Sea kayaks for sale

The sea kayaking season has started and Simon's Loch Sunart paddle on Sunday had a hardy group of 5 paddling from near Glenborrodale to almost Lochaline. Having torn a ligament in my ankle the weekend before last whilst on a Club coach weekend at that kayakers' centre of excellence Glenmore Lodge (where it was deepest winter with masses of snow and freezing cold - and greta skiing at Cairngorm) I did not make the paddle and sulked at home in frontof the computer. Having been enthused by the weekend and getting to grips with the new BCU paddlesport awards I bought the Mallaig and District Canoe Club a new and more memorable domain name (mallaigcanoeclub.co.uk) and whipped up a couple of pages to add to Tony Laidler's excellent existing site with a silly address. The club has a a couple of sea kayaks they want to sell as we need a bigger boat for the summer evening adult paddles, so if you're after a bargain sea kayak check out the for sale section of the website.

Back at Ach na skia Croft we are getting on with painting the Lodges and getting everything up to scratch for this year's guests. Last weeks guests couldn't believe their luck with the fantastic weather and the Cottage visitors said it was the best place they had ever stayed in, so we were happy with that!

Going Green

Well, we've always been pretty Green really, so we decided to see if we could get the sticker and today the "Inspector" from Green Tourism came and gave us the once over. Wouldn't tell us the answer but he seemed to think we had quite a few Green credentials, so we'll know in a few weeks' time. The Re-cycling "centre" put in place at the start of last year has certainly been a success and is always brimming with bottles, paper and cans, not to mention compost. He liked all the information available on the website and in the cottages about walks, transport and wildlife and was interested to hear about our Local Ranger walks. We have come up with an Environmental Policy for Ach na skia Croft to let people know what we are doing and what they might be able to do to help.

I meant to mention the geese in the last blog. The greylags have now become regular visitors to our "bottom" field, below the Lodges, joining the lapwings, which are whirling and calling and preparing to make their nests among the rushes.

We now officially welcome Walkers and Cyclists.

Of course we always have welcomed walkers and cyclists (not to mention kayakers) and fitted boot driers into all our cottages quite a few years back, which have been a boon to walkers, though of course we mostly hope they won't get wet feet at all, but it does happen from time to time! Speaking of kayaking, we had our first sea outing the weekend before last - a bimble around Loch nan Uamh on a somewhat blustery day, so good for getting the balance and reflexes honed up. The seals weren't expecting us and kept popping up alongside for a nosey. We had a long lunch and a mosey around the old settlement at the head of Loch Beag before heading for the open sea.

It has been a pretty spectacular couple of weeks for weather, with lots of snow on the hills - Ben Nevis and Aonach Mhor pictured here. There have been some good skiing days at Nevis Range this year.

The Easter visitors enjoyed their visit to Ach na skia Croft and the Games Room got lots of use in the evenings while mum cooked dinner.

The road closures are now back to Tuesday and Thursday from 1.30- 2.30p.m. so there's less disruption for anyone needing to go up or down the road to Fort William. There are some new sections now so you need to watch where you're going!

We still have some self catering availability at Ach na skia most weeks up till the end of June, so why not come for a visit - you won't regret it! Arisaig Marine are starting their trips to Eigg, Rum and Muck on 14th. April - always something to look forward to.

SK