Ooh, I’d missed this thread, despite being a paddler!
Back in August, racing on the Itera expedition adventure race, our opening paddle leg was a big ‘un – Iona to Staffa, then to Inchkenneth, then to Mull. A journey I’d always wanted to do, and had always assumed I’d do in a sea kayak rather than a well-laden 2-person SoT in a race!
Tensions were pretty high before the race as it’s not a section you’d fancy in poor conditions, but it was as calm as I could ever have hoped for. Staffa was gobsmacking, and as we crossed to Inchkenneth we had porpoises and a Minke whale nearby – one porpoise surfaced and jumped directly between our team’s two boats, when we were less than 10m apart.
– Approaching Staffa
– Looking back at the sunset as we headed to Mull