A Postcard from Shetland

Hi fellow sea kayakers,

I’m just wrapping up three weeks coaching and playing in the far (far!) north of the UK – the Shetland Islands. I have to confess; I’ve been out on the water pretty much none stop since I’ve been up here, enjoying all conditions from the rough to the smooth. I thought you may all be interested to hear what I’ve been up to in arguably the best sea kayaking destination on the planet!

It was the Shetland Sea Kayak Symposium that brought me up here initially, a three-day event organised by Shetland Canoe Club that runs every other year; bringing together coaches from all over the world, local paddlers and this year 88 attendees all up for some amazing paddling. What an event it was; endless coaching sessions and paddling trips all showing off some of the best that Shetland has to offer. This providing paddlers with huge caves, immense cliffs, arches galour, wildlife a plenty and a welcoming social time for everyone. Oh, and not forgetting the daily home-made cakes and ceilidh to finish it all off – chapeau Shetland Canoe Club.

As I was invited to the symposium for three days, it seemed rude not to stay for three weeks – but how to fill my time! Well, it was an opportunity to support the kayak club whilst I was up and we arranged some skill development coaching days for a whole range of their club paddlers from less experienced to very experienced, coaches to members and the young to the old (including the amazing club member who is not far off a paddling octogenarian). Alongside this I could support four key club members in achieving leadership and coaching qualifications, what an asset they are going to be for this ever growing and ever evolving club.

You’ll be glad to hear it wasn’t all hard-working coaching for me through, I also got out on plenty of days guiding trips or personal paddling – I bet you’re keen to hear a few of the highlights and see some photos…

Fitful Head was so good I did it twice; once as a solo mission on a calm day and once as an advanced paddle with club members; plenty of swell and excitement on that one. Being the south-westerly point of the islands the immense grass covered cliffs are home to hundreds of puffins and bear the brunt of swell and tidal waters that swirl around the cliff bases. A committing yet stunning paddle, best saved for good conditions, but a headland that rarely sees no swell to keep you on your toes.

The Isle of Noss was another definite highlight, with its immense towering cliffs rising vertically from the sea it left myself and the group I was guiding feeling very insignificant. What makes this island so special though is its inhabitants; thousands upon thousands of gannets. The noise they make calling from the cliffs is deafening, the smell filling your nostrils is overpowering and the sight of the circling above in their thousands is breathtaking – this trip is an assault on the senses that’s for sure!

Muckle Roe is an island that for many is one of the highlights of a trip to Shetland, and it certainly didn’t disappoint. Although the day was grey, the sea was calm; and that meant the plethora or caves, arches, stacks and tunnels were ‘open for exploration’. Despite the grey skies, the bright red granite rocks that make up the coastline and give way to red sandy beaches more than brightened up the day. My group were blown away by the fact on more than one occasion we could choose between paddling ‘around’ a headland or paddling ‘through’ a headland – linking caves and tunnels often hundreds of metres in length. These caves being so expansive at one stage I lost half my group in one – but that’s perhaps a story not for public consumption!

Ronas Voe is my final ‘postcard highlight’, this providing a relatively short paddling in what can often be very sheltered water; yet has arguably some of the most dramatic sea stacks and rock scenery on the island. It was here that my group discovered what a ‘Shetland kilometre’ is; on the map it measures a kilometre but by the time you’ve paddled it going in and out of every cave, arch and stack it ends up being three kilometres!

I hope this ‘Postcard from Shetland’ helps cheer everyone up; and perhaps inspires some of you to plan a future trip to the islands of the far north – you won’t be disappointed.

All the best

Doug

Inspired and supported by Peak PS