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What do you do when you have climbed all the hills that you want, or you have worn away legs joints with the constant pounding of years of hill walking making it a bit too painful to enjoy. Or if you just want to get away from the crowded paths of the more popular hills ?
Like me, you could try what many people who enjoy the outdoors and want their exercise do are now doing. Discovering the beauties of our coastline in small self propelled boats like kayaks or canoes. Use arm and torso muscles instead of leg muscles except when you want to explore on land. I often use an inflatable boat which fits in the boot of my car and although I always take an outboard engine with it, its often just for safety. I enjoy rowing in silence, watching the coastal world and its marine life pass slowly by.
Disclaimer .. Do be very careful if you decide it could be for you too. There is a long learning curve. The sea can be a
very dangerous element and shows no mercy. Tides , winds, waves and cold all take their toll of unwary boaters. However, for the experienced it is very rewarding journey and in the right conditions, crossing open water can get adrenalin flowing as much as a vertical rock climb.
At the other end of the scale, it can be a very relaxing and straightforward journey, like this relatively short trip I did the first week of September to Camas an Lighe from Ardtoe
The beauty of doing outdoor activities in September is that most midges are finding it a little bit cold to trouble you so much. Not that there are any sea midges, but the ones at Ardtoe look particularly ferocious beasties.
My trip began at the little sandy beach at the end of the single track road to Ardtoe. There is a good car park in a local crofter’s yard and an honesty box which asks for 50 pence. Well worth the facility. There is a small ramp access to the shore if you have a boat on a trailer. I had my inflatable boat out the car boot and ready to go in around fifteen minutes
Heading out of the bay, I watched an otter diving for crabs but he was too quick for me to get a snapshot, so I took a photograph of the island of Eigg instead. The cuillin of Rhum are in the cloud behind Eigg.
To reach the singing sands of Camas an Lighe means a short open crossing of the mouth of Kentra bay. It was no problem on such a lovely day but often it can pose quite difficult, especially if the tide is coming out the bay and meeting an onshore wind. The sea can become very confused and white under these conditions, even if the wind is not very strong. A local fisherman was pottering about with his crab creels near the mouth of the bay..it was calm that day.
Once across the bay you start to see the sand dunes of the lovely deserted beaches to the south. The water looked calm and it was, but there was also a little sea swell causing some waves on the shore.
I tried to judge my landing between the swell breaking on the shore, but mis-timed stepping out and a wave caught me off balance. I hopped, skipped then fell flat in the water. I was soaked through.
I grabbed the boat and hauled it up the beach before the next wave could fill it full of water. I was happy to see my camera still safe in its waterproof box. Yup..I learned the hard way a couple of years ago to always put the camera safely away before landing or launching boats. The sea shows no mercy to anything.
I’m glad to say there was not a single soul in site of the singing sands. I stripped off to dry out, leaving only my shirt on to hide my modesty. It was a good drying day and as I ate my dinner sitting on the warm rocks, my clothes started to dry off nicely.
This is a photograph of the full length of the first singing sand beach at Cul na Croise. Most folks who walk to Camas an Lighe don’t know this one exists as it is almost a mile from the path and that beach. Just as well for this nekkid man.
I walked the full length of the beach in my shirt tails while that last of my clothes dried. There was not a single foot print in the sand, except for mine.
I then returned to the boat and dressed before launching the boat between waves and rowing down to the next small sandy cove in the shelter of Sgeir nam Meann. I had no further drookings while landing as there was hardly any swell in this little natural harbour. The tide was going out so I didn’t have to worry about the boat being washed out to sea as I went for another walk fully clothed again.
I walked past the point of Sgeir an Rathaid and started to squeak my way over the singing sands of Camas an Lighe. The sand really does sing if you shuffle the ball of your foot over it as you walk.
It is another beautiful remote beach. There were lots of footprints on this one so it must be a popular walk but I saw no one. Perhaps they were too scared to appear if they had seen me walking semi nekkid on the first beach. The blooming heather even grew in the sand here.
I walked the length of this beach too, until I reached the ford over the Allt nam Frogag. I saw a couple of nice sea trout lying in a pool, waiting for a spate before ascending the burn to spawn. They then saw me and went off to sea again.
All too soon, it was time to head back to the boat again and then row back to Ardtoe. I had a delightful day rowing only around three or four miles and walking one or two. It was certainly a day to bring back memories on a damp Saturday when I cant get out because of the rain.
Thanks for reading my post