On the following day neither the forecast nor the tides being helpful we killed some time in Oban, including a chat with the Coastguards, who were keen to establish contact with “sea-canoeists.” We chose not to get into a discussion on the definitions of canoes and kayaks and we certainly didn’t fit into their normal perception of “sea-canoes.” But we agreed to let them know of our progress whenever possible and especially during the more exposed legs of the trip, mostly by use of the hand-held VHF radio I had taken along for the purpose. The wind forecast was still decidedly marginal, alternating between spells of acceptable Force 2-3 and squalls of Force 4-5 lasting half an hour or more.
The next leg was another exposed five or so miles before coming into the lee of Lismore Island. Only a couple of hours of light to moderate winds was needed and now the tide was going our way again we wanted to get on. A short sail back over to Kerrera’s north end to take a closer look at conditions outside the sheltered channel proved to be most useful as we were able to chat with Mark Carter at his B&B/campsite enterprise aimed at sea-paddlers and divers. He was also able to get a Metfax for us which suggested worse conditions for the next day [NOTE: in 1994 we did not have mobile phones, let alone smartphones to obtain the weather forecasts we so readily benefit from these days!].
It didn’t seem too bad when we went out for a tentative look, so we went for it. The first half-hour or so was great, manageable with good progress but the wind picked up to a good Force 4, gusting 5, causing choppier conditions, an exceptionally fast, wet ride and the intense desire in all of us to land and dissipate the adrenalin thus caused. A landing was made on Lismore and during the break we agreed to continue further on the favourable tide, probably to Shuna for a campsite. The wind had largely subsided but with the tide still pushing us along, ground was covered quickly and we continued even further to land for the night on Eileen Balnagowan, where we tried to disturb the seabirds as little as possible. We had covered 19 miles in spite of not leaving until late in the afternoon for the major section of the day.
