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By: Andy L

Coulport to Carrick Castle (and back): 12th October 2014

This was a hastily arranged day trip, simply because the weather forecast for the weekend looked promising (how often have we heard that?). Five paddlers in total: Anne Howard, Jo Grant, Geraldine O’Sullivan, Iain Love and myself. For the keen observers amongst us, you will note that the girls outnumbered the boys….not often this occurs on club trips….hope the trend continues.
After loading the boats and gear, we set off from the container and began the short journey to the put-in (a layby just outside RNAD Coulport – OS grid ref. NS 213 867).
The forecast was pretty accurate throughout the day; cool to start, with very low cloud… warming as the cloud thinned and little or no wind as the day progressed…..just perfect.

I’ve done this trip several times in the past, so I wasn’t surprised to find the military police taking a certain interest in our party; however, we didn’t expect them to stalk us the whole day. I realize that the country may be at a higher alert status than normal, but several vessels constantly shadowing us the length and breadth of Loch Long………call me cynical, but this situation had nothing to do with an unexpected invasion of Her Majesty’s property, but it may have been something to do with the girls changing in the layby….nice one Jo.

After being herded to the west shore by our ‘stalkers’, we continued NNE towards the mouth of Loch Goil. The west shoreline of Loch Long is rocky in nature, with the occasional small pebble beach. It is covered in dense pine forest, from the outskirts of Ardentinny, to just around the corner at the mouth of Loch Goil. Bird and sea life is fairly plentiful within this area…..and if you are lucky, you may occasionally witness the odd jelly baby floating amongst other aquatic life forms…..yes! I meant to say ‘jelly baby’ (ask any of the paddlers for an explanation). Our lunch-stop was the picturesque beach at Carrick Castle; our hosts being thoughtful enough to provide picnic benches and public toilets. (In-house quiz…can any of our paddlers remember the name engraved on the bench mounted plaque? A prize will be awarded to the first correct answer). Lunch tends to be fairly short in the cooler months, simply due to the lack of activity….if we were to produce sufficient heat from just talking…..well, we would have been extremely comfortable for hours…..but alas, we had a return journey to consider.
The total distance travelled was approximately 21 km, and with tide and weather in our favour; it proved to be an exceptionally enjoyable paddle. Once again, the girls provided ample opportunity for our guardians of law and order to ‘hang about’. I’m sure that a paddler’s version of the ‘Calendar Girls’ is now adorning the walls of the local police office…..must try and get a copy.
Thanks all for a fun paddle.