Sea kayak camping trip.

Had a great trip up the east coast of Arran a couple of weeks ago on a short camping break. Now this is sea kayaking at its best with bright sun and playful waves, lots of wildlife and a good breeze. We decided to head up from Brodick towards Laggan on the North East of Arran, this stretch of coast has some of the best views I know of anywhere in Scotland with the main hills and glens towering above.


The mackerel are here again and we got luck and caught our dinner. A lot of time was spent watching Mullet in the entrance of the North Glen Sannox burn, swimming in the shallows with there fins breaking the surface. There were a lot of birds with young about both on the water and the shore, the Eider chicks seemed to be doing well and the Mergansers with there young hugged the coast and found shelter amongst the rocks. Gannets circled high all day and showed us the way to the fish, tucking and falling like spears to catch their dinner.
We stopped to camp near Millstone Point with plenty of time to relax and dry our gear. Mark is a bush craft camp enthusiast and the fish where cooked without pans or plates, great, no washing up!


We had a close encounter with a badger later on at dusk, we heard it scratching about in the bracken and stood still and quiet. It didn't see us even though it was only a few yards away and we got to watch it for a long time as it foraged for food. This is one of the best things about sea kayaking, how close it gets you to the wildlife around our coast. Otters are more often seen than badgers and just the other day a group of us got to paddle up close to a basking shark, an amazing site when they are almost twice as long as our boats!


The return journey was fast and fun with a strong breeze pushing us back. The waves pick up the boat and surf you forward and we arrived home feeling happy and hungry for more.

See you on the water,

Luke.