a wee bit late considering I had to get to Lochmaddy, so I skipped cooking anything and just had bread and jam, dragged my boat down to near the water's edge, then packed it.

I had this idea (above) when I was packing things away, that for the campers, it would be easier if a pile of stones was left at good campsites so they could be used to hold down tent pegs/tarps. In the long run, it would save energy because people wouldn't have to keep lugging stones backwards and forwards. Maybe this could catch on...'leave a pile, save a mile?!!'

Then the first oversight of the day…I usually plan the day's trip after packing the boat, but this time I was moving on to a different map, which I had already packed away! "Oh well" I thought to myself, "I'll do it without the map". So I set off along the coast hoping for a "Turn Left Here" sign - there was none, but I found Lochmaddy in the end. Throughout the day I had a severe case of having a sore bum - sitting in a kayak in the same position all day, no matter how much shoogling around and stretching you do, you get sore - maybe I need to pad my boat out a bit more. The next challenge was finding the outdoor centre, which after paddling down the wrong inlet (navigating from a vague childhood memory), then paddling back and asking someone, I found it.

I pulled my boat up, had a wee look in the centre to say hello – no one there - then went for a walk into town, used the internet in the museum, went to the nearest bar to find another place I could use the internet, got chatting, had a few pints, arranged to borrow someone's laptop so I could write up the blog. Then went back to the centre and met the people who were staying there - a group of divers who were there for the week diving off a wreck in the Sound of Harris. I had what was possibly my nicest tastiest dinner yet by making use of the oven – lamb chops, peeled potatoes and sorrel! MmmmMmmm! I also put the joint of lamb in the oven, went for a few more pints, wrote the blog in the pub on the guy’s laptop, then went back to take the meat out which had been slow cooking on 150 deg C for a few hours – it was perfectly cooked, just by luck because I hadn’t timed it. There are lots of good things about this place, one of which is that there’s Sorrel – I’ve only found it where people have lived or are living and no where else, so I’m eating as much as I can to get as much green stuff as possible!

Day 10: Roisinis to Carinish, RTN (12Nm, 4hrs)

2008-05-15T20:51:00.002Z

I'm lying in my bivvy bag at the end of another good day. I'm lacking inspiration to write - maybe a few swigs of whisky will help - yup, that's better...

Today was a day of rest. I used the MSR petrol stove, to save effort of collecting heather, to cook porridge with jam. I enjoyed the porridge more than I ever have before, enjoying the change from concentrated protein breakfasts of eggs and blackpudding. After breakfast I went for a wash in the nearby loch and took the opportunity to wash some clothes too. It was unbelievable refreshing, after I'd got over the shock, splash my face, rub myself down with sphagnum moss and go for a swim.

After some sunbathing I made a shopping list and set off for a day trip to the shops to restock. It was a longer paddle than I had thought, however I was working with the tide, so that was nice. I got to Carinish Inn to have a pint and hopefully find some local producers. I didn't find the latter, but the pint was great - a nice cold Tenant’s Lager! After chatting to people I got a list to the nearest shop, got some locally produced food (bread, jam, oatmeal) and walked back to the boat.

A pleasant paddle back in the sun followed. The weather was just fantastic! I got back at 6pm and started preparing dinner: cleaning mussels; peeling potatoes; and collecting heather + firewood. Tonight's dinner was the most decadent yet - venison + mussels, potatoes, with golden syrup cake (baked in the UK), although I ate the cake first! It was all really nice, but I'm longing for fresh fruit and vegetables!

I'm happy that I've now caught up with daily writing and video diary entries. Pretty tired...

Day 10: (Morning after…) Loch Ayenort to Roisinis (20Nm, 7hrs 30mins)

2008-05-15T20:49:00.002Z

I’m lying on top of my bivvy bag in the morning sun, listening to the wind up radio. It’s a program about a play on the selfishness that is almost forced upon people in a capitalist economy. I would have written last night but I was too tired after the long day.

Yesterday was my longest paddle ever, both by distance and time (20Nm, 7.5hrs) and was my latest arrival of the expedition so far (7.30pm). The day started in the Otter hide. I got up, found breakfast in the boat (sea gull and hens eggs and Stornoway black pudding), cooked it on the camp fire, then went up to get some water from Archie’s tap and say a last good bye. One and a half hours later I left, after a cup of tea, bit of cake and an in depth look at the weather forecast on the internet.

