Loch Lomond

April 2016

[featured-video-plus]

The forecast was perfect for a north-south downwinder, with the wind hitting 14-19mph from 10am.
As well as Allistair S, SUP Ecosse Ian, and myself, Cathy K had come along to join us for the first couple of hours.
We hit the water, at Ardlui, a little after 10am, and the wind was waiting for us.
8 miles, and a little under 2 hours later, we were level with Tarbet, where Cathy left us.
From here on, the wind seemed to be coming from our 5 o’clock, meaning a lot of left paddling and very little right.  This continued past Inverbeg and on to Luss. 
At Luss we decided to stay on the right of the islands, hoping to keep some of the wind behind us.  This worked really well, and it was only from the last wee island, (well before Inchmurrin), to the end of the loch at Balloch where the wind seemed to vanish. 
Instead of wind, we experienced very messy waves from every direction, sometimes all at once, as well as wakes from jet skis and speed boats.  It was pretty hard to stay on our boards, but we did our best.
The full paddle had taken us 5 hours and 25 minutes, (including a couple of breaks to fill up and empty out), which, if you askt me, isn’t a bad time for around 22 miles, in these conditions.
I still haven’t worked out how to downwind, but I’m sure one day the penny will drop!
I’m really looking forward to the next paddle with these guys!