Clunie Loch
November 2014
[featured-video-plus]This morning I went out for a wee paddle on Clunie Loch, once the frost had melted and the fog had lifted. My usual clobber for SUPing is a pair of neoprene shorts, a rash t-shirt and bare feet. However, with an air temperature of 7 degrees, I swapped my shorts for a pair of neoprene trousers and added a dry cag on the top half. (I was very glad of my trousers as when I was launching the SUP I was up to my man bits in water of around degrees!!) After a couple of kilometres the cag came off, but thin neoprene socks had to go on, as I could no longer feel my feet.
Due to the recent rainfall and air temperature, the loch had changed significantly from just a week ago. My usual marker of Picalilly* had vanished, adding an extra 40+ metres to my usual 870m trip across the loch. All in all, I was on the water for just over an hour and managed around 8km.
*Picalilly is so named because when swimming across the loch, you have not done a full length until you pick a lilly and touch it.