Stephen Squirrell (34966km):
4255 days ago
Thursday 4th July – windsurf **** sunny periods
Fanatic cross + 5.8 x-15 – 33.29 kts.
Had a lovely leisurely morning in our stunning place by the Loch Skiport on South Uist and it’s very windy again – luckily we were sheltered in the night and after speaking to the lady in the tourist info windsurfers are thin on the ground here in the Uists :( So I didn’t hold out much hope of finding a safe flatwater spot. We started the day with SUN!!! in short supply of late, so after exercises and breakfast we drove off South Uist and over the causeway to North Uist. We stopped at the Co-op for more reduced bargains and got talking to a lovely couple who live here who were also collecting the bargains – I thought her trolley was the reduced trolley as everything had an orange sticker and I fancied the cakes so started to pinch them out of her trolley! We had a good laugh with them. Drove on to the island of Clachan and had a look round there, stopping next to a sandy beach where a couple of doting grandparents were supervising their grandchildren on quad bikes on the beach in a gale! We had a cuppa then moved on driving round the N. Uist ring road (!) with the view of a magnificent sand dune island tantalisingly on the horizon. We drove along by the Island Kirkibost with what looked like flat water and the wind was onshore making the water behind flatish but we couldn’t find any excess :( We came to the end of the Island and found a road to Caolas Phaibeil and having found the right beach, right in front of the dune we had lunch while thinking about whether it was going to be any good and whether I could sail without breaking anything! Peter Ling texted to say that his guy on Tiree had said that yes I was the first and only person to sail round tiree so he is doing an article for the tiree paper. We phoned him and had a good chat. With wind gusting over 40 mph and not sure how much water was there and it was going to be difficult to get the gear off the roof!!! But the wind eased a little and I decided to go for it with Mag helping me untie my gear and I rigged the 5.8 on the 100lt cross. It was an okay place to sail but much better suited to kitesrfing because of the shallow water:( I was later joined by a single kitesurfer -the first windsurfer/kitesurfer we have seen since leaving Tiree!!! The water was very bumpy and going fast was scary but I was getting high 20’s and finally got 30kts on the screen :) I tried further a long the island but it was very shallow but then found a spot at the end of the island. By sailing across the rough open section of water I turned by the island very broad with 6” rolling chop and flew until I sailed into a wind shadow and had done over 33Kts :) I did enough times to get a 30 kt ave. but the tide was going out now and the run was now scarily choppy so I decided to call it a day. Mag had enjoyed her afternoon here too by going for a windy walk on the beach and took some photos. The weather calmed down quite nicely and after a quick downpour when we first got there turned into a nice bright afternoon. Drove back the way we had come and up the other side of the ring road. As soon as we were back on the main road we spotted a herd of female red deer :) After taking several photos we carried on and spotted a male hen harrier flying really low near the road giving us a great opportunity to actually identify him! Turned down a side road to Locheport. Nowhere to park up for the night but a lovely road through the middle of lots of lochs. Then we spotted a herd of male red deer with assorted antlers – ranging from huge to tiny. They were absolutely beautiful and just sat there munching grass and looking aloof! It is ironic that we were in the perfect place, miles from anywhere, to see them yesterday and saw not one but then today saw so many by the road!!! Took lots more photos before moving on again in our search for somewhere to park up which had a little shelter from the still strong wind. We came to a crop of brown signs to standing stones and burial chambers all with parking places and we finally parked up near the Langas forest which has a walk over the moorland to the ancient bits and pieces – tomorrow’s adventure :) We have great views across the moorland to some mountains and a loch.
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