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Loch Tummel

February 2016

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Heading out for a Winter SUP on Loch Tummel

Heading out for a Winter SUP on Loch Tummel

This morning I woke thinking should I paddle Loch Tay or Loch Tummel?
The weather forecast for Tay wasn’t great.  Yesterday the forecast said that there would be heavy snow, an air temperature of -1, poor visibility, and a wind speed of 29mph.  This morning the wind had increased to 49mph.

Loch Tummel was a much more tempting paddle, with an air temperature of 2 degrees, heavy rain, fair visibility, and winds of just 15mph, (with gusts of over 20mph).

So off to Tummel I went.

I launched a couple of km from the west end, planning to paddle up to the end, before turning around and heading east.  After 5 minutes of paddling, and a gain of less than 200m, I decided to turn around and do a down-winder back to the east end.
The weather was foul, with the rain occasionally turning to sleet, and the gusts almost blowing me off my board.  Thankfully Palm had just supplied me with some new kit for my winter paddling, and it was awesome!  The Palm Blaze neoprene trousers, along with my Christmas present from Rhona, (6mm Attan boots), kept my lower half very warm, even after having to wade in and out of the water to launch, stop, etc.

Take me home Commander Stumpy!

Take me home Commander Stumpy!

As for my top half, I had Palm’s awesome Arcadia cag.  With the hood up, I kept nice and dry, and warm.  What a great piece of kit.  If you’re looking for a good cag for Winter SUPing, I’d highly recommend it!
A great day on the water, trying to work on my minimal down-wind skills.  Still a very long way to go! 

SPONSORS

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