I close my eyes, only for a moment, and the moment’s gone
All my dreams, pass before my eyes, a curiosity
– kansas

It’s that time again.  The time where I can’t let another day go by without making one decision or another about my upcoming paddling adventure. This time of course,  it’s Scotland.  Some of it is easy enough.  Buy this, buy that, read this, read that.. take notes!  What is different is that with a little experience I’m trying to travel as lightly as I possibly can.  Traveling light is harder than you may think given my past BCU training.  You come to believe that anything less than everything is irresponsible. I still remember the days when I carried practically 2 weeks worth of gear just to teach a class because that’s what a “hard core” coach did. Or at least I thought so.  Time however taught me how over zealous that was.  Oh, you do need to be prepared as best you can. Don’t misunderstand.  It’s just that it’s  also very easy to get wrapped up in the image and the gear and forget you’re spending the day 10 feet off shore; As Kelly B likes to say, “…while a little kid is playing with her toys 5 feet away.”

It’s also pretty easy to get sucked into spending a bunch of money you don’t have just to have the hippest gear on the block for your next trip.  To my mind though, if you are making good choices your gear will remain “hip” for years.  Hip to me means simply that it works as expected, it stays working for years, and of course if it breaks you can actually get something done about it.  Oh, and if it looks cool, great!  What more could you want!?  That could be a singles ad. “Looking for someone who’s got their Sh*t together, wants long term relationship, and is willing to talk through problems without a bunch of drama. BTW if you’re really “hot” that would nice too!”

So here is where the Loch Ness trip is at the moment….

As you know, Kelly Blades is planning on making this trip with me.  He’s been on the road a lot recently so my notes are a bit one sided.. We’ve crossed paths at symposiums and such, but rarely long enough to smack each other before we had to move on. Hopefully we’ll get a bit more time to “gel” in the coming weeks.

Right off I have to thank Simon Willis for everything he’s sent me.  Simon wrote the book on paddling the West Coast of Scotland… No, really he did and it’s soon to be published by Presda. The book is called appropriately enough, “Scottish Sea Kayak Trail“.  I’m only now starting to comprehend his notes. I’m slow, I realize that!  Thanks so much Simon.. all I need now is the bibliography! Seriously though, Simon’s notes are going to be invaluable.. (unless he’s making it all up!)  Oh, and that little Nessie he sent… It’s been speaking to me recently… In Gaelic.

Gear

I made a decision that I’m simply not going to buy a kayak for this trip.  I’ll beg, borrow or steal.  I still want to purchase a new boat in the near future.. but that’s going to wait.  Like most of you I need to live within my means.  Money needs to go elsewhere for the time being.  The other side of kayaks is logistics.. Getting a kayak to Glasgow and then getting it picked up again at Inverness.  The last word on that was the folks at P & H have offered a hand with hauling gear.

I do have to get a new PFD as I mentioned.  The day before I ran out to buy a Ronin (which was my second choice as you know), I received an email from Kokatat that they will try to get out some pixie dust and put some mojo on a MS Fit Tour..that’s still in the air a bit but I’m pretty confident it will all work out.  Thanks Kokatat for taking pity…

My drysuit is Palm Stikine.  I actually didn’t buy the Stikine, it was a replacement after the first suit I did buy,  and the first replacement.. leaked.  It’s tough, heavy and warm which I like.  After a couple years experience I realized I don’t like the zipper on the back.  But as long as I have a friend to assist with wardrobe adjustments, It’s fine… I would’nt buy another back zipped drysuit however.

One  issue I’ve not solved is actually a bit of a big deal.. I’m still wondering if my MSR Ventana is fine for Scotland in September and if not, what is?  Warm and dry mean everything after a long day on the water. A dry tent, and dry socks is frankly a religious experience.

Paddles? Check!  I plan to take both my Werner & my Novorca Greenland Stick..

Otherwise I’m pretty geared out.  Well, I do have to make the SPOT VRS PLB choice… Just because we’ll be on inland lakes most of the time, we can’t be stupid and assume the west coast will be cake or that the lochs are all child’s play. In some sense each device seems better suited for different stages of the trip..

Logistics & Other Stuff

Passport, Check.

The cost of plane tickets have dropped considerably.  Had I purchased a ticket 2 months ago as I had wanted to do, I would have spent over $200 more than now.  Every so often the early bird gets the shaft.  I’m glad I waited a bit.  Funny thing.  I can leave from close to home with one stop or for the cost of the drive I can leave from Chicago for no stops.. 6 of one really.  It ends up that the choice is up to those who are driving you!

As I mentioned above moving boats will be a bit of a deal I think.  However if we can get kayaks to the airport, my hope is to simply walk them down to the water and take off right from there.  Still unsure what happens when we arrive at Inverness.. which leads to..

I’m thinking of doing some time on a train. Through the wonders of the internet you and I could do a little quiet exploration off the water as well.. More on that later.

As I mentioned, Simon W has sent me lots of tips.  The trick is to note it all down and make sure I remember what I need to remember.  Thanks to his notes we’ve made a change to our route meaning a bit more open water time and hopefully more wildlife… Not to mention walking kayaks through a small town to get from one body of water to the next!

We plan on visiting coach extraordinaire, Rowland Woolven who has a little shop along the route.  He even sent me a picture to prove the sun does come out in Oban!

There is also a paddling event at Sea Kayaking Cornwall on the 18^th and it would be nice to see distant friends again.  That all depends on that train thing..

—

All in all, things are chugging along.  Planning for Scotland not is like planning for an expedition to Antarctica.. I’ll leave that to Mr. Bowermaster.  BTW we’ll talk more about Jon’s new DVD, Terra Antarctica, next week.

Right now I have to start getting ready.. I have a class to teach at Rutabaga in Madison today.

I hope your Saturday is flippin’ fantastic and I’ll catch you on the Twitside.. (if you’re so disposed)

Related Posts:

1. Unmarked Helicopters & Cosmic Pachyderms
2. 44
3. truth about lightweight paddles…
4. Suspended in Gaffa
5. Torso by Simon

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