Our campsite in Poolewe (NorthWest Scotland – latitude 57 degrees N) is next to Loch Ewe a large sea loch and we just have to walk our kayaks across the road to launch them. On the first day (Monday) I went out in the Sevylor Yukon with my youngest son William with James joining us on Tuesday in the Z-Pro Tango exploring the coastline and the small inlets around Inverewe Head and the small bays around Rubha Aird na Ba (not sure what that means in Gaelic!)
Sevylor Yukon on Loch Ewe
Looking over to Poolewe and the mountains of Wester Ross
A leisurely paddle on flat calm waters for most of the time. This area is very scenic and no less so viewed from the water with excellent views to the nearby mountains and the wooded area of the famous Inverewe Gardens running down to the water’s edge.
Wooded shoreline of Inverewe Gardens
Plenty of bird life, including Herons diving into the water to catch their lunch and rafts of ducks paddling between the rocks. We hope that we might see some sea otters or even seals that frequent this area but we were either unlucky or noisy in our paddling and scared them off.
William and I found a rocky beach to eat lunch and we were soon brewing up water for tea and sitting in the sun that broke through on landing.
Brewing tea on the shore with the Primus Express Spider
Tuesday was wonderfully sunny as with paddled off from the campsite, but on our return journey heavy rain and the wind whipped up the waves, making it hard going, but it was over as soon as it came and we rested awhile in the sunshine drying off.
William and James in the Sevylor Yukon
Unfortunately when we got back, the tide was out, which meant a slippery portage over the kelp and rocks to the road edge.
Here are some more photographs:
James in the Z-Pro Tango
My son William
Yours truly, drying off after a rain storm
Mark's walking blog 
Nice pics! The tides are so insignificant up here that if I was canoeing or backpacking there, it is very possible that I would forget to take them into account.
Thanks Maria. wasn’t a problem, just meant that we had a long portage !!
What a nice trip. Reminds me of Last of the Mohicans. Good to see the Spider in use. It’s a cracking stove. What are the midges like there?
Last of the Mohicans – do you mean the wooded shoreline? – I hope it is not my haircut you are referring to 🙂 Spider is a great stove to use.
The midges were bad today. I was out walking still – no breeze and drizzle then heavy rain. Soon as I stopped for more than a minute, clouds of them emerged. Kept them at bay with midge net and DEET !
“Rubha Aird na Ba”
literal translation is the cattle’s headland. It’s a promontary where the cattle were kept esp over winter.
Inverewe gardens is a great spot also.
good pics btw
Thanks David for the translation. Took your advice and walked to Kernsary and beyond. Interesting day to say the least !!. Look out for my next post.
Looking forward to the post on your walk. It’s a truly superb remote area, one of my favourites. Did a backpacking trip up there last year. Take at look at my mates slideshow on YouTube:
Loving the idea of these inlatable kayaks – definitely buying a couple for me and the family next year
Enjoy the rest of the holiday
Andy, thanks for sharing the slide show. Some great photos. What time of year was that ?
It was Easter weekend. A real contrast in weather, nearly warm enough for shorts on the walk in, snow on the tent on the Sunday morning, raging gale on Sunday night that nearly blew my new tent down – I’d pitched it badly – schoolboy errors!
Just the whole adventure Mark. I would never insult the haircut.
Catching up on my reading Mark. Great stuff. Nice way to enjoy being outdoors.
Makes a change from walking and spend some time with my boys. Good fun.
Hi Mark,
if you don’t mind me asking as you have both the zpro tango and Sevylor Yukon, how do they compare against each other ?
Ian
Ian thanks for dropping by. The Z-Pro Tango is more streamline and can be paddled either single or double. It is quicker to set up and inflate and the valves are easy to use that the Yukon. The Yukon is more a tourer and has a 70 litre storage compartment at the back and waterproof map case at the front. It also has a paddle guard which protects the fabric from wear when paddling. Both kayaks seem pretty robust so far and have good build quality.