......take care when canoeing! Yesterday we learned that the bodies of three missing kayakers had been found in a river in Northumberland.
We set off from home a few weeks back on what was quite a windy day. After much faffing and fiddling, we hauled the canoe onto the car and set off for loch Veyatie a little north of Ullapool, and, according to locals, a good starting point for climbing Suilven. As soon as we entered the loch it was choppy, quite windy and the canoe travelled at some speed! We pulled off onto the opposite shore for lunch and at that point the sensible thing would have been to turn back. But Suilven looked so close and we wanted to see if we could get to the start of the climb.
How silly we were!
We started off again only to conclude almost at once, that we needed to abandon ship! I lost a paddle (later retrieved) and in our efforts to turn the canoe into the wind and struggle against the strong current to reach the shore we nearly capsized.
We reached the bank and dragged the canoe out of the water. We had come some distance and although out of the water and quite safe we had a long trek back to the car. No tracks to follow other than those made by deer, often unreliable and seemingly leading nowhere! There were an awful lot of ups and downs and boggy bits and it was almost dark by the time we reached the car. The canoe is still (we hope) where we left it and on a suitable day (absolutely not a breath of wind) we must go back and retrieve it!
We set off from home a few weeks back on what was quite a windy day. After much faffing and fiddling, we hauled the canoe onto the car and set off for loch Veyatie a little north of Ullapool, and, according to locals, a good starting point for climbing Suilven. As soon as we entered the loch it was choppy, quite windy and the canoe travelled at some speed! We pulled off onto the opposite shore for lunch and at that point the sensible thing would have been to turn back. But Suilven looked so close and we wanted to see if we could get to the start of the climb.
How silly we were!
We started off again only to conclude almost at once, that we needed to abandon ship! I lost a paddle (later retrieved) and in our efforts to turn the canoe into the wind and struggle against the strong current to reach the shore we nearly capsized.
We reached the bank and dragged the canoe out of the water. We had come some distance and although out of the water and quite safe we had a long trek back to the car. No tracks to follow other than those made by deer, often unreliable and seemingly leading nowhere! There were an awful lot of ups and downs and boggy bits and it was almost dark by the time we reached the car. The canoe is still (we hope) where we left it and on a suitable day (absolutely not a breath of wind) we must go back and retrieve it!
7 comments:
We live near the river where the men drowned. A real tragedy for the family. Hubby and elder son climbed Suilven last year - I was happy to stay at ground level!
It was an horrific accident. That poor family. I felt a cold chill looking at the picture on television of one of the kayaks washed up on the bank. We are generally quite careful when we are out in the canoe but the strong wind and current was too much for us.
Good to hear you got back safe and sound. I've never been keen on canoes but used to love my kayak.
An awful accident. You were wise to make for land when you did.
Such beautiful scenery. My OH was walking up in Assynt last year so your photographs will make him homesick for the mountains.
Glad you're safe, your photos were stunning.
Scary story. Stay careful - now we'll start worrying every time you leave your blog for too long!
I'm glad you had a way out of that predicament. A long walk in near darkness without a proper path would have freaked me out though.
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