* Expedition Blog *
"200 miles up the Western Isles"
TRIP PLAN
** Update - after planning in a wee bit more detail, looks like it might be well over 200 nautical miles. The expedition has now changed name to 200 miles up the Western Isles **
At first I thought I needed a detailed plan of events down to the last hour, with tides, food shopping and media all planned out before hand, but I quickly realised this was near impossible, and definitely impractical! I have loads of time on the, and a mobile phone that is being charge by free energy, so phone calls aren't a problem. So I've made the choice to leave quite a lot to do while on expedition. Instead of the specific details, I thought I'd plan by using a number of principles, which are:
- 1 paddling day…1 non-paddling day…1 paddling day…
- Stop at places that look likely to have food, i.e. inlets for fishing, sheltered coasts for mussels, sheltered beaches for cockles
- 15 nautical miles on paddling days
- Fill in diary on the way, then update blog when I can use the internet
Here's what I think might happen...
|
Day |
Date |
Activities |
Rough Distance Paddled (nautical miles)
|
Overnight |
|
0 |
Sun 4th |
· Paddle from Castlebay to Mingulay |
15 |
Mingulay |
|
1 |
Mon 5th |
· Circumnavigate Berneray and Mingulay · Find and catch food |
10 |
Mingulay |
|
2 |
Tue 6th |
· Paddle from Mingulay to Northbay · ** Update blog ** |
20 |
Home (Barra) |
|
3 |
Wed 7th |
· Cycle to cockle strand, get cockles |
- |
Home (Barra) |
|
4 |
Thu 8th |
· Paddle from Northbay to Blue Lagoon |
5 |
Helisay / Gighay |
|
5 |
Fri 9th |
· Find and catch food |
- |
Helisay / Gighay |
|
6 |
Sat 10th |
· Paddle from Blue Lagoon to Loch Skipport |
25 |
Loch Skipport (S. Uist) |
|
7 |
Sun 11th |
· Find and catch food |
- |
Loch Skipport |
|
8 |
Mon 12th |
· Paddle from Loch Skipport to Kallin |
20 |
|
|
9 |
Tue 13th |
· Paddle to Cairinis Coop to get food · Find and catch food |
10 |
|
|
10 |
Wed 14th |
· Paddle from Kallin to Lochmaddy · Take boat to Outdoor Centre · ** Update blog ** |
15 |
Lochmaddy |
|
11 |
Thu 15th |
· Find and catch food |
5 |
Lochmaddy |
|
12 |
Fri 16th |
· Get CalMac ferry to Skye · Bus to south Skye |
- |
South Skye |
|
13 |
Sat 17th |
· L3 Sea coach assessment |
- |
South Skye |
|
14 |
Sun 18th |
· L3 Sea coach assessment |
- |
North Skye |
|
15 |
Mon 19th |
· Bus to north Skye · CalMac ferry to Lochmaddy |
- |
North Uist |
|
16 |
Tue 20th |
· Paddle from north Uist to Berneray · ** Update blog ** |
10 |
Berneray Hostel |
|
17 |
Wed 21st |
· Find and catch food |
5 |
Berneray Hostel |
|
18 |
Thu 22nd |
· Paddle from Berneray to Taransay |
15 |
Taransay |
|
19 |
Fri 23rd |
· Find and catch food o Paddle across to Tarbert for cockles |
5 |
Taransay |
|
20 |
Sat 24th |
· Paddle from Taransay to Scarp |
15 |
Scarp |
|
21 |
Sun 25th |
· Find and catch food |
5 |
Scarp |
|
22 |
Mon 26th |
· Paddle from Scarp to west Loch Roag |
20 |
W Loch Roag |
|
23 |
Tue 27th |
· Find and catch food |
5 |
W Loch Roag |
|
24 |
Wed 28th |
· Paddle from west Loch Roag to east Loch Roag, CW round great Bearnaraigh |
10 |
E Loch Roag |
|
25 |
Thu 29th |
· Find and catch food |
5 |
E Loch Roag |
|
26 |
Fri 30th |
· Paddle from east Loch Roag to Butt of Lewis |
25 |
Butt of Lewis |
|
- |
Sat 31st |
· Taxi to Stornoway with boat · Leave boat at friends · Bus to Leverburgh · Ferry to Berneray · Bus to Eriskay · Ferry to Barra |
|
Stornoway? |
|
- |
Sun 1st |
· Day off! · ** Update blog ** |
|
Home (Barra) |
|
26 |
|
|
245!! |
|
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