Culbin, Affric and Skye

Now in cycling mode, Culbin forest, near Findhorn is a nice place to explore.

We then headed back west to Glen Affric, and then Skye, picking up various bits of our lost property on the way before returning home

Shipwrecked!

Going down the Spey rapids (grade 2 in places) was 'exciting' in a double sea kayak! Turning tight corners isn't our strength, and as its a folding feathercraft, we were nervous about damaging the skin or the frame.

Luckily the roughest bit was a straight run.

The main problem was lack of water .... we were continually having to get out and pull the kayak over gravel banks that were too shallow to paddle over.

Then as we were approaching Charlestown of Aberlour, we realised we had a leak....Maybe there had been a sharp rock or some glass in one of the gravel banks that had cut the skin.  We could have done an emergency repair and continued for the last day down to the sea, but decided to wait and do it properly at home

I got us installed in a B&B while Tom hitched back to Aviemore to retreive the car and the bikes....

River Spey

The long forecast storm arrived, so we decided to head over to the East and paddle down the River Spey. This had been in our sights for a while, but a double sea kayak is an unusual thing to use!

We started at Kingussie, where there's a nice launch spot under the B970 bridge. We camped out a few miles downstream, then, with heavy rain on the way spent a couple of nights in the nice Old Bridge Inn bunkhouse at Aviemore. Easy kayak launching immediately outside.

Downstream of Aviemore, the Salmon fishing intrastructure gets ever more prominent, and it became quite hard to find somewhere to  wildcamp.  We were prospecting a rather scraggy spot when a kind fisherman showed us an idillic secret spot on one of the islands in the middle of the river.

Not saying where it is..... You'll just have to find it for yourselves!

Rum

With an uncertain weather forecast we took it easy, first taking the short paddle over to Dibidil. The next day we headed north past the spectacular cliffs of SW Rum to  the remote and beautiful beach of Samhnan Insir on the North tip of Rum.

We are enjoying our new tent: a bowfin2 made by Henry Shires of Tarptent.  Its lighter and packs smaller than our Hilliberg, but is surprisingly roomy and (we think) reasonably stormproof.

Eigg

Camped on the lovely Camas Sgiotaig beach on the West of Eigg.

I found the surf a bit alarming (so we carried the kayak round to a more sheltered corner)

For the first time we found ourselves sharing the beach with some other kayakers, who tackled the surf in spectacular fashion!

Arisaig

Set off through a herd of bathing cows from the kayak friendly campsite at Gortenachullish just north of Arisaig (NM640 879)