So I was off on what would be my longest day so far. I set off at 11.45am – I wanted to be away at 10.30am. The tide was now ebbing, which means its flowing south in the Minch and would be against me all the way.

To cut a long paddle short, it was amazing. I watched a sea eagle patrolling the coast, watching me, being pestered by the gulls and oyster catchers. I saw my second lighthouse of the trip on Uisinish point, made a 6Nm open crossing, ate my emergency mars bar, worked on my forward paddling (constantly), paddled into one of the best caves I’ve ever been in, had to navigate using a compass and map for the first time on the expedition to find my way through all the skerries and inlets to find the right one, and eventually arrived at Roisinis point at 7.30pm. I wanted to use the emergency stove but instead went to collect firewood and heather, peeled potatoes, packed my lithe full of chives/wild garlic/dried ham, cooked it up, and had a few spoonfuls of jam for pudding.

I now feel pretty connected with nature and a bit disconnected with civilisation and the rat race – both good things I think – not that there is much of a rat race in Barra, or at least not from my point of view. Maybe there is for other people, but not many I don’t think – Barra’s too relaxed a place for anyone to be in a race other than the Craigard or the Castlebay Bar.

Today’s food: sea gull + hens eggs, Stornoway black pudding; mars bar; lithe stuffed with wild garlic + chives and potatoes; jam.

Day 9: (Morning) Preparing to leave Loch Ayenort for Roisinis

2008-05-15T20:47:00.002Z

I was too tired to write last night, so I'm now sitting on a rock on the shore in Loch Ayenort, in front of the fire that I cooked breakfast on and am now burning some peat, which has got a lovely yellow coloured ash and nice smell. The morning sun (9am) is casting a pretty light on the Loch, and I'm just about to start packing my boat before going up to say a final good bye to Archie, Angie, Margaret and Graham, who are some of the most generous and hospitable people I've ever met - thank you for all your help!

Yesterday was as usual, a good day. I got the fire going for breakfast, cooked some porridge with jam and boiled some water for a flask for tea, collecting some of the leaves that Archie said could be used for medicinal tea - I later found it was Comfrey.

Then I went up to meet Alistair McEachan, who again was very kind. We had already arranged by e-mail to meet, so Alistair came with gifts of Record potatoes, lamb chops, a joint of lamb and a leg of venison! That'll be on the grill tonight with a few herbs! We had a cup of tea with Alistair before he left.

Then it was off fishing with Archie along a few headlands and reefs out of Loch Ayenort. My fishing attempts so far had failed, so I was eager for success! And to cut a long story very short, it was successful and by the end of a few hours we had over ten lithe and sathe. Also on the trip out we collected some pigeon Cach from a cave, saved a lamb from certain death on a cliff, collected some sea gull eggs which I just hard boiled for breakfast and lunch, and collected some mussels which are tonight's dinner together with fish and venison, or maybe I'll save the venison and mussels for tomorrow!

We had a nice tea with chicken soup, mussels, Barra (Jimmy Ferguson's) pork with Alistair's potatoes, and some jelly for pudding.

I've learned quite a bit over this few days, not least that mussels like a bit of fresh water. So with my faith in humanity refreshed and my water bottles full, I head off to face the next challenge...

Day 7: Blue Lagoon to Loch Ayenort (16Nm, 6hrs)

2008-05-15T20:45:00.001Z

Another good day - the longest yet. It has been a day that I could not have predicted. I am now of all places, in luxury accommodation – an Otter Hide - it has four walls, a door, a roof, and even a window! The events of today that led up to this were...

I was up at 7.30am for an early start to the long day ahead. I wanted to see how long it took me to get ready, for future reference. It came in a cool total of 2hrs 15mins, including collecting heather, starting a fire and cooking breakfast.

