Assynt

Our Orkney flight was cancelled due to weather, low cloud, so we all decided to go hill walking in Assynt and I would build my kayak up and paddle to the Summer Isles.

B&B in Ullapool and welcoming pints to celebrate not being killed by the deer running across the dusk painted roads, we parted the next day – Kim and Co off to clamber up Ben Dearg and me to Achiltibuie.

Achiltibuie has a nice grassy green near the pier and near the beach and opposite the summer isles. I parked there, got the backpack out and started to lay out the component parts. Building the K1 is rather like assembling a tent except there is also a lot of leverage involved. The aluminium struts shake free and assemble together – plastic sheets are used to hold everything in place and the skin fits over. So far so good.

The other parts of the skeleton are then added in and leveraged into place using a couple of the other component parts acting as a lever. That is when the sweat starts to flow – even in Assynt. People pass and wave and stop to ask what you are doing too but don;t offer to help, possibly seeing the sweat puts them off. Bird watchers were also keeping a close eye on the mad fellow with the red thing slowly assembling.

It is quite satisfying once the whole thing is assembled and starts to look like a kayak, the rudder, cockpit edges, seasock and easy access lids all get done and I now have something to take on a maiden voyage. My 4 piece paddle assembled I climbed into my dry suit forgetting that my son normally zips me up. I manage to gesticulate to a bird watcher and he comes along to help, but is worried that it doesn’t seem to be zipping up right and looks like it will burst, so I de-drysuit and am standing there in a pair of knickers fiddling with the zip. We have it working and he helps zip me up, saying he will dine out on this tonight.

I lift the kayak to the beach and stand deep in the water with the boat checking for leaks. It seems stable, and the tide is going in the right direction bringing me back into shore if anything goes wrong so I brave it. Bringing it back into the shallows I clamber in and push off.

It has a nice feel as you can feel the waves under you – it is quite high in the water as it is designed for long expeditions and weighed down with more than just Mike. This made paddling more difficult and the rudder wasn’t working quite well due to my assembly of the pedals. I did however make it across to the first island and back (I had intended on the classic circumnavigation of the summer islands through the arch) – since I was on my own I wanted to turn back as soon as I didn’t feel comfortable – although it was slightly choppy it wasn’t anything to worry about and the K1 was performing well.

When I got back close to the beach I decided to do some capsize and self rescue practice – that was when I decided it was actually more difficult to get back into the K1 – even with my rope acting as a ladder to clamber in – especially with it being high in the water with me out of it and the rudder got in the way of clambering in the back as I found out on first attempt.

It was getting late so I clambered back to the grass, disassembled (not without a few swear words) and packed it up – that still left the de-drysuiting again and fortunately a passing women unzipped me (in full sight of her husband at all times) and I drove back via the Summer Isles Hotel for a great view and almost got caught speeding on the way back to Ullapool on that fabulous road.

We dined in Scotland’s only Motel (well only one in Ullappol anyway) which is also holding a beer festival later in the year. Yummy beer and seafood and it was back to the B&B across a football field and bridge (which I promptly tripped coming off it and fell headlong only to recover by running as fast as I could to keep upright, which amused everyone else who was wondering what on earth was happening).

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