Woke up this morning to the sound of heavy rain, making it so much harder to get out of the tent. I waited for a calm period then decided to get up, thinking the weather might have cleared. Popping my head out, I saw two clouds, one of midges, and one blanket cloud across the sky. The only thing that cleared were my hopes of the weather getting better. Ah, but the shed…I went to have a look, and the door was open! Great – a roof over our heads to cook breakfast.
Carole from Skye Fudge gave us some bacon (and eggs) so we had a nice big omelette with bacon and parsley (and some red onion Sam had bought).
The breakfast warmed us up nicely, so we got moving soon after, and managed to get on the water at
We only had a short day ahead of us, so there was no huge rush, although we needed to meet the food link van in Stein at 6pm. The wind was behind us because it was being buffeted down the coast, making the first leg easy. Also, the Skye Fudge was great for a quick sugar rush to get us through low times.
We approached the headland (Dunvegan Head) and thankfully the wind was still blowing in the direction we needed. We were making pretty good time and decided to just carry on without a break. Taking a compass bearing for Ard Mor where we were planning on camping for the night, we headed for the small peninsula, which disappeared and reappeared from the behind the cloud pretty regularly. Looking back, we saw the highest point on Dunvegan Head, which we couldn't see when we left.
Compasses are great – it’d already helped us through the August weather once without getting lost and I’m sure it’d help again.
More or less with the swell, we enjoyed surfing most of the way there, and averaged a satisfying 7.5kph. We rounded the south point of Ard Mor and came into the shelter of the bay. I have to admit, we’d heard a rumour of possibly unfriendly landowners, so we were a bit anxious. However, Sam being English and me being Scottish, I was more confident that we could talk our way out of any problems. The house looked a bit deserted and we weren’t sure if anyone would be around, but then say washing blowing outside.
So we decided to land and set up camp. As we took the stuff up we saw someone walking over. I said I’d do the talking, but wasn’t sure what to expect. The woman came closer and I went over to say hello. She asked if we were planning on camping. First impressions count so I was polite and courteous: ‘yes, if that’s ok?’ ‘Yea, that’s fine’ was the reply or words to that effect – she had just come to warn us about the inquisitive cows and advised us to camp in the area enclosed by stone walls – great! Far from anything we had expected, Jeanette was a friendly lady who was very welcoming.
Time was getting on and I needed to get to Stein, so I got my walking boots on, left Sam to himself and to make dinner, and set off south along the road. Taking the opportunity to make a few calls, I spoke to a few people including family, friends, Richard who drives the Local Food Link Van, and the West Highland Free Press, who I was hopefully going to get some press coverage from. Richard told me he wouldn’t be at the Stein Inn till 7.30, so I could relax my pace and possibly even have time for a pint. As I walked a car stopped, it was Jeanette and her husband and friends on their way to see Ali Bain and Phil Cunningham in Portree, and they gave me a lift to just near the Stein Inn. Fantastic, maybe time for two pints!
So I arrived in the busy pub (where I was meeting the Local Food Link van) and ordered a coffee. In addition, Sam had given me a shopping list of butter and oats – not your average order, but the bar maid sold me some, so we could have breakfast and butter our oatcakes for the rest of the journey.
Got chatting to the people at the bar…Gordon and ‘Eilean’, or it could be Ailean. Gordon offered me a pint: ‘anyone that’s paddled that far round Skye deserves a pint’. I couldn’t agree more, but it hadn’t been too hard so far. Still, I couldn’t say no. The pub was a busy social hive and I enjoyed being surrounded by people and talking and enjoyed the conversation with Gordon and Eilean, who run the dive centre. Shortly after the second pint which Richard arrived with our food delivery…potatoes from Skye Fresh Produce Company, not as much as I was expecting, but no less than we needed to survive, so I was content. I got one last cup of coffee, and then got a lift with Richard who was heading in my direction.
We said our goodbyes, and also Richard informed me he had hens and would be happy to put some eggs on the van on Friday. So I made my way back along to the tent, looking forward to whatever dinner Sam had cooked up. One potatoey, carroty, oniony soup later, I was full and satisfied and keen for bed. Not being a long day, we looked at maps and chatted for a few hours. I hadn’t really checked the distance of the trip I had planned for the next day, but I wanted to get to Staffin – after checking maps we found it would be 44km if our supporting water wasn’t moving (but we would be against the tide at times, so who knows how far we would actually paddle).
I passed out, nervous about the scale of the open crossing we had planned for tomorrow. Although we weren’t too far off the coast, there’s something comforting about going close to the coast, like a handrail. I was sure it would be fine, but was just keen to get the next leg underway.
Food diary:
- Breakfast: onion and bacon omelette (Skye Fresh Produce Company eggs);
- Snacks: Skye Fudge Tablet (including Talisker flavour)
- Dinner: Sam’s potato (Skye Fresh Produce Company) and Barra carrot stew, with onion;
- Pudding: malt loaf with butter.
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