Oban Sea Kayak Race Tomorrow

My very best wishes to everyone who is taking part in the Oban Sea Kayak Race tomorrow.

The forecast is for light south-easterly winds, so you should get a little push up the Sound of Kerrera, and sun with a little cloud. Plenty to drink and sunscreen will be essential.

If you're looking for some new kit, Sea Kayak Oban is offering 10% discount to every competitor. They also have ex-demo and second-hand sea kayaks for sale.

Sadly Liz and I won't be there, as our build reaches a crucial stage we have too much to do before I head off paddling all next week to start the process of making DVD-2.

Ride Loch Ness

Living amongst spectacular scenery can make you a little blind to the beauty of other places.

I was delighted to find this superb 50 mile bike ride, out along the eastern shore of Loch Ness to Foyers, and back through farmland and grouse moors.

I went wrong near the end. I missed the left turn near Tombreck and ended up riding 8 miles on the A9, one of Scotland's busiest dual carriageways.

The campervan was in for its first service so this was a good way to spend a few hours while the men with spanners worked out how to part me from my money.

Photos from the Scottish Sea Kayak Trail

Among the nice things about writing the Scottish Sea Kayak Trail guidebook is that people share their adventures with me.

I recently received an e-mail from Gaël with a link to his Picassa site. He kayaked solo from Gigha to Skye in this craft, and Gaël says he's impatient to return and complete the voyage.

He has kindly allowed me to share those photos with you.

(This is the second version of this post - previously I made the mistake of thinking Gaël was a girl's name! How embarassing.)

The Second Coolest Campsite in Scotland

It is run by this man, Trevor Potts, and it is just beyond the village of Kilchoan on the Ardnamurchan peninsula.

He's also a kayaking legend, but more of that later.

I believe it was this book Cool Camping Scotlandwhich placed Trevor's campsite number two. (If not that one, then one of the Cool Camping series). Here's their website.

The Guardian newspaper picked up on this, swiftly followed by The Times, both of which included Trevor in their guides. He provided the photo, they brought him visitors. He had to increase the bandwidth on his website - ardnamurchanstudycentre.co.uk.

I called in on Trevor as I cycled past. He's had a great year, but not too many kayakers. Which is surprising as there are load around and he is mentioned in The Scottish Sea Kayak Trail.

Trevor recorded interviews at SeaKayakPodcasts.com. He was a member of the first western team to kayak the Bering Strait from Alaska to USSR. He also recreated Shackleton's famous escape from Elephant Island. They're worth a listen, and if you're looking for a nice campsite base for a few days paddling, you know where is cool.

Podcast - Patagonia, Falklands & Tierra del Fuego

This one is a great mix of adventurous tales from far off places and practical advice, should you ever feel like heading to those places yourself.

This Podcast is the second interview recorded with New York based kayaker Marcus Demuth.

In the first, Marcus told about how he went from novice to expedition paddler in just seven years and about his record breaking solo circumnavigation of Britain. He also revealed some of the tricks of travelling with a three-pece kayak.

Thanks for all the positive feedback on Marcus' first interview. I know you're going to live this one just as much.

Find it at SeaKayakPodcasts.com

Oh, and there will be an extra podcast, before the next scheduled update on the 16th of September. Subscribe and you won't miss a thing.

Ride To The Lighthouse

There was a hint of winter in the air as I set out early on this 75 mile ride on Sunday.

A powerful north west wind was in my face all the way out. Then it swung north east and was in my face all the way back.

The wind-blown white horses, that had been galloping up Loch Sunart, were in full retreat on my return.

The wind kept my average speed at a pitiful 10+ mph, well below normal. I have excuses; this is a hilly run; it's rough, single track road; that wind; I lost a screw in an SPD; oh, and the dog ate my homework.

My new Asseos cycle shorts, recommended by FionaOutdoors, were given their first test. At £155 (yes, I know... for shorts!) they are staggeringly expensive, but seem to work.

My nether regions did not resemble saddle shaped steak tartare after this ride, so worth every penny.

The route is good but hilly and exposed to wind from every direction.

Tea stops at Ardnamurchan Lighthouse cafe, Sonachan Hotel, several in Kilchoan, and the Glenborrodale Natural History Centre.

Try to leave time to walk up to the top of the lighthouse, as it's a superb viewpoint. This artwork greets all visitors who enter.

Fake Kayak Blog Awards and Vanity. Mine.

Last week I wrote how pleased I was to receive an award for my blog. One of the top 50 kayaking blogs 2010. Wow.

I mentioned I was puzzled by some omissions. Now I know why.

Some call it a scam. Others don't go quite so far. But it doesn't seem to be a real award.

Douglas Wilcox of SeaKayakPhoto.com (one of the glaring omissions) alerted me to this. I'm hugely grateful, if a little embarrased.

By pasting the 'award' logo onto your website, you create a link to the people giving the award, thus moving them up the rankings of several search engnes. The more 'awards', the more links back.

There are stories about such practices here and here.

Perhaps I'm not alone in knowing nothing about this? I saw more than one kayak blog asking for people to nominate their site for next year's awards. Want to be an award winner? Just grab an award badge from this website.

My contact at WideBlueYonder.Net, the internet people who specialise in outdoor blogs, put it like this, "If online schools had emailed you and asked for a link to their site on your blog would you have agreed? Probably not - wrap it up in an award - hey bingo!"

Vanity of vanities; all is vanity. Mea culpa.

Win, win win! Free Stuff! Competition! A Really Easy One Too!

It's being offered by the excellent Solent Sea Kayaking. Win a six issue digital subscription to Ocean Paddler magazine.

Weekenders

At a weekend I try to write about something other than kayaking. The Labels (or Tags) for such idle weekend posts include the word 'weekender'.

Often it's video which caught my eye. I figure you'll be out paddling, so you'll whizz through the blogs, and won't read anything in depth.

I certainly don't want to write much! But today it's personal.

That picture is our living room. For three months we've been 'camped' in that room, cooking on a backpacking stove, while builders knocked down, and rebuilt, the end of our house.

Thismorning, after leaving his base at 02:30am and driving through the dawn, a delivery man brought our new kitchen units which we lugged into the lounge. So all living space disappeared. We have retreated upstairs. In a bungalow.

That's where I'll be watching The Great Climb this afternoon - will Dave MacLeod manage a major new route, live on TV, with a busted up ankle?

We intended to spend August on Shetland. So it's a little painful to read Mark Rainsley's blog, as he is having such a good time there. Next year perhaps.

So now I invite you to waste fifty two seconds of your weekend.

Oban Sea Kayak Race - A Week Tomorrow

This race around the island of Kererra is a week on Saturday, that's 4th September. Route.

It's the first time this race has been run, and it has received a lot of positive press locally, such as this article.

Like so many events, it will be as serious as you want to make it.

Some people will arrive in racing boats and paddle flat-out. Others will pootle around, enjoying the view and not really worrying about the 'race' aspect of such things.

It will be nice simply to have so many kayakers in a town which is rapidly becoming the centre for the sport on this part of Scotland's west coast.

Oban - Sea Kayak Capital of the UK? I wonder...

I'm still not sure whether I'll be there, but Pesda Press has given some copies of my book to donate as prizes, and my business Sunart Media has contributed some DVDs, Sea Kayak With Gordon Brown. While I suspect the winners won't need either, it does mean Sunart Media is officially listed as a sponsor.

As someone who normally seeks sponsorship, that feels rather odd.