So yesterday I set off on what was to be the longest distance I've paddled yet. It was the second bit of virgin water that I had paddled on the trip, the first being round Berneray/Mingulay, only this time I wouldn't be home for three weeks. It was quite refreshing to be paddling a coastline that I hadn't paddled before, with new things to look at, though I knew that time was tight and that I had to get on. After a nice lunch spot just south of Loch Boisdale, and avoiding the CalMac ferry, I eventually made it to Loch Ayenort around 4.30pm.

When I got ashore I thought I would take advantage of the houses and ask for some water before trying to find a campsite. I got chatting to a guy called Archie, who offered me water, eggs, mussels from the shore below his house, and use of his phone, which I used to check-in with the Coastguard and arrange food pick ups. After some bartering, we arranged for me to do some peat cutting in return for dinner which I thought was a pretty good deal. Archie is going fishing tomorrow in his sailing boat and after yesterday's failed attempts, I'm keen to go along and see how it's done!

Today's food was: breakfast - hard boiled egg, Stornoway black pudding; lunch - bread, jam; dinner - home made soup, scallops fried in butter, oatmeal and cream, and mushroom risotto; and a cup of tea! Wow, creature comforts are great when you haven't had them for a while!

Since the expedition started, I've been noticing an increase in my general levels - maybe because my bodies getting used to the exercise! Also the skin on my hands has turned to leather!

Reflection on today: I was touched by Archie's friendliness, and what I'd like to think is a kind of Hebridean generosity and hospitality. He also offered to let me sleep in the Otter Hide that he built on the shore, which was a warm welcome change from under a tarp.

Day 6: Blue Lagoon (1-2Nm, 4 to 5hrs)

2008-05-15T20:22:00.001Z

I spent today trying to either catch or find food. Both failed, not for lack of trying.

It’s a nice night again, the mist has come in in the last few hours. That’ll be the forecast warm front I guess. It’s high water just now so the coast looks clean without the 2 to 3m of sea weed.

Firstly I was fishing on the north coast of Gighay with a rod and some mackerel feathers. I have to admit I’ve never caught a mackerel, or anything else now that I think about it, from the sea with a rod, and I had little faith that I was going to this time. I tried deep water, shallow water, flicking it up and down, towing it, but nothing. I came round a point and saw a cormorant looking alert and I thought he/she much be fishing, so I paddled over, scared it off, and had a shot – still nothing. Eventually I got a snag and lost my tackle, so that ended that fishing for the day.

Then I thought I’d try to find some other protein. I was hopeful for mussels. I searched high and low, under a food few stones, sweeping sea weed aside. By the end of my search I had found a grand total of six mussels, and left them where they were to help their sparse population. Does anyone know where mussels like to live?

So no protein for tonight’s dinner again then – unless there’s protein in the stringy sea weed that I cooked? The rest of the day’s time was taken up with collecting and boiling water, cooking dinner, moving the bivvy/tarp to get better shelter from the light shower, and of course the video diary, and planning tomorrow’s journey – approximately 15Nm.

Reflecting on the day, I’ve improved my cooking technique by using stones to support the grill instead of wood which means I’m not wasting wood.

Today’s food: breakfast – last night’s dinner; lunch – bread, jam; dinner – potatoes, shrubs, stringy sea weed, yoghurt cake.

Day 5: Castlebay to Gighay (Blue Lagoon) (6Nm, 3hrs)

2008-05-15T19:49:00.004Z

Today’s been another good day on the whole with its ups and downs. Trying to leave home this morning took ages because I had loads to do, including putting a Sustainable Expeditions sticker on the side of the boat. It seemed to take forever to get ready and I longed to get on the water in my kayak, where life is simpler.

So eventually I got on the water at 1.30pm after getting up at 6.30am to get ready! I was a wee bit stiff, but after my muscles had warmed up a wee bit it was fine – I could enjoy the paddling as usual. The weather has been fantastic – I think that’s the reason that my experiences have been so positive so far. It the weather was crap I’d probably be in a bad mood and thinking about quitting the trip by now. Anyway, it’s not, so I’ll carry on. I paddled along thee coast on a NE bearing which took me straight to the blue lagoon, after 3 hours of paddling. I feel happy going out to sea now – before I was a bit nervous about leaving the coastline.

Weather forecasts just came on the VHF from Stornoway Coastguard – that makes it 10.10pm – NE F3-4. No good for paddling up the Western Isles, but tomorrow is a hunter gatherer day so it’s ok.

