Arran

September 2015

After doing a 1 mile sea swim training session with some local friends, and then paddling about 3 miles around Brodick bay, I decided I was going to paddle down to Lamlash.  A sea paddle of around 9km.
However, when I got down to the corner to turn into Lamlash, the wind was blowing an absolute hoolie.  As the wind was blowing out from Lamlash, I decided that if I pushed on and went around the back of Holy Isle, I should be able to come up the other side with a tailwind, and come in fast.  How wrong was I.
After passing the tiny Hamilton Isle, and scaring birds and seals off the rocks, the sea started to pick up.  Another 2km on, and the waves were getting chunky.  By the time I made it around to the 1st lighthouse, I was paddling straight into the wind and waves.  The wind was gusty, so when it would drop for a minute or two, I would knock my block off and get some distance done.  Then when the wind came back, I would do my best to stay upright and hopefully not go too far backwards.
Then when I got to the 2nd lighthouse, the water came together from several directions and created a great wee run in.  This lasted a full 100 yards, before I hit a head wind.  (So much for a tail wind.)  This last little section has taken me 20 minutes to do in the past, but with this head wind, it took me just under an hour.
This wee 9km paddle turned into a challenging 17km paddle, and instead of my planned 1 to 1.5 hour paddle, it took me just shy of 3 hours to complete. 
On top of the training swim and the wee paddle around Brodick, it certainly turned out to be a good wee work out, and ideal training for our upcoming big paddle next month!