SCOTLAND360° BLOG POST - A GENTLE PADDLE ON THE CROMARTY FIRTH

BRIGHT SUNSHINE AND INDUSTRIAL COLOURS

2nd October 2020

Rob and Fiona, staying in the area provided an opportunity for a socially distanced paddle on one of my days off. The original plan had been to set off from Balintore but the waves at the entrance to the harbour, breaking over the harbour wall put paid to that idea…. We reckoned that getting out of the harbour might well have been possible with a bit of careful timing but the big question was, would we get back in again?

Deciding that discretion was the better part of valour, we decided to drive the few miles down to Nigg, launch from there and have a sociable paddle into the Cromarty Firth. The day was bright and the tides were working in our favour, so what wasn’t to like?


Boats of the Cromarty Firth. From left, the Pilot cutter, “Dalmore”, the RNLB “Douglas Aikman Smith” and the pipe laying vessel, “Deep Energy”.

Back at Nigg.

The map of our day out . 10.8 Nautical miles covered and a maximum speed of just over 7 knots, paddling with the ebb tide…!!