I tried a bit of fishing with mackerel feathers on the way into the lagoon – no joy. I then had a look for mussels – also no joy. I chose my campsite for wood. I chose my campsite for the highest probability of driftwood. No protein in dinner, but it was probably the best dinner yet – potatoes with spinach, flavoured with chives and luvvage. Also, used half and half sea water/fresh water, which seemed to work fine – tatties were tasty. Then rhubarb sweetened with honey, all cooked on an open fire.

All building my level of challenge slowly, loving it so far!

Day 3: Mingulay to Castlebay (4hrs, 12Nm)

2008-05-07T13:56:00.004Z

Finishing the 1^st leg of my journey, it’s hard to say what has been the best bit so far! It’s all be been fantastic, the paddling, the camping on Mingulay, the wildlife. The circumnavigation was kind of like a warm up for me to get into swing of the expedition thing. It was a chance to paddle in a place I have wanted to paddle since I started paddling! Now my days not trying to get from A to B up the Western Isles will be spent trying to find and catch food.

The highlight of today was in the morning. The seal pups that were on the part of the beach I had camped, had over the 3 days got used to my presence. I didn’t bother them and they didn’t bother me - don’t know if we would have managed this with a group. When I got up in the morning there was one seal pup who didn’t mind me intruding on his beach at all…

I cooked my breakfast of duck egg and nettle omelette and Stornoway black pudding, boiled water for the flask (both on the MSR stove as I now had no wood to even try lighting a fire with), had a wee chat with the boat skipper who takes visitors to Mingulay, then headed off NE back to Castlebay.

Today’s food: breakfast - duck egg and nettle omelette; lunch - 2 x mars bars; dinner - local potatoes, Swiss chard, haggis, neaps, tatties.

Day 2: Round Berneray and Mingulay (4hrs, 12.5Nm)

2008-05-07T13:41:00.009Z

In one word, today was fantastic, totally making up for the difficulties of yesterday. In a few more words…I woke up this morning, the mist had come in, everything was damp, no chance of getting a fire going even with my emergency firewood imported from Barra. So again, I had to use the emergency stove! I was so hungry and couldn’t wait for porridge, so I had the rest of last night’s pork and potato stew and some of tonight’s pudding - home made carrot cake.

This has made me decide that I’m going to build the level of challenge slowly. It would be very hard for me to start the expedition, having honed all the skills that I will need, so I’m now looking on the trip as a progression of skills and an experiment as to what is actually possible.

I planned my trip round Berneray and Mingulay to work with the tide, first working out the HW/LW times, then working out tidal stream times, then planning a trip to work with the tides. I then did a specific risk assessment, identifying hazards on the planned trip, and identifying escape routes if anything happened (there weren’t many!). I was too tired to write up a journal entry at the time, but I’m writing it now, at home on the computer. Instead, this time, I’ll put a few photos in.

Morning sun shining through mist.

South coast of Berneray.

Cliffs and natural arch, W coast of Mingulay.

Grey seal pups.

There is something beautiful about the innocence of a place like this, not regularly visited or inhabited by humans, it felt like a new level of exposure and solitude. I kind of felt sad to be disturbing the seals in the environment they usually have to themselves. A couple of motor boats visited, I guess they were wildlife spotting, but when the boats came round the point, they scared a lot of the seals away. This somehow made me feel privileged that they were letting me get so close!

So reflecting on the first day, am I going to make any changes? Yes. Kit I’m dropping off at home will be: the 5 litre water container, in favour of a 1-litre SIGG bottle and the bladder in my BA, from now on I’ll just rely on river water; wetsuit - if I have to swim and dive for razor fish/clams, I’ll do it in shorts; on land footwear - don’t have space, sandals and wellies are enough. Kit forgotten in a rush/to add: trowel and toilet paper (the latter for emergency fire lighting).

Today’s food: breakfast - last night’s pork/potato stew; lunch - bread/jam/dried pork; dinner - dried pork and potato stew; pudding - carrot cake.

Day 1: Vatersay to Mingulay (3.5 hours, 8Nm)

2008-05-07T13:25:00.004Z

It’s been an eventful first day. Paddling first against then with spring tides had me on edge slightly, or was that just the solo paddling? I ended up setting off on the water at 3pm, and after some stunning paddling, some wind against tide, and just some wind (coming down off Mingulay), I eventually arrived at 6.30pm.

When I was paddling round the east coast of Mingulay the wind was probably F4 coming off the island, which made the last leg hard and if there’s one thing I don’t like, it’s paddling into the wind.

Then I was given my next challenge…as I paddled down the coast of Mingulay I noticed that it was no small swell that was rolling onto the rocks, and I also saw wee explosions from waves on the beach! Oh no, ‘how big is this surf?’ I said to myself. I had 20mins of paddling wondering if the surf would be too big. After all my training in surf and buying a helmet, I was still scared and ready to paddle back to Pabbay if it was too big. Luckily it wasn’t too big but it was still dumping a wee bit. I chose the end of the beach least surf, chose the bit with the least sideways motion of water on the beach, took my deck off so I could get out quick, then went for it…all went to plan, apart from my cockpit and my left welly getting a soaking!

I worked out what I needed to do: find a place to sleep and make my ‘bed’; find firewood and heather; light a fire and start cooking dinner. However it didn’t go exactly to plan…

I made my bed - a small dugout with a sand pillow, and laid my bivvy bag and sleeping bag down - then went to look for firewood. To my dismay, I found not one, not two, but just three small bits of wood, disaster! I had some mint tea from the flask, went to go and find heather with my long life bag for taking it back, found some but the sprouts were new and full of water rather than the dead stuff which is around at the end of the summer. I couldn’t get the Kelly kettle going and because it was so late, didn’t have time to make tinder/kindling, so I had to use the emergency stove…disappointed! I guess this proves one point that living off driftwood on Mingulay is in no way sustainable! However, the nice surprise was the colony of Atlantic Grey seals on the north end of the beach, I’ve never seen so many, must have been 150 to 200ish.

It’s now 11pm. I’m in my bivvy bag on the south end of the beach on Mingulay. What a stunning place or at least it was when I could see it - it’s dark now. This has been an amazing first day, Mingulay is a beautiful place.

Today’s food: breakfast - nettle omelette with local eggs; lunch - homemade bread/jam and dried local pork; dinner - local potato and pork stew. Lots of mint tea.

Day 1 - Two hours and counting...

2008-05-04T10:50:00.006Z

Well I'm nearly away...finally...so much planning, but probably not enough, has gone into this expedition! I'm aiming to be away at around 1.30pm from Vatersay east beach, off to Mingulay. Just doing final packing of my boat now to check it all fits...still got a few other things to do so better go.

I've got the next few days food packed using all locally (Scotland) supplied food: dried pork; bramble jam; home made bread; porridge oats; broth mix; Glen Fiddich whisky; Hebridean Ale; duck eggs. So I'll see what else I can find...

Next time I write will be Wednesday (Day 3), after returning from Mingulay....

2008-05-02T21:16:00.008Z

Lots to do

The pressure has been on for the past few weeks to prepare for the expedition. I’m a bit behind where I’d like to be. A few days ago I managed to:

Fit a fibreglass keel line to my boat and also an extra layer of epoxy for abrasion resistance, thanks for the helpful advice from the UKRGB Sea forum
Wire up the solar panel/voltage regulator/battery/inverter
Fit it all in my boat, with help from RNLI beach balls which hold the equipment inside in place!

KEEL LINE BEFORE

KEEL LINE AFTER

Describe the keel line stuff.

SOLAR PANEL SET UP OUTSIDE

SOLAR PANEL SET UP ON BOAT

Today I packed my boat, and it all fits in, not including food that is, which will be some potatoes, and some locally grown meat and vegetables.

Also did a few press interviews. It’s amazing the phenomena of news spreading! It’s probably down to the John Muir Trust who sent out their press release to lots of places. I don’t think the media would have been as interested without he JMT, not to say it isn’t worthy. It was brilliant having all the positive media support, compared to initial scepticism about the idea on forums.

I’ll write again with an update on the days activities, which will include:

Reinforcing the solar panel fixing;
Confirming dates for contacting media;
Packing food in boat;
Updating website.