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<\/a>Waiting<\/h4>\n
For this attempt we travelled to Skye, but then found ourselves sitting out and watching the wind-blown sound for 2 weeks. Life as a sea paddler of course. So we amused ourselves with blustery training sessions in the bay, bike rides with ferries and of course a downwind run of Loch Ness – setting a new UK record for the end-to-end run of the loch: 02:58:14.<\/p>\n
Just as we were about to accept the disappointment and head home, a window appeared in the weather and the Skye attempt was belatedly and suddenly on<\/em>.<\/p>\n Meanish, in the North West corner, was the chosen start point for a number of reasons, none of them ideal, more the best of a bad job as such – under sufferance of the dictats of weather and tide. I left Meanish heading anti-clockwise.<\/p>\n There were stretches of chop, wallowy swell, flat calm, pleasant sunshine, gloomy drizzle and the inevitable headwind. But this time I made it around, to finish happily back at a breezy Meanish Pier – in 54 hrs and 22 mins. Unknowingly my path also crossed that of Ed Loffill who was also paddling around and heading in the opposite direction. By co-incidence our tracks overlapped about 5 mins apart on the far side of Scalpay, though somehow we managed not to see each other.<\/p>\n Anyway, job done:<\/p>\n 54 hrs 22 mins 10 secs ~215 km<\/p>\n It was a long one.<\/p>\n As is the way with these things you can not guarantee the weather. So, with the extensive preparations and the cost\/time invested just to get there, I was going to come home with something. So there were 3 plans to allow for varying ‘levels’ of weather:<\/p>\n Plan A: Skye Circumnav <\/p>\n <\/p>\n There was quite a bit of prep for this one. After looking through my notes of 2017 attempt I decided I needed to work on my pacing – less of a record pace, more a sustainable one. But with an aim to improve one, without detriment to the other.<\/p>\n So there was quite a lot of work inside the covid-restricted last year:<\/p>\n 3 laps of Anglesey and a Conwy Ascent race just to keep me honest.<\/p>\n Now it’s time for a bit of an easy spell.<\/p>\n PSK website – Skye page<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\nGo!<\/h4>\n
\nAlong the way the wildlife broke up the miles with Gannets, Skuas, Otters, Black Guillemots, Terns, Puffins and even a shy Sea Eagle hiding in in the mouth of a cave.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/a><\/p>\nSomething In the Bag<\/h4>\n
\nPlan B: Raasay + Rona circumnav (Poor weather option)
\nPlan C: Loch Ness Downwind (Very poor weather option)
\nI managed to complete A + C, which was more than hoped for.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\nPrep:<\/h4>\n
\n2 x 100 k days on the Kayakpro Ergo
\n1 x 140 k day in the boat (included in the 3rd Ang lap)
\n2 x Walney Island records inside 1 week (used to look at stressed paddling\/short term recovery)
\nA 6 hr\/100 laps effort of Gorad Goch island ( at 3 min per lap – for consistency,\u00a0 focus and tedium!)<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n