Clunie Loch, Scotland

January 2018

The usual suspects – Allistair, Alison, Rhona and I – plus Scottish loch newcomer Annabelle hit Clunie on Saturday. As well as being 2/3 under ice, the wind was blowing an absolute hoolie, (base winds of 20kmph, with gusts of over 40!) Whatever we did today was going to be fun, (and fast!)
At one point Allistair and I, 2 up on the Dragon, were knocking out a superhero 10.5kmph. However, when we stopped paddling, we were still doing 6.5kmph with the wind’s assistance. Maybe not so “superhero” after all!
5 minutes after launching our boards we were at the opposite end of the loch, paddling through a very choppy slush puppy. With the sound of the wind and waves crashing the ice onto the shore, it was a full-on sensory experience!
Back at our wee sheltered bit of the loch, we all took turns on the Tandem and Dragon, with varying degrees of success. How none of us took a swim I’ll never know!