Name
Andrew MacColl, 53
Where do you stay?
Denny
What made you start kayaking/ Canoeing?
After a kayak excursion in Ha Long Bay, Viet Nam, realising that it would be good way of interacting with Scottish lochs rather than just driving past them.
What do you enjoy about the sport?
Getting to see places in a more connected, up close and personal way.
Is it different to what you expected?!
It pushes me beyond my comfort zone. In the words of Dr. Seuss: “When something bad happens [Stonehaven] you have three choices: you can either let it define you, let it destroy you, or you can let it strengthen you.”
Where all have you been kayaking?
All over Scotland including Barra, St Kilda, Skye and Orkney. And further afield including Anglesey, Northern Ireland, Croatia, Sardinia, Fuerteventura, Greece, British Columbia, the Galapagos and Antarctica.
What’s been your favourite trip so far?
British Columbia because it was during orca and humpback whale season.
What’s your most memorable ‘oh shit’ moment?
A day paddle from Stonehaven in big rolling swells when I capsized 6 or 7 times. I’d been paddling for 7 years and had a false sense of ability because most of my paddling until then had been in fairly benign conditions.
What’s your funniest kayaking moment?
After a wet exit because of a failed roll, I had to get other paddlers to hold me upside down on a beach so I could drain my flooded drysuit through my neck seal because I hadn’t fully closed the drysuit’s relief zip.
Do you have a ‘special move’?
The paddle steamer stroke.
What’s the one kayaking skill you’d like to learn?
Bit of a cheat answer: always to be in control of my kayak.
What does the ultimate kayaking trip have for you?
Wilderness, lots of wildlife (except midges) and not too windy.
What’s been the most challenging trip you’ve been on?!
The aforementioned Stonehaven swells.
Where else would you like to Kayak?
In Scotland: the Caledonian Canal, Mull, the Summer Isles and the Small Isles. And further afield: Greenland, Lofoten Islands and Svalbard.
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