Very self-indulgently, for this post I’ve borrowed a couple of photos of myself paddling locally, taken recently by friends. I probably should have asked them first, cheeky of me. The picture above is by Eurion Brown and shows a tunnel in Worbarrow Bay, whilst the photo below is by Maria Dolton and was taken below the cliffs approaching Lulworth Cove.
The school year is nearly over! I just have to take 70 Sixth Formers to Plymouth Uni this week, and assuming I survive that experience, I’m flying up to Edinburgh next Sunday. From there, it’s a short (eight hour) train journey up to Thurso. My kayak is already up there, having been shipped to local paddler Cailean.
I then have just over two weeks to head back south towards the English border; ideally I will complete the east coast of Scotland (about 300 miles), but this is of course in the hands of both the weather and the state of my battered and increasingly unreliable body.* Incidentally, for the benefit of foreign types; the heading of this blog post refers to the Shipping Forecast areas that I will hopefully pass through en route.
If I can still bear sea kayaking by then, I’ll be meeting up with my wife and heading north again; this time to paddle together for 3-4 weeks among the Orkney and Shetland Islands. All good.
Whenever I can, I will be posting updates as to my progress here.
See you in September …
*A spectacular mountain bike wipeout the other day didn’t do it any favours.
Have a great trip Mark, if you think things are bad at your age, just wait till you get to mine! Mind you, you do get used to the crutches!
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Hi Mark,
When or if you are in Cromarty, please look me up. Drop me a line if you can. It will be great to paddle with you if you want to.
Best wishes for your trip,
Nick
Where are you based, Nick?
Keep those 6th formers away from Union street after